Ice Igloo

Everybody loves to make something in winter season.This time i decided to try to make small emergency igloo.

I was able to complete it, with a few windows, and a stove before it melted.

I used a hand saw to cut out blocks for the igloo construction.

An igloo can actually be built in so many different ways.

You can use different methods making the blocks and you can use different techniques stacking the blocks,when building up the Igloo.

We only receive about 6 inches of snow,just enough for an igloo!

I started by making a big pile of snow and let it sit overnight.

Temperature was below freezing and the snow was dry which means the snow blocks were very fragile.

First making a snow blocks.

Now start making a mark, and put a ice block on the mark and then made a second layer of ice upon a first layer of ice blocks and do i continue till the last block. and make sure that last block was bigger and cover a full space which was remain.

The hardest part of the construction is the roof since it is almost horizontal.

The trick is to shape the blocks so they lock into each other.

Typically the last block is bigger and fills up the remaining hole.

I am adding a coat of snow on the exterior in order to seal up the walls.

After completing the main structure. I am adding the entry.

Again, working with dry snow can be difficult.

One has to be very careful handling the fragile blocks.

I didn't compact the snow as much as i would have preferred.

The more compacted the snow is, the stronger the blocks would be.

The igloo would also be structurally stronger.

I added more compact snow for entrance to make it sturdy.

The sun was hitting hard on the south side of the igloo causing it to melt.

Overnight the temperature dropped will be below freezing and the following days were mostly cloudy, the Igloo firmed up again, but the damage was done.

I decided to insert some structural walls inside the igloo to give the wall and roof to support, In case it warm up again.

I used the garbage can to form the blocks.

Those blocks turned out very nice.

The Interior wall not only support the structure,But they also give the interior a cool appearance.

The cross-country ski works well to reach the top of the Igloo when smoothing but the exterior.

One would think the walls are thin at the bright spot but I was surprised how thick they were.

I think the light penetrates the block is here since the snow in the blocks is not that dense.

I made the window out of ice, one for the skylight on the ceiling of igloo.

It took two days for the water to freeze up, and it still didn't freeze up completely.

The cardboard is for shaping the skylight opening to fit the skylight.

I use the road to mark out the locations of the windows from the inside of the Igloo.

Window is made up of ice. It took two days to made freeze bar.

It's looked cool and awesome.Sky light was amazing.

I added stove as it is an overkill in this situation, but comes in very handy in extremely cold temperatures.

Typically all you need is a few candles.

Make sure you have proper ventilation in the igloo for the stove.

The twins insulate the snow from the hot chimney.

The igloo quite big, the inside floor diameter is 8 feet, and the igloo would easily sleep at least three people.

The wall project was actually a race with time, since the snow was only going to last a few days, before the weather warming up again.

All done, let's go inside to take a look!

Time to enjoy the igloo, before it melts away.