Difficulty: Moderately Challenging Things You'll Need:

* Home site * Home design * 1000 used tires * Scrap cardboard * Approximately 525 tons of dirt * Wheelbarrow * Heavy sledgehammer * Approximately 1 ton of aluminum cans * Concrete * Masonry tools * Materials and tools to create the roof * Adobe plaster

How to Make a House with Old Tires

Do you want to live in an environmentally friendly home but the thought of building a home from new materials seems to be the opposite of the green motto of reduce, reuse, recycle? Think about a house made out of old tires. It is economical, both in its building and in the energy efficiency of the home. Additionally, covered in adobe/mud, a tire house can be just as attractive as any house. Nobody knows what the walls are made of when it's finished.

Getting Started
1. Design your tire house and prepare your site. If you don't have experience in home design and construction you should .consult an architect and contractor, or a person who's built her own home, Touch the Earth Construction specializes in tire homes, providing plans, assistance and answers to frequently asked questions. Gather a large number of used, standard size passenger car tires. Aim for gathering at least 1000 from local junkyards, landfills and tire dealerships. If tire houses aren't popular in your area, you can get them for free. Lay the tires one-deep where you want your walls. Place cardboard in the bottom of each tire. Fill each tire with dirt, using a wheelbarrow to transport it and ramming the dirt down thoroughly. You can do this by hand with a heavy sledgehammer or you can rent earth-ramming equipment to do it more quickly and thoroughly. It takes approximately three wheelbarrows full of dirt to fill one tire.

2.

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5. Stack a new layer of tires on top of the first, staggering them for stability, and repeat the filling and ramming process. Stack additional layers of tires the same way until your tire house walls are as high as you want them. 6. Use aluminum cans for filler to create a relatively flush wall. Then, cover both the interior and exterior walls with concrete. 7. Create the roof of your house. Usually in tire house construction, the roof can't be made of tires. Use whatever materials you want to get the look you desire. Apply adobe mud/plaster to the tire walls to create a

8.

How to Make a

Name ________________________

Date __________ Period _____ 1. The article is MAINLY about __________________________________ 2. Which of the following would be the best alternative title to this article? A. A Do-It Yourself Guide to Building a Tire House B. Fight Big Business by Building Your Own House C. Save the Planet One Tire at a Time D. Comparing Tire Homes to Traditional Homes 3. The purpose of this article is to A. Convince construction companies to build more housing from tires B. Explain how to create your own eco-friendly house from tires C. Persuade schools to Go Green and build with recycled tires D. Scare the reader about the damage new houses cause to the environment 4. The authors viewpoint can best be described as A. Against spending money to build a house B. Indifferent towards how a home looks C. In favor of environmentally friendly housing D. Negative towards large hardware stores What hints from the text helped you make this decision? _____________________

__________________________________________________

5. What does the article recommend that an inexperienced designer or builder do when they first get started with their tire home? A. Consult an architect or contractor to design your home B. Gather at least 1000 tires from an area junkyard C. Pick your color palette so you know what kind of mud to get D. Sell your existing house so you will be ready to move 6. Why do you think it is important to put a piece of cardboard at the bottom of each tire?

______________________________________________________ _______________ ______________________________________________________

7. What is the purpose of staggering the tires as you create your walls?

8. Which of the following is an opinion? A. Aim for gathering at least 1000 (tires) from local junkyards. B. Apply adobe plaster/mud to the tire walls to create a smooth finish. C. If tire houses arent popular in your area, you can get them for free. D. Covered in adobe, a tire house can be just as attractive as any house. 9. Which statement best paraphrases Step 7? Usually in tire house construction, the roof can't be made of tires. Use whatever materials you want to get the look you desire.

A. B. C. D.

Build the roof out of anything you want besides tires. One of the last steps is to build the roof of your house. The roof is essential to keep the rain out of your new house. Tires are too heavy to use for roofing material.

10. What is the text structure of the introductory paragraph? Circle one

Cause & Effect

Compare & Contrast

Sequence

Problem & Solution

Descriptio n

11. What is the text structure of the section, Getting Started? Circle one

Cause & Effect

Compare & Contrast

Sequence

Problem & Solution

Descriptio n

_______________________ ______________________________________________________ Think ______________________________________________________ ACE ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ A ______________________________________________________ Answer ______________________________________________________ C ______________________________________________________ Cite ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ E ______________________________________________________
how it helps the reader better understand the article. Explain

12. Pick one of the text features from the article, How to Make a House with Old Tires and explain