Grain Bin

last updated Jan. 20, 2003

Dancing Rabbit members Don and Gare are collaborating on converting a 3,000 bushel grain bin into 2 one room apartments. We chose the grain bin because it already had walls, a roof, and a concrete floor. This made for a simpler project that we could complete in the 3 months before winter.

On July 27, 2002 we cut the door in the grain bin and began the construction process.
We are using straw bales for the insulation of the interior, mainly because Don and I like strawbales. We are putting a door and 3 windows in each floor. Most of the windows and the door will be located on the south side. The doors and windows have double-paned glass. Hopefully, they will allow light in and still retain some insulative value.

One of the great things about this construction project is that we have obtained most of the materials from nearby. The doors and windows were purchased from folks on the farm here at DR. The strawbales were purchased from a neighbor organic farmer. The lumber is reclaimed wood from a barn that another member tore down. We are using wheatsheet around the window and door frames to provide extra framing and support for the bales.

The construction expertise comes from right here at DR, with Tom leading the carpentry and a lot of the design, Tamar honchoing the baling, and Megan will will be guiding us through the plastering. And, of course, lots of input from everyone else.

First Floor
Here are some pictures of the first floor as of September 1, 2002.

inside South wall, showing one of the doors and the SE window. The strawbales are 18" thick, and are costing us 3' of interior space. We hope that a strawbale's R-value of ~2 / inch will provide us with superior insulation. The total diameter of the bin is 18', so we are down to 15' diameter of living space. That's still 176 square feet of living space per floor, a lot more than either Don or I are accustomed to!

                                                                                            North Window on 1st floor.

Sept. 12, 2002 -

1st Coat of plaster, and some of the 1st-floor ceiling/ 2nd-floor floor joists up. We are using a mixture of 3 parts sand, 2 parts clay, .5 part straw for our scratch coat (1st coat) of plaster.

A view of the joist ledgers. We are bolting the joists to the grain bin itself, using 2X6 ledgers. There are 8 4' ledgers bolted to the walls, just above the first floor walls. The structure of the grain bin itself will support the second floor.

Sept. 27, 2002 -

Interior 1st floor after we've put up wheatsheet on the ceiling and 2 coats of plaster. We negotiated with Cecil to install the electrical system. We are going to have 3 electrical outlets per floor, with your basic overhead light in each room. They will be powered by a 24-watt solar electric system.

We cut the door to the second floor this week! You can see the external ledgers that will be used to support the deck that will give access to the 2nd floor. The door is offset because it is more centered on the upstairs floor.

Oct. 1, 2002 -

You can see here the external ledgers just below the upstairs door. These ledgers will hold the deck joists for the outside deck. For now, we've built a straw bale stairway. In November, we'll build the deck.

Nov. 7, 2002 -

Well, it's November. I installed the wood stove last week. We are finishing the second coat of plaster on the upstairs. We may get to the final coat of plaster this year; if not we'll do it in the spring. We are planning on the ceiling this coming week.

Cecil installed the solar electicity system. It is a 24-volt system capable of handling 2,000 watt peak loads. It is currently underpowered by 2 64-watt solar panels. Four L16 350-Amp hour batteries are in the cabinet shown here. Don and I are planning on using lights, laptop computer, and radios off of this power.

Nov. 20, 2002 -

Here's a shot of the centerpiece on the upstairs ceiling. We finished the rafters yesterday, and are putting up the sheet rock today and tomorrrow. We are going to insulate the ceiling with 6"-8" of blown cellulose insulation.

We've finished plastering both floors; from now on, it's focus on insulation and sealing up the apartments for the winter.

January 21, 2003 -

Tom built the porch/deck in December. The grain bin is livable, and both Don and I are wintering in it. It definately needs some finish work (around the windows - interior and exterior), finish building the deck and stairs, and paint our ceilings. These and other touches can wait until it gets warmer!!