Building for Free (or Pretty Darn Cheaply)

Back in 2013 my money started to run out, so I learned to build for free. I also learned there's no such thing as limitation when it comes to creation. If one road (the one that requires banknotes) is blocked, we automatically find other solutions. The solutions are nearly always an improvement. It's ironic, but ten years in I can hand-on-heart say that my moneyless (or near moneyless) creations are the ones that garner the most interest, and that I love the most too.

The Mud Home in Turkey

The Forest Reading Room

This was pretty much everyone's favourite area and it cost in total about £5 to create.
What you need: A forest. A rubbish dump for old furniture, and some imagination. A Mediterranean climate is also a definite bonus.
Chairs
Cost: £0
The chairs were second hand. You can find plenty of old furniture in dumps and cover it.

Chair covers
Cost: £3 for two covers. These were damaged curtains sold cheap at the local bazaar.

Coffee table
Cost: £2 for paint.
The table was a throwaway. Originally the most ugly TV console you can imagine, it only took a lick of lilac paint to transform it.

Mosaic

Mosaic is a fabulous and cheap method of turning anything into something.
And its versatile too. You can use it on walls, tables, shelves, steps... And you can stick anything you can find in mosaic. Broken bottles, mirrors, plates, cups, beads, tiles, flower pots...

The Kitchen

Believe it or not, the kitchen in my mud home in Turkey cost about £150 to build. Most of that went on the roof tiles, which I bought in flusher days, and with hindsight didn't need. In fact, I hated those tiles. They leaked for one thing, and absorbed the heat for another. A living roof would have been better and cheaper. A minimal amount was spent on wood for the kitchen. Many of the posts were used from cut branches. They are stronger and more aesthetic than those bought at the loggers yard, with no transportation headache either.

Earth plaster spice shelf.
Cost: £0
Wooden worktop and shelves.
Cost: £8
Kitchen Wall
Cost: Pretty much £0
Made from rocks found on the land and earth plaster.
Kitchen sink with a view.
Cost: £15 for the sink.
Made from rocks and limecrete, a fruit crate (drying rack) and an aluminium sink.

The Stone Barns in Spain

Wattle and daub bathroom extension
For step by step how this was made, hop over to my wattle and daub page.
Cost: 175 Euros all in.
Wood for roof 50 €
Wattles 0 €
Earth plaster 15 €  sand and straw
Rocks 0
Glass for windows 20 €
Interior wood for composting toilet and shelving 0 €, all off-cuts or foraged.
Shower floor tiles and grouting 15 €
Limecrete 5 € (sand and lime)
Sink and pipes 35 €
Taps 10 €
Brackets, hinges and screws 10 €
Door wood 15 €
The kitchen hut
Total cost of interior refurb: 170 Euros
Sand: 30 €
Lime: 10 €
Clay: Free from land
Wood and ply for cupboards: 80 €
Straw (plaster) 5 €
Nails/screws 10 €
Sink (metal bowl) 2 €
Tap and pipe: 10 €
Chairs: Free (given)
Chalk paint: 10 €
Table legs: 10 € (rest made from roof offcuts)

Doors
Doors can be super cheap to make if you do it yourself which is what I pretty much always do now.
Olde door (left): 5 Euros for oil and screws.The wood was old chestnut slats I plundered from my barn.
New door: 30 Euros for the pine, oil, lock, handle and screws.
Hen coop
Total cost: Max 15 Euros
3 Euros for sand in the earth plaster
10 Euros for hinges and locks
All wood and roofing board and plastic tarp were left over scraps.
You can see how I built it here.
For more of my cheap/free creations, have a look at my OUTSIDE SPACES page.
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