Earthshipplanterwall

The Planter Walls

Well, we've run out of things to do. We are waiting for an engineer to look at our framing so that we can get approval from the county to put in the glass. The framer made some changes that he shouldn't have and so we're even further behind. It's also winter and it isn't too warm out on the praire! We had REALLY hoped to have the building weathered in by now and then we could be working inside. Didn't happen.

So we've been putzing around. We thought that we should try this idea for the planter walls. We took all of the scrap two-by that we had from the framing and picked through it. We tossed anything that had a bunch of nails or was too small. Then we fired up the table saw and ripped the scrap into alluminum can-width pieces.

Then we cut them to can height, so that the finished block was pretty close to the same size of a can. These scraps had been sitting in front of the house for months and were pretty dry but once we had them cut, we let them sit a few more weeks. We want all of the moisture out of the wood so that it doesn't shrink once it's in the wall.

We had a few warm days and so we started on the first planter wall. We mixed cement and started laying the blocks just like we would a can wall. This was a lot of fun. We alternated the direction of the blocks and we were very sure to get cement all the way around the blocks so that they were not touching each other. As we got higher, we built a little square so that we could easily check the plum.

It looks like this will work very well so far. It's only been a few weeks though, so it's too early to tell. Once we get the wall built all the way up, we will plaster it and that will add a lot of strength and durability. The idea here is that maybe I can recycle all of the cans that I've been collecting!

We were going along quite well and then a real cold spell hit. You can't lay concrete if it's going to freeze before it cures some, so we had to quit and head inside. Once the wall is tall enough, we will put in a row of blue Arizona Iced Tea bottles. We're going for a pretty neat effect here.

Our first step was to collect several hundred of these bottles. It's taken us a few years, but I think that we're done (now that we are addicted to the tea!)

Next we removed the labels. The best way I found to do this is to warm the bottles a little bit in the oven or in the sun then peel them off. Then we got a bottle cutter at a hobby store and started cutting. You etch the bottle then heat it just a little (we used a propane torch) and then dunk it in ice water and it cracks along the etched line. This worked very well for about 100 bottles. Then the blade got dull and required more force to etch the bottle, which in turn, resulted in the mess below and 13 stitches in my hand. Oops.

After that fiasco, I decided to try a different method. On advice from one of the ESSA list members I rented a wet saw for cutting tile. I was a little worried about sticking a glass bottle onto the wirring steel blade, but it worked. The cut isn't as smooth and as clean as with the bottle cutter, but it goes a whole lot faster. I found that the wet saw threw little bits of glass everywhere, and so I put up a little plastic curtain. I also used a face shield and several heavy layers of clothes. Oh, and notice the leather gloves. I ain't too smart but I learn quick!

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