Salud in Uruguay!

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself Here' started by Pia, Nov 20, 2014.

  1. Pia

    Pia Junior Member

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    Multi years of in-depth plants and terrains experience. Creating sustainable space in beautiful Uruguay.

    Looking for an eco builder to share the space and help create the future (carpentry, liquid cement floors, permaculture). Projects underway!
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Welcome Pia! What buildings do you have on site already? Is there a particularly type of build you are wanting to pursue? Strawbale? Earth bag? Cob?
     
  3. Pia

    Pia Junior Member

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    Just the house (half of a two-story duplex) fairly recently constructed (clean walls but the interior and exterior finish not done). There's no insulation - I've been collecting plastic water bottles which will fit nicely in the gap between the wall and roof as part of an insulation project. I'm thinking the house needs an addition - from the front door and wrapping around the corner to the kitchen door. That would create space for a health food retail outlet and for a more modernized kitchen for preparing fermented and vegan foods.

    The construction on the house stopped at basic foundation work - upstairs is unfinished as well. There are two rooms there - one is small, the other is 11x14 - both could use "skylights" to help avoid the usual mold on the walls that plagues most buildings here. There's lots of good air that flows through to help keep mold from starting. Lots of insulating and flooring to done. Hoping I can find bamboo for some of the work - otherwise the only wood in the area is Eucalyptus and Pine.

    See https://yesusi.com/about/house-of-salto/tour/

    The property owner has agreed to letting me plant bamboo in the interior area behind the houses on this block - there is a man who lives in a very small shack back there who may be interested in having bamboo available for retooling his place. Get his place off the ground at the very least - it's very wet back there.

    I'd use the bamboo to create an outdoor shower space and perhaps a digester for another toilet. So, the answer is - no new buildings but an addition and naturalscaping needed. Houses here are built with brick and cement - the brick is locally made. There are plenty of rocks and sand in the area. I would choose to use materials commonly found here - Uruguay is short on some natural resources - so - for example - straw bale and clay would probably be hard to source. The area for the addition is not very wide and would require less of a footprint in materials than cob would allow for - I think. But, I am open to suggestions. Some of the rock around here would be suitable for a narrow frame/footprint.

    Thanks for the question. The projects here are less building and more renovation.
     
  4. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Great pics Pia, thank you. I love the motorbike leading the donkey!
    The forest surrounding your property looks very lush. Do you live in a sub-tropical zone? It also appears that you're doing very well on creating great soil for your raised beds.
    Uruguay has become something of a hot spot for Permaculture lately!
     
  5. Pia

    Pia Junior Member

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    Thank you 9anda1f... the soil is being brought in (by horse & cart!) from a site not far from the house - located on the edge of town in a low pocket near a park (the forest) with a lot of Eucalyptus trees. North west Uruguay is humid but not like Costa Rica - there's no dense forests to trap humidity and the famous Uruguay winds keep the air from getting too thick.

    The house is new to me, the soil here is rife with rock and discarded cement and brick chunks from construction... so, me creating soil is really matter of paying for good terrain with abono mixed in. The compost project not yet begun as I don't have a kitchen yet... but, relatively soon there will be greens from harvesting to begin the composting. Next year I won't need to buy soil!
     

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