about ten years ago,,, companies would "PAY" you , if you would take a semi load of tires. A friend of mine took several semi loads. Got paid well,, over 5 bukcs a tire. Which came too, ALOT of tires. The township gave him some flak about them a few years ago,, but,, they couldnt do anythign,, as long as he never "sold" them.

Anyways,, him and his wife, split up, and he went to a "big city" to wrk,, while she stayed home. SHe wanted to finaly get some things done,, while he was gone,, to prove she could ,, and not have to wait much longer. One was a wood shed.

Her and I was talking about it,, how to do it,, to do it cheap (free). SO,, I came up with the idea,, 3 walls,,, out of tires,, and build a frame roof for it. SO ,, she did the shovel work,, and staked the tires, which took a couple of weeks,, and today,, I came over, with some lumber (free),, and we framed it in,, added postes,, and shingeled it part way. IT was an event. It will hold just over 5 full cords, for a total cost in materials, of ,,,,, $0.00. ALL the materail was free, or if you count the tires,,,, they got paid to get them.

I,m going to try to write up an article, with pics, for CS mag,,,,, so,, if you see it,, iTS ME :D:D:D:D

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), September 17, 2002

Answers

Great idea, Stan!! My hubby and I are in the automotive business and get lots of used tires that we replace on customer's vehicles. Usually we pass the cost of disposal of these tires on to the customers...but if we can reuse them...all the better :-)!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), September 17, 2002.

Dennis Weaver built a whole house out of tires. I think it was called an earthship but I'm not sure. It supposedly has a great 'R' value since the tires are packed with sand or soil.

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 18, 2002.

once we got the roof on,, the temp inside of it was at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside. I figure,, if the tires got filled in, adn dirt was banked up around it,,, it would make a fantastic root cellar or ice house. Would have to frame in a door for it,, but thta should be all.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), September 18, 2002.

That's pretty cool. I'd love to see pictures.

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), September 18, 2002.

Patty, here's a site with pics of earthships. There's also quite a bit of information on construction and durability.

http://earthship.org/nav/index.php

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 18, 2002.

Thanks Kathy, I hadn't seen this site. Pretty interesting, not anything I haven't heard of, but I really enjoyed it!

You know what always sort of hits me? It's the organic shapes of the structures themselves. I'd like to say I like them...and there are many aspects I DO like, but overall the don't attract me visually. Being an artist, you would think I would like the freedom afforded....but.....not so much. I think they would be great in the right setting....like in a desert climate. Like a dune. Actually they ARE probably built mostly in those envoronments because of the insulating value. It's like planting a elephant ear in a country garden...just doesn't fit, ya know? LOL ...Although, I recently saw Lord of the Rings, and they are quite reminiscent of Hobbit abodes...it could be workable perhaps. ;-) A bit like living in a cave, without many of the negative that would present themselves. You sure would need a lot of tires.....

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), September 19, 2002.

I know what you mean about the shapes. When we lived in TX we visited NM & AZ and saw the pueblos and I thought they fit in well with their environment. I just can't see a earthship in KY though. LOL In the Wisconsin Dells they have a futuristic house called Xanadu- all curves and made of a stabalized styrofoam. We toured it and even the furniture & beds are all round, no sharp corners anywhere. I am Not an artist or even have much of an eye for art but somehow it just seemed odd not to have corners. Maybe it's conditioning-houses have corners right? All I know is I wouldn't want to live in one. Now for out buildings I think there may be some benefits to the earthship type construction. I'll be watching for updates on Stans friends experiences with hers.

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 19, 2002.

I am just dying to build an earthship and I have been doing a lot of reserch into their construction. One thing that I am still very sceptical about is the resistance to cold climate. Can an earthship survive a -50 degree celcius Canadian winter? One other thing. How save is it, for wiring and piping?

-- Brenda (brendaboonstra@yahoo.ca), August 12, 2004.