Strawbuilder offers a variety of workshops and classes for all ages. You and your family can learn how to sculpt structures out of natural materials. We offer workshops in the basics of cob, strawbale and other types of alternative construction. Learn to build an earthen bread oven or a garden bench or get your hands dirty creating natural plasters and paints. Natural building workshops create community and a source of empowerment among their participants.

If you would like to participate in a workshop please contact Chris Alvey. Or customize your own workshop with any group of three or more on your site or ours. Due to popularity, please call today!

Workshop Schedule

Throughout The Year:
Natural Plasters
Learn the art of creating our own natural plasters. Natural plasters transform cold impersonal walls to walls with warmth and beauty that have textures and tones that deepen and resonate with light changes through out the day. Natural plasters are durable, mold resistant and easy to work with. You will learn some basic recipes for natural plaster and how to change those recipes for different conditions. The following Natural Plaster workshops are held throughout the year. Call 860-605-7784 or email Chris for times and more details. (Any one or all of these series can be hosted by you at your site.)

Earth Plasters: in this course you will learn how to create earthen and clay plasters, from natural nontoxic materials. Learn how to harvest soils and clays from you site or region and turn them into beautiful plaster for your walls. $75 per person, $125 couple, $150 family.

Lime Plasters: In this course you will learn how to slake lime to create lime putty used to create beautiful lime based plasters. You will learn some basic recipes for lime plasters and some basic techniques for applications. $75 per person, $125 couple, $150 family.

Natural Paints: Learn how to create your own paints and finishes from natural materials like clay, milk and lime. The recipes learned in this class can be created in your own kitchen. You can make paint that has no VOC's is non-toxic and durable. Natural paints are easy to use durable and beautiful. This workshop is fun for the whole family. $50 per person.

July 12 - 15, 2007
Cob Building Workshop
Learn the basic techniques for building beautiful earthen structures out of cob. Cob is a mixture of soil, clay, sand and straw mixed into a mud used to sculpt beautiful monolithic structure cob has been used in Europe for thousand of year to create beautiful English cottages. learn the basic skills needed to create your own cob cottage or garden wall in this 4 day course. $250 per person. Contact Chris for group rates and more information about courses.

July 26, 2007
An Introduction to Natural Building and Green Building Lecture Hosted by Northwest Community College of Winsted, CT
This 2-hour lecture explores the importance of finding a more environmentally friendly method to home design and construction. We discuss natural and green building options, designs and methods. Become familiar with natural building materials and learn how to assess how environmentally friendly a material is. Price to be announced.

July 27 - 29, 2007
Natural Building Hands On Workshop
This four class series offers hands on experience in natural building. Learn how to source materials on site and sculpt beautiful structures with natural materials. Price to be announced. Please contact Chris Alvey for more information.

Carpentry For Women

May 4,5,6

This course offers basic carpentry skills for women.  Participants will learn about the structure of a house and how it is built. Topics include basic framing, exterior finishes and window and door insulation. We will work on a structure that has most or all of the above components.  Practice with hand and power tools will help participants to use these tools safely and confidently. 

$175.00 per participant

Basic Carpentry

Dates to be determined

This course is an opportunity for any one to learn basic carpentry skills we will work on a small structure teaching you basic framing, window and door installation and tool safety

$150 per participants

Summer/Fall, 2007
Southwest Desert Natural Building Trip
Join us on a trip to the Red Rock Deserts of Utah where we will do a hands on natural building project from raw materials collected from the desert. We will visit local ruins, pictographs and present-day natural buildings. Enjoy hiking and canyoneering in some of the National Parks and Monuments - Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon and Escalante. Join us for this exciting opportunity to turn the many different colors of the desert into beautiful structures. Summer/Fall 2007. Please contact Chris more for details

Chris Alvey

860-605-7784
strawbuilder@msn.com