crazyfarmer
9/17/2015 13:55 EST
Locals mostly do one thing: concrete... either blocks or poured concrete. Everything else is "weird" and not understood by anyone.
Here, let me give you an example... Consider drywall. The cousin of my son in law (both uruguayan) was talking with my daughter. They were talking about renovating a room in our shipping container house. She said they were going to insulate with fiberglass insulation, then cover that with drywall. Oh no, he said, you don't know what you're talking about. You don't need insulation if you have drywall. Drywall IS the insulation.
Drywall case #2: I was driving through town and saw an advertisement on the back of a truck for a business that installed drywall. "Solve all your moisture problems! Just install drywall!" Silly me, all this time I figured you had to solve all your moisture problems *before* installing drywall.
Notice how they're having a hard time with *drywall*, not something exotic like bamboo. Needless to say, your odds of getting someone who has no idea what they're doing are pretty high.
Also, the bamboo type stuff that grows here isn't really bamboo. It's a much smaller diameter, like maybe an inch. This means that unless you're planting and harvesting your own bamboo, you're going to have to import it. This will likely make it more expensive than some other building material.
And don't get me started about uruguay labor laws regarding hired help, or the honesty level, work ethic, or ability to listen from those who you do hire.
Some places are stick building or using isopanels now. But they're going to be expensive and hard to find. And more than a few of the ones we looked at had serious problems. For example, I could feel the plywood in the second story floor sagging under my weight because the joists were too far apart. But that doesn't sound like what you want anyway.
So to this I'll make the same suggestion that I make to everyone who has questions about alternative building materials including hay bale, rammed earth, cob, sod houses, plastic or glass bottles, and now bamboo... Be prepared to do it yourself with little or no help. And be prepared to either make your own building materials or pay a premium for them.
Sorry to rain on your parade.
I'd seriously recommend isopanels. They're totally unnatural. But it means that the bugs won't eat it and it won't grow mold. We have an isopanel house. It's insulated so well, we don't have to heat it in the winter. We regulate the temperature inside by opening the windows varying amounts.
brian
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