Google Ken Kern and read about a home collapsing in the night and killing the occupant.
It is possible to build "such a structure within areas where codes are enforced now" if it is well designed and sturdily built. As has been mentioned, if you have the money to hire an engineer you can have plans approved, and build under the legal umbrella. There is more than one company in the pc business that I know of. One is outside Silver City NM, the other is in west Texas. All reports are that their products are very affordable. Neither of them would meet the definition of "big business".
Codes in NM are liberal and have some allowance for DIY. For instance both adobe and rammed earth are in the code. The community of earthships near Tres Piedras is a good example of alternative building being allowed, though there was the usual politics causing unnecessary infrastructure to meet subdivision rules. There are vast areas in the SW US that have no codes enforced, land that you can buy for a few hundred dollars an acre. There are several folks on this list who have done what you say is impossible. Every day you make a choice about where and how you live. It is a lot easier to sit and imagine why things won't work than it is to go try them. Life is full of surprises and things don't always conform to your imagination.
spaceman All opinions expressed or implied are subject to change without notice upon receipt of new information.On 5/31/2011 7:15 AM, Donald Miller wrote:
You mention that building codes probably save lives. That is the common argument that the code people use and I find it to be very untruthful. I challenge anyone to show documented proof of a home not built to code falling over onto a neighbor's lot, collapsing in the night and killing the occupants or whatever. Houses may sag, foundations will crack and sheetrock break, but, give me a break, they just dont' collapse in a heap. You are more likely to have that happen to a commercially built and "engineered " commercial structure than in someone's do it yourself house. And, Ron and Doris, I commend you on your beautiful addition to your home. The point I am making is that it is not possible to build such a structure within areas where codes are enforced now matter how well designed and sturdily built. And if big companies ever get in the PC business, which I doubt very much, the product will be as expensive as standard building materials, again negating the promise of papercrete as an affordable way for people of limitied means to build a home.
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