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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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| 9/27/2006 4:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article
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AMANDA FRINK photo
In Ilwaco, Peter Guillozet and Matt Deniston use necessary precautions to prepare Faswall blocks to add to their vacation home in progress. |
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What the heck is it? An innovative house in Ilwaco
By AMANDA FRINK
Observer Staff Writer
ILWACO - There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the housing project on the corner of Lake and Elizabeth Streets in Ilwaco. Questions ranging from "That isn't going to be a house is it?" to "Why would you build a house out of cinder blocks?" have been asked for weeks as passersby watched Portland residents Peter Guillozet and his brother-in-law, Matt Deniston, stack large gray blocks one by one into the shape of a house.
Using a technique much like tediously building a house out of Legos, Guillozet, 38, and Deniston, 35, are building a new garage and vacation home for their family out of a fairly unfamiliar product called Faswall.
Consisting of 20-pound blocks made from 85 percent recycled wood chips and 15 percent Portland cement, Faswall bricks are high-strength and provide an insulating value equal to nine inches of fiberglass insulation. Faswall also states that their blocks will not burn or rot, will withstand "hurricane-force winds" and are sound-proof, non-toxic, and even pest resistant. Faswall also prides itself on being an ideal product for homes in damp areas by offering a slower air exchange to evaporate moisture and prevent molds. But what makes the Faswall building technique so unique is that it makes it possible for anyone to build their own house.
"This type of product has actually been around for quite a while," said Guillozet, who manages Tualatin River Watershed restoration projects. "It was developed shortly after World War II, but so far there are only a few houses in this area of the country that are made from it. The nearest homes being in Cannon Beach, Portland, Bend, and up the Columbia River Gorge."
According to Faswall's Web site, the unique building blocks were created out of necessity in Europe when war-torn countries couldn't afford to buy building materials. Instead they used leftover waste wood chips and mixed them with cement to create blocks that, when used in large structures, would conserve materials and energy.
Much later, in 1987, Hans and Leni Walter discovered what is now called the patented K-X Process, which allows a variety of fibrous materials to be mixed with cement to make insulating blocks, including green timber and agricultural byproducts.
Though these wood-cement building blocks have been around for years, Deniston said that they have never worked with Faswall before.
"Peter learned about Faswall while researching sustainable building techniques and products on the web," said Deniston, who is a product manager and human factors consultant that is currently contracting with the Bonneville Power Administration's Fish and Wildlife program. "Key for us was using recycled, sustainable material, and Faswall seems to be about as low impact as it gets with plenty of nice benefits."
After approximately three months of planning, Deniston and his wife Nicole (a "super mom" and part-time property manager) and Guillozet and wife Kas, (a founder of the Streamside Resources consultancy) decided to build a 1,060 square foot house and a 790 square foot garage and "mother-in-law apartment" in downtown Ilwaco, just an earshot from the port.
"We chose to build in Ilwaco because it is a great, small, yet vibrant town in a fantastic location," said Deniston. "Our intent is to make the building footprints as small and efficient as possible. This translates to more energy efficient buildings and hopefully a simpler lifestyle."
With help from local businesses and inspectors, as well as labor help from Cesar Teran, the Deniston and Guillozet families have been steadily working and stacking day in and day out to make further progress on their earth-friendly vacation home. So far they say that they haven't had many problems during the process, but their efforts were temporarily stalled when they were trying to dig up the sewer line and accidentally broke the water main.
"It was unexpected," said Deniston. "Yet Ilwaco's finest came to our aid and took care of our misstep."
When the brick forms are finished, they will stucco the outside walls and add curved rooftops. Peter and Kas Guillozet also have plans for landscaping the yard area with native plants.
Overall, the earth-friendly out-of-towners seem to be happy with their progress and their choice of building supplies.
"It's rot, fire, and bug proof, has good insulation value, and is pretty easy to build with - even for a group of rookies," said Deniston.
But these hard workers have one tip for anyone who is thinking about building with Faswall: "Do have an ample supply of gloves, the Faswall is pretty rough and gobbles up leather gloves like a kid consumes ice cream."
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Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, July 01, 2007
Article comment by:
jerry parker
Saw the house last week. Looks great! What do you plan to finish the exterior?
Posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Article comment by:
Tom Johnson
Greetings,
Wonderful to see your project. I am working with a Habitat for Humanity group here in Seattle and we are looking for sustainable building systems that might work for them and I wonder if you could contact me so we could talk about your experience with sourcing and using the material?
Thanks very much.
Tom
Posted: Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Article comment by:
jerry parker
I had but lost the web site of Peter Guillozet. Can you ask him to send it to me?
Jerry Parker
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