YES! Finialy a video of the wofoati as it exists right now. Do you know its been almost 2 years since these buildings were build and no video had been released yet? I was going crazy! Almost enough to break my regular lurker habits and request that someone make one :) Now I'm breaking my lurker habits to say thank you to the busy ant Jesse for making this! Amazing video of an amazing concept!
I've seen many of the videos about Mike Oehler's houses and they never really show the potential of these buildings. This video really shows the awesomeness of these things. I can't wait to build one. One thing of note. I noticed that you used the recycled billboard material as the water barrier. They are great and cheap but sometimes they can have a lot of pin holes in them that are hard to detect unless you have a light source behind it. It shouldn't matter however since you have or will put an umbrella over the first layer of soil. Using dry soil as insulation is a great idea too. Congratulations and thank you.
+Karl Rosengrant Thanks Karl, but I've got to make it clear that this is not really an Oehler structure, although it is very much based on his work. The structure in this video is a "Wofati," a concept birthed by Paul Wheaton which combines the ideas of Mike Oehler's underground homes, John Hait's passive annual solar heating, and Paul's own ideas about making housing "freaky Cheap" yet luxuriant. Wofati is a made up word which stands for Woodland, Oehler, Freaky cheap, Annualized Thermal Inertia. I agree with you about the billboard material, it is not the ideal moisture barrier. Paul hopes to make up for this by using as many layers as possible, and is using them mostly because they are free, the freakiest of cheap, and he wants to get the cost of building down as low as possible. I'm actually working for Mike Oehler right now, and I can tell you first hand that his structures have incredible potential, his new ridge house is one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. Mike recommends polyethylene as a moisture barrier, as it will last forever underground, same with John Hait. I feel like for the couple hundred dollars you might spend on poly for a small home, the benefits of a solid moisture barrier are well worth the money. Mike's ridge house actually uses a more expensive EPDM rubber liner on the roof, with layers of poly over that to protect the investment. The ridge house is meant to be a showcase of what can be done with his methods, so he has put more money into it than his low cost structures, but still the final cost will be about a third of a conventional structure of the same size. This is the best video out there of Mike's structures, and really shows off the ridge house well: th-cam.com/video/8B6xR3T37gI/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Jesse. Really cool that you were able to get the billboard tarps for free. I've been following Paul's work for years and have learned a ton from him. I read his wofati article but I didn't realize the distinction between wofati and traditional Oehler design. Its so cool seeing this knowledge evolve. Oh btw I saw your living mulch garden vid and really loved it. I've done something similar and was amazed at how much time is saved and how little pest problems I had. I still had to give the tomatoes and tomatillos a couple doses of comfrey tea but it produced a lot. In terms of maintenance time, soil building ability and yield what do you think is better, ramial wood chip mulch or living mulch gardening? Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, good luck with everything.
@@oneheartfire It was frustrating to me not being able to find the definition of "wofati". Using a word that is not defined is bad. I see it now in your post.
Have a concern about eventual failure of the water barrier here or there. This would permit moisture buildup under the billboard material which would have a hard time drying out. Now, you would be trapping moisture against the wood of the roof structure. Maybe a packed clay barrier with enough slope to force rain water to run away through the layer of sandy soil on top if it. It would provide a path of least resistance for water to es so much faster than it could ever work its way down through the clay layer. I’ve seen moisture barriers installed against the underside of floor joists in modular homes (intending to protect the joists from ground moisture rot) cause massive rotting of the floor joists.
Ah that is such a shame! I really looked forward to these projects so much! Eventhough they might not have been finnished to full design specs, could you tell us how they are performing?
It would be great to know about sun orientation. Are the open sides North and South? East and West? or it doesn't matter? Also, any results from this experiment, even partially complete would be great.
YES! Finialy a video of the wofoati as it exists right now. Do you know its been almost 2 years since these buildings were build and no video had been released yet? I was going crazy! Almost enough to break my regular lurker habits and request that someone make one :)
Now I'm breaking my lurker habits to say thank you to the busy ant Jesse for making this! Amazing video of an amazing concept!
Great Video. Thanks for spreading the ideas of permaculture!!!
I've seen many of the videos about Mike Oehler's houses and they never really show the potential of these buildings. This video really shows the awesomeness of these things. I can't wait to build one. One thing of note. I noticed that you used the recycled billboard material as the water barrier. They are great and cheap but sometimes they can have a lot of pin holes in them that are hard to detect unless you have a light source behind it. It shouldn't matter however since you have or will put an umbrella over the first layer of soil. Using dry soil as insulation is a great idea too. Congratulations and thank you.
+Karl Rosengrant Thanks Karl, but I've got to make it clear that this is not really an Oehler structure, although it is very much based on his work. The structure in this video is a "Wofati," a concept birthed by Paul Wheaton which combines the ideas of Mike Oehler's underground homes, John Hait's passive annual solar heating, and Paul's own ideas about making housing "freaky Cheap" yet luxuriant. Wofati is a made up word which stands for Woodland, Oehler, Freaky cheap, Annualized Thermal Inertia. I agree with you about the billboard material, it is not the ideal moisture barrier. Paul hopes to make up for this by using as many layers as possible, and is using them mostly because they are free, the freakiest of cheap, and he wants to get the cost of building down as low as possible. I'm actually working for Mike Oehler right now, and I can tell you first hand that his structures have incredible potential, his new ridge house is one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. Mike recommends polyethylene as a moisture barrier, as it will last forever underground, same with John Hait. I feel like for the couple hundred dollars you might spend on poly for a small home, the benefits of a solid moisture barrier are well worth the money. Mike's ridge house actually uses a more expensive EPDM rubber liner on the roof, with layers of poly over that to protect the investment. The ridge house is meant to be a showcase of what can be done with his methods, so he has put more money into it than his low cost structures, but still the final cost will be about a third of a conventional structure of the same size. This is the best video out there of Mike's structures, and really shows off the ridge house well: th-cam.com/video/8B6xR3T37gI/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Jesse. Really cool that you were able to get the billboard tarps for free. I've been following Paul's work for years and have learned a ton from him. I read his wofati article but I didn't realize the distinction between wofati and traditional Oehler design. Its so cool seeing this knowledge evolve.
Oh btw I saw your living mulch garden vid and really loved it. I've done something similar and was amazed at how much time is saved and how little pest problems I had. I still had to give the tomatoes and tomatillos a couple doses of comfrey tea but it produced a lot. In terms of maintenance time, soil building ability and yield what do you think is better, ramial wood chip mulch or living mulch gardening?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, good luck with everything.
@@oneheartfire It was frustrating to me not being able to find the definition of "wofati". Using a word that is not defined is bad. I see it now in your post.
You need a root cellar attached and you're all set. Thank you for the presentation
Have a concern about eventual failure of the water barrier here or there. This would permit moisture buildup under the billboard material which would have a hard time drying out. Now, you would be trapping moisture against the wood of the roof structure. Maybe a packed clay barrier with enough slope to force rain water to run away through the layer of sandy soil on top if it. It would provide a path of least resistance for water to es so much faster than it could ever work its way down through the clay layer. I’ve seen moisture barriers installed against the underside of floor joists in modular homes (intending to protect the joists from ground moisture rot) cause massive rotting of the floor joists.
Hey Jesse, its me again. Has there been an update on this building? If so, could you do another video on Wofati 0.8 and 0.7?
Not much has been done to these buildings since the videos were made.
Ah that is such a shame! I really looked forward to these projects so much! Eventhough they might not have been finnished to full design specs, could you tell us how they are performing?
Bump. its almost 4 years later and all the hype seems to have died down. Any updates?
It would be great to know about sun orientation. Are the open sides North and South? East and West? or it doesn't matter? Also, any results from this experiment, even partially complete would be great.
looks great bro
any updates? anyone else made one of these? have you made another? how's it holding up? Love the work you're doing
Check out permies.com and search "wofati".There has been a lot more work done to this structure and it has been documented quite well.
How much dirt do you have on the roof? Whats your average snowfall/snow load?
Where's the bathroom(s)?
Theres a composting toilet outside.
@@oneheartfire No shower/bath? Or is that outside as well?
Those are outside too. This is a prototype building.
can't watch makes me dizzzy