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Nothing's perfect, but thanks for the feedback. I like the idea of cloth / tarp / yurt living because it's breathable, lightweight, and replaceable several times over on a pole structure, vs the cost of traditional materials. I like the idea of living off the ground because that's a little more space between you and the bugs and mold that you can keep an eye on and treat easier than a crawlspace or slab. The other thread about insulation and noise certainly put me on notice though... :-)
I'd have to enter through the trap door too, but presumably it'd have a big lock on it when I'm away, and I might know some non-obvious mechanism that secures it. I guess if they have a ladder I'm hosed, but at least someone might have seen them coming and going with a ladder. And of course they won't have switched off the heat tracking robots with pointy sticks...
In the complete opposite direction, is anyone building thick-walled homes with lava rock?
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Not so much. we have earthquakes here on a regular basis.
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That was a question we talked about today...why had we not seen homes made of lava rock. I thought it might be due to the porous nature of the material. Makes sense though with the vibrations from quakes. Has to be able to "move" some like bridges...although it really makes me uneasy to feel the bridge move when I go over one!
Best wishes
Best wishes
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What if, when lava was about to destroy a stretch of road like 130, we covered that section of road with Quonset huts end to end, filled the huts with sand for strength, and then burmed them under such that the lava would flow over them? The melting point of steel and sand is much higher than the lava should be, so I think we'd be left with fairly strong tunnels safe to drive through, and more secure against future flows. Other subterranean facilities could be constructed the same way, with Pele providing reinforcement and insulation that would never be affordable with concrete. The inevitable cracks here and there could be filled in with hydraulic cement, or more lava!
Would that be alternative enough?
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"Melting point of steel and sand is much HIGHER than lava should be"
UMMMMM.oh, really HATE to burst THAT bubble...Any clue at ALL about what molten lava IS?
of course, any basalt sands (most readily available here)...well...will have melting points REALLY close to basalt lava, as our lava here IS MELTING BASALT...
steel may be a little higher, but not much, as both have high iron...so maybe your structure may not totally MELT, maybe just be a little droopy...and most likely there will be HUGE structural integrity questions... if it is not just a flatten pancake...
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Well, it was just an idea, nobody said it was a good one.
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"What if, when lava was about to destroy a stretch of road like 130, we covered that section of road with Quonset huts end to end"
The temperature of lava at it's source, and that flowing in a tube is a lot hotter than the moving exposed surface. Lava is self insulating, that's why lava tubes can conduct a flow for miles with little heat loss. For those who remember, the early flows in Kalapana would be perhaps three feet thick and would go around cars and abandoned equipment because they acted as a heat sink. Years ago I tossed a rock of about 100 lbs on to a red hot lava finger thinking it would be swallowed up, to my surprise it barely dented it, it just sat on top and it certainly didn't melt.
I would expect that a lava front encountering a pile of gravel would form an insulating surface and would either go around it or build up until it overwhelmed it. It would not be hot enough to melt it. Lava goes around trees and leaves a hole for another example.
With this in mind the Quonset huts idea might well work if the structure was engineered properly.
It would be an international attraction.
My complements on that original thought " randomq"
Perhaps this should be a new thread.
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We designed a lava home for a lot in central HPP. We have since added albizia concrete to the possibilities. If someone wants to build one we can get it permitted.
John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
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I've heard of D9s "ripping" lava. Not sure if that is just the recent flows or the "blue rock" as well. But would it be possible to build a berm home where at least 3 walls are lava? Ways to mitigate water so it wouldn't be permanently flooded? Anyone living comfortably and dry in lava tubes?
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OK...it is obvious the RadomQ has not seen a lot here ripped...but have seen D6 through D11 ripping lots (have seen even smaller dozers doing smaller rip jobs...)
With the drag point they go through most any flow (BTW, age of flow is not what determines "blue rock" - that is just a denser rock; usually core of A`a flows, but can also be found in some thick Pahoehoe flows...) With a the more dense rock, the smaller dozers have a lot more work ... the rare sighting of a D11 going through is a sight, much more smooth sailin'...but at a huge cost per hour!
to build a berm, just have the dozer push ripped rock into a berm...not hard, I have a rock wall around part of our lot that is just large annoying riprocks pulled out of future planting spots, piled up 3' or more... lava rock does pile fairly steeply, but would need a lot of reinforcement not to eventually settle back...
Lava tubes are under ground, and everyone I have been in on the wetside is drippy depending on rains...on the Kona side they are drier most of the time, but are drippy during rains... the only way to stop the wet is to totally waterproof... at which time your troglobitic home would end up being very costly!
