Welcome to a course where we explore an age-old and sustainable building material: clay. During this practical course you will have the opportunity to discover the art of mixing and applying clay plaster to a facade as well as explore lime plaster to create beautiful and functional surfaces.
During the first weekend of August (3rd-4th) we offer you the opportunity to create hands-on with clay plaster on site at our round strawbalehouse Rundbalshuset in Kassjö, 20 km outside of Umeå (Västerbotten, Sweden).
Experience and enjoy this amazing building material which creates healthy houses. We will guide you through the entire process, from preparation to finishing touches, so you can learn how to create living surfaces with clay plaster.
Course content:
- Clay plaster as a building material
- Mixing and preparation
- Application techniques and surface treatment
- Guiding of our round strawbalehouse Rundbalshuset (translated “Roundbale House”)
We have had a lot of courses and visits on our building site since the construction started, and some reviews from previous course participants can be found further down in this page.
We who teach the course are Laura & Erik Vidje, and we have been building our own strawbalehouse since 2017. During the last 10 years, Laura has learned a lot about clay and ecological construction, and has applied most of the clay plaster to the walls of the house, and Erik has i.e. become great at mixing the plaster and laying clay floors.
Now it’s time to plaster the rough-plastered facade of our guest cabin, which is also built with strawbales.
Time
3rd of august saturday 10:00 – 17:00
4th of august sunday 10:00 -16:00
Place
Kassjö, 20 km outside of Umeå
Course fee
3300 SEK incl. VAT,
& lunch, refreshments, coffee/tea
Course teachers
We, Laura & Erik, have designed and built most of our house ourselves since 2017. Since 2014 we have taken several courses in both theoretical and practical eco-building, with a focus on strawbales and claybuilding, passivehouse design and permaculture.
During the course, we will go through mixing clay plaster with local materials, different additions of reinforcement, and focus on fine finishing plasters on the facade and some lime plaster on the base of bricks.
There is also the opportunity to experience clay in many different forms at Rundbalshuset, everything from rough plaster, to clay floors, clay plaster with biochar, waxed glossy clay putty, tadelakt shower walls, as well as walls built of clay lightstraw, reused bricks and clay mortar.
During the day, we eat a homemade vegan soup lunch together and you will get a thorough guide of the our round strawbalehouse. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask your questions when we show you the results of our self-build, and inform more about e.g. circular solutions for water, heat, energy, and more.
We will have the course in both Swedish and English, so there will be two groups rotating between different activities, one group for swedish-speaking participants and one for english-speaking participants. There will be a maximum of 10 participants in total.
You are very welcome to join and learn more about clay construction, secure your place by signing up below, and please check out the practical information by scrolling down further.
Practical information
We will spend most of the time outdoors, and work in smaller teams around the guest house.
Please bring your own tightfitting rubber gloves, work gloves, possibly a face mask (it can get dusty), as well as working clothes that are allowed to get dirty, and a change of clothes. If you want to try working with lime, you need your own safety glasses, and long-armed shirts to protect the skin. We have tools and all other materials on site.
As this is not a course opportunity via a swedish study association, you need to have your own accident insurance on the building site, i.e. please double check your insurance just to be safe. We would also like to mention that we photograph and film parts of the construction stages, if you do not want to be in the picture, just let us know in advance.
Unfortunately, there is no public transport to Kassjö, but carpooling is usually possible, e.g. from Umeå where there are some possibilities for overnight stays. Alternatively, you can spend the night in your own tent on site, or take the buss to Brännland where we can pick you up. Previous participants have also biked, but its about 20 km from Umeå city center.
For questions please contact laura@elvahallbara.se
Participants reviews
A very fun and educational course about clay and all its fantastic properties as a building material. This course has opened my eyes to clay and now I am eager to try using clay in a project of my own.
Joel Norén, carpenter and participant during the 2020 Clay building days with Johannes Riesterer
A hands-on course that provides a superb foundation for your own clay projects.
Annelie Lagesson & Sebastian Ulonska Viklands, ownerbuilders @Grossmyran 2019, Claycourse with Ulf Henningsson
It was a good mix of theory and practice. I felt safe in the various construction steps that were led by the competent teacher Ulf. Everyone was allowed to participate. We got a good group cohesion in a short time. Thank you Laura and Erik for a good plan and well-organized course!
Tara Roxendal,
participant 2018, course with Ulf Henningsson
I attended the clay construction course together with my family and afterwards we felt that we had gained both the confidence and the basic knowledge to start testing at home ourselves.
Inspiring! The course is highly recommended to anyone who is curious about the possibilities of clay as a building material.
Freja, participant during the 2020 Clay building days with Johannes Riesterer
Thank you so much for today, it was extremely rewarding and we are humbly grateful that you share in this unique way
An incredible amount of impressions and information to process for both of us now, but the experience of the HOUSE remains as a warm, embracing feeling!
Participants during the Guided Tour in march 2024
You have done an absolutely incredible job, we are deeply impressed!
Construction technology and choice of materials, etc. in all glory, but the FEELING inside the house was so overwhelming of calm and well-being that I am completely taken, thank you once again
The course with Ulf, at Laura and Erik’s, was very fun! We got to try several different techniques and were also involved in the construction, i.e. benefit with pleasure!
Ulf was calm, methodical and incredibly knowledgeable. It was a really rewarding and fun weekend that I’m so glad I took part in!
Laura and Erik inspire and were very generous.
If you have the opportunity to take a course with them, go for it! 😃👍
Sofia, participant 2018, course with Ulf Henningsson
