Holz Hausen Wood Pile With Living Roof

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Holz Hausen Wood Pile With Living Roof

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Күн бұрын

Holz Hausen Wood Pile With Living Roof
Episode 21
This video covers how I built my Holz Hausen (German for "Wood House"). The Holz Hausen is a method of stacking and curing wood by building round walls, piling wood inside those walls, and adding wood or other materials to the top for a roof. I looked at a few books and videos to get ideas on how to build the Holz Hausen and then went with my own roof design based on the materials that I had on hand. I added Moss to the roof to give it a Living Roof which I think makes it even more aesthetically pleasing. After completing the Holz Hausen, I noticed that rain was dripping from the roof on to the stacked wood. I am going to extend the roof by inserting one more layer of siding/shingles under the existing roof. This will keep any runoff from hitting the wood. Update video to follow.
#almosthomestead #holzhausen #woodstacking #firewoodstorage #cabinliving
*We did a quick shout out at the end of the video for two Homesteading channels that we enjoy. Please check them out and subscribe. Thank you.
Downtown To Smalltown Farming
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Tiny Hilltop Food Forest
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Almost Homestead refers to our unconventional approach to Homesteading on three separate small properties and working with what we have. It also refers to the fact that this is not our ideal Homestead situation but almost. In the future we hope to purchase a new Homestead location with more land. Our goal is to share our journey and inspire others that might be thinking about living a more self sustainable lifestyle. Follow along as we build, repair, reuse, scrounge for materials, plant, forage, explore, eat, drink, and share what we are doing to make this dream a reality.
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Пікірлер: 92

@hambone3145 2 жыл бұрын

I built my first holzhausen yesterday and already I have found a problem with it. I can't get anything else done because I stand there all day staring at it. It's beautiful.

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

Haha! I hear ya. You've created a masterpiece. 🤔🙌😁

@lmac36 5 ай бұрын

Oh I love this! Two years apart we had Hurricanes Dorian and Fiona hit us. Our woods took a major hit. We are still in cleanup mode. I came onto KZfaq looking for something 1/2 decent for wood storage. Instead I found this freaking amazing structure called a Holz Hausen! Such a great video and I can’t wait to try it!

@AlmostHomestead 5 ай бұрын

Oh man, that sounds pretty rough. The holz hausens hold a lot of wood and we love how they look too. They are loved by people in our community and serve as a landmark. 😁 I've seen someone put a tarp cover made for a holz hausen but never looked into it. Good luck! 👍

@lmac36 5 ай бұрын

@@AlmostHomestead Thank you for your reply. The bright side of it is we will have about 6 winters worth of firewood when finished. (Low estimate lol) PEI, Canada here and our Fall & Spring seasons are quite rainy so I will try the tarp. I’ll let you know how that goes. 👍

@appalachianstacker3876 5 жыл бұрын

I built my second holz hausen this year. It is ten feet in diameter and about five tall where the stack starts to taper upward. It is really incredible how much wood these can hold. I bought a cheap tarp and built mine on it and then just cut off the excess. Good job on yours. I like the Moss.

@AlmostHomestead 5 жыл бұрын

appalachian stacker Yes, they hold a lot of wood and look pretty cool. I will probably try a tarp top if I build another. Went for the fancy top on the one in the driveway. I have a smaller one in back with no roof. Kind of a bee hive thing. Thanks for watching!

@grandmadee5987 6 жыл бұрын

WOW THAT IS SOOO BEAUTIFUL I REALLY DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES. I MIGHT SOUND DUMB BUT I NEVER SAW ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE IN MY LIFE. I LOVE IT AND WILL SHARE IT. I'M LIKING THIS TOO!!!

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

GRANDMA DEE ...Thank you so much for the wonderful compliment and the support.

@bbsbacktobasics7695 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks J for your speedy reply :) Yah,,, that's a good idea to maybe bungee cord it or better yet send pick to cable company and have them do it right!

@sparkeyspark5961 5 жыл бұрын

AMAZING !!!! I have heard of Yurts. Never Holz Hausen. You are really talented Jay.

@AlmostHomestead 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Gin got a book from the library that showed different Norwegian wood stacking methods. I thought that they were pretty amazing and had to build one myself.😀

@HopeThisWorksOurHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

I think you did a fantastic job Jay! Good functionality and great form. I think that may be on my to do list🙂

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Yeah, pretty fun to make. Turn your woodpile into art. Haha!

@StoneyCreekHeritageFarm 6 жыл бұрын

Jay, great info! And you project looks pretty cool too. Glad how talked about what to differently next time near the end. Have a great weekend!

@beebob1279 4 жыл бұрын

Never heard of the poles across the Holz House. Interesting to keep it all together

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

It's worked pretty well as far as I can tell. Didn't have any problems with sections of the stack falling off while building and it withstood a little earthquake. Haha!

@simonfox5123 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent video, thanks for posting. My wood stove is coming in a couple of months and I’ve got 2 1/2 cords sat outside ready to stack. Love this idea, thanks again for posting.

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you. It's a nice way to create art with your wood pile. Good luck with your build

@stevendesteven3668 4 жыл бұрын

I’m building one right now. The 2 poles is a good tip. The green roof is hilarious and also pretty cool.

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Steven! The Holz Hausen's that I have built with inner support poles have all stood up to some small earthquakes which is cool. We decorated the Holz Hausen in this video for Christmas the year we built this one. It looked pretty cool with the roof, fake door, fake window, and lights.

@jodysappington7008 6 жыл бұрын

like the wood pile..... thank you for sharing

@froghatsepshout 3 жыл бұрын

Hello from Belgium, we've got plenty of wood for the stove and I've been trying to find an original way to store it. Yours looks like a hobbit house or even a mushroom... I want to try building one.... And will try your technique later this pm... The past days I tried another way of storing the wood for drying but a third of my "construction" collapsed... No worry, I see that as a kind of sport 😁 Hopefully by next week I can tell whether I managed better using your way... Thanks for sharing your video

@AlmostHomestead 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds great! Good luck with stacking your wood. It's a great way to turn your wood stack into art. 🙂👍

@PaulOtis 6 жыл бұрын

that looks really cool!

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Paul!

@homegrowncountryhomeplace 6 жыл бұрын

Great job stacking or should I say building your firewood! Looks nice too! Have a Blessed Day!

@EudaemoniusMarkII 3 жыл бұрын

This looks great!!

@AlmostHomestead 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@johnhaug5527 2 жыл бұрын

It looks good!

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks John. It's kind of like yard art. Haha!

@ChickaWoofRanch 6 жыл бұрын

Well done!

@LizZorab 6 жыл бұрын

This is awesome, I love it! Great editing too.

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Liz Zorab - Byther Farm ... Thank you so much Liz. A lot of time went into sorting out footage and editing. 😁

@jeffreyarmstrong2800 2 жыл бұрын

Great job!!

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you

@nkyhomesteading6500 6 жыл бұрын

I like it. Great job!

@dianemurphy2840 6 жыл бұрын

Looks great!!!

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Diane Murphy ... Thank you!

@defend223 2 жыл бұрын

Nice work, looks great!

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Much appreciated.

@ogurki8989 3 жыл бұрын

Beautifull!))

@trailjockeytj6160 Жыл бұрын

I heard that holzhausen is” Roundhouse” Also I see people building these with pieces set sideways to camber everything inward, when all logs have a taper to them and if you just put the larger side out it will then give you that camber without having to put those sideways pieces.

@timothylongmore7325 5 жыл бұрын

Shingles worked good. I'm a carpenter and end up with a lot of cut -offs and demolition wood that gets made into kindlin wood. I'm going to use that for roofing. I'm thinking a junk tire on top to hold the top together and camoflage it with the bark moss idea. I'm going to try it slope out too.

@AlmostHomestead 5 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a good plan especially the tire on top. That should hold the roof on really well. Good luck!

@et5222 4 жыл бұрын

You are to woodstacking what Green Dream is to rock stacking (gabions)... Love the polka.

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

Haha! Thank you.

@TinyHilltop 6 жыл бұрын

You crushed that. Good on you!

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Nate. Gave you a shout out at very end of video in case you missed it. I'm not that big of a channel but figure every bit helps. Peace!

@TinyHilltop 6 жыл бұрын

Right on! Thank you, I appreciate it very much!

@mizzkathryn7 4 жыл бұрын

Very nice good job

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. We love the look of these and the neighbors enjoy seeing them also.

@MrRastakefir 4 жыл бұрын

thumbs up just for the intro :)

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

Haha! Thank you.

@Wilderstead 6 жыл бұрын

Great video Jay!! This might just be my favourite so far! Awesome detail and explanation of the project. Love it! Very good tip about the taper of the tower towards the top/rainwater hitting the bottom. I've wanted to try this for a while now so this might be the year to do it.

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Dans Bois Homestead ... Thanks Dave! Our youngest son is bring up more cedar siding that I had stashed so I can extend the roof. I tried jamming cedar fence wood pcs under the cedar siding roof but it started loosening things up. I’ve seen bee hive shaped ones with no roof but we get so much rain here even in summer so a roof seemed like the way to go. You’ll have to film if you build one. Would love to see other versions.

@Shifffyy 10 ай бұрын

Looks great! I grew up in Marysville and the San Juan islands. How did this hold up in the great northwest? Would you have changed anything besides building the roof out a bit further? How did you remove the wood for actual usage (since you said this was also going to act as a storage location, not just a wood seasoning location)? Thanks!!!!! Awesome job!!!! Always looking for unique ways to dry firewood in the persistent rain of the best state in the US!

@AlmostHomestead 10 ай бұрын

Hey Thanks. It woud have been nice to extend the roof a bit but I was just using what I had laying around. Some of the outer wood got wet but not too bad. I think you can actually buy a roof cover for your Holz Hausen. I saw the youtuber Wranglerstar had some at one point. When I started using the wood, I tore the roof off and covered it with a tarp. At that point the cool looking structure was gone. Haha!

@Shifffyy 10 ай бұрын

@@AlmostHomestead gotcha! Makes sense. Looks awesome though as you had it. Thanks!!

@susanpratt6344 2 жыл бұрын

Have never seen one of these. It is like a beautiful cake you just baked and iced...you don't want to cut into it. But you can't wait to taste it. Anyway, it was a great video/DIY/build. Question...how do you start using it? 🙂

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

I've built a few of these now and it always feels weird taking it apart. It's such a neat thing to look at. I basically take the roof off and start pulling wood off to stack in front of the cabin. I cover it with a tarp after that until it's all been moved over several months.

@susanpratt6344 2 жыл бұрын

@@AlmostHomestead Ah ha. Perfect.

@bbsbacktobasics7695 6 жыл бұрын

Hi Jay,, that is so cool. Love it. I have a question referring to my last (silly) video I posted. Was wondering why the picture that shows my video (kinda froze) and is what it starts with those very unsightly cable wire? Thanks J..Love your videos:)

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

BB's Back to Basics ... The video didn’t freeze when I watched it just now. Maybe I misunderstood your question? That is a ridiculous job by the cable company with that box. I wonder if you could wrap a bungee cord around it to get closed up as much as possible. Maybe send a picture of it all opened up (like it is) to the cable company’s Headquarters.

@millsy131 2 жыл бұрын

Sorry. To be really thick, but .... How and when do you get the wood out to use on your stove. It's a great structure though . Good luck Millsy and Vera

@AlmostHomestead 2 жыл бұрын

The next winter you just start pulling it apart starting from the top. At that point I cover it with a tarp if needed as i use it.

@georgetucker336 4 жыл бұрын

Nice Holz Housen. Well designed. Nice Bavarian look. However, I be leave the drying effect is to allow it to have a chimney effect. Not fully caped off. The Holz Housen design was used by early European farmers, because of limited land space. It was placed close to the farm house for easy access. Of course it pleasing to the eye. The farmer did not really care, it had to be functional so any one in the family could get wood for the daily usage. Today, the European farmer, where wood is not readily available, has abandoned the wood burning, due to the heavy air pollination it causes. Wood is still burned, but in less populated areas. The wood stoves have to be efficient due to the strict regulations of the country. Much stricter than in the Americas. Europe has a lot of crazy rules, we might think. Remember there land is smaller with a high population. There has to be some kind of control, Right.

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

I agree on the air flow. I have three other Holz Hausen's with no roof. The one with a roof was just for decoration and is appreciated by people in the community. I think that the strict rules for woodstoves are important as they also promote cleaner burning stoves. So far the only wood that we have burned, has been from trees that had to come down due to safety concerns or trees that came down in a storm. In general we want to keep as many trees standing as possible and preserve our forest setting. We would eventually like to have a Rocket mass Heater. That would burn branches and small pieces of wood which we have an abundance of around here.

@georgetucker336 4 жыл бұрын

@@AlmostHomestead I never built a Holz House wood stack pile.I have been toying with the idea. I stack my wood in row piles. I do cover my fire wood. Living in the north east snow gets in to the piles and freezes. When I build the Holtz House I will be putting a tarp over the top and see what happens with the moisture content during the drying cycle.

@dtravisphd 5 жыл бұрын

Many thanks for publishing this. You did a great job. I feel confident building my own now. I'm thinking about using weed membrane as a base a I don't have any pallets or oak offcuts. Do you think this would work?

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

So sorry for the late response. I missed your comment. I'm not sure if the weed barrier would keep the base dry but I would probably use it also if that is all I had to work with.

@dtravisphd 4 жыл бұрын

@@AlmostHomestead I got some pallets after all and built on those. Thanks again for the instructional video.

@Gr8Layks 4 жыл бұрын

Shouldn't air be allowed to rise through the top center? I thought there was supposed to be a "chimney" effect; heat in center causes moist air to rise and dry air is sucked in through the sides. Just curious.

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

Not really sure. There is quite a bit of open airflow space around the whole stack in between the wood though. But kind of makes sense what you are saying. My roof may have hindered the airflow through the top resulting in slower drying process.

@jimb.restonva8462 4 жыл бұрын

This is really nice looking. My only question is how do you take wood from the Holz Hausen, without disrupting the structure, especially the roof?

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. When it's time to start burning the wood from the Holz Hausen, I take off the roof and start taking wood from the top and stacking it down by the cabin. At that point I put a tarp over the rest of the Holz Hausen.

@jimb.restonva8462 4 жыл бұрын

@@AlmostHomestead Thanks for your speedy reply! Again, really nice work and a great video.

@AlmostHomestead 4 жыл бұрын

@@jimb.restonva8462 You bet Jim. Thanks for checking out the video/channel.

@edieboudreau9637 6 жыл бұрын

So. That woodpile is a good start. When do you start the next 1? With gsm might need to keep extra on hand.

@AlmostHomestead 6 жыл бұрын

Edie Boudreau ... I built another one in my backyard. It’s a beehive style with no roof. You can see it here at 1:07. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rpekorVn09qmqI0.html

@edieboudreau9637 6 жыл бұрын

Almost Homestead viewed & liked. I like look of this one better but it's gotta work for You!