I prefer heavy duty 2-gallon plastic buckets for filling earthbags, the same kind used for bucketing cement. They’re strong and small enough that everyone can handle them comfortably. In fact, they’re just the right size. Because they’re larger than the metal cans typically used, work progresses more rapidly. Two rounded shovelfuls fill a 2-gallon bucket [...]
Archive for December, 2008
Bag Filling: Buckets versus Cans
Posted in Filling Bags, Introduction, tools, tagged bag filling, earthbag building, earthbags on December 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Stabilized Earth Walls
Posted in Filling Bags, Introduction, climate, tagged earth walls, earthbags, lime, stabilized walls on December 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Stabilizers make earth walls stronger, more moisture resistant, and reduce shrinking and swelling. Water is the number one enemy of earth buildings and adding stabilizers (particularly in rainy climates) is one way to create more durable structures.
Lime (Type S – Hydrated Lime) is one of the best stabilizers for clay soils, and more environmentally friendly [...]
Automated Bag Filling Machine
Posted in Economics, Filling Bags, Introduction, tools, tagged Add new tag, automated bag filling, earthbags, sandbags on December 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Strawbale houses were first built shortly after the invention of the baling machine. Settlers in western Nebraska who had access to this machine were quick to realize the potential of large, insulated building blocks. And the rest of the story, as they say, is history. This same potential now exists for earthbag building.
The benefits of [...]
EZBagger and GoBagger Bag Fillers
Posted in Filling Bags, Introduction, tools, tagged Add new tag, bag fillers, bag filling, bucket chute, earthbags, sandbags on December 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Readers are asking about two bag filling devices on the Internet — EZBagger and GoBagger. They scoop and funnel sand directly into bags.
My preference for a bag filler was explained in my post titled Bucket Chutes (December 16, 2008). I explained how you can modify a standard $1 bucket in couple of minutes for something [...]
Building an Earthbag Dome
Posted in Domes, Filling Bags, Foundations, Introduction, tagged Add new tag, Australia, Domes, earthbags, permaculture on December 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Originally published by Owner Builder Magazine, this excellent article by Rob Wainwright of Permaforest Trust comes complete with many useful building details, as well as quite a few beautiful photos. Rob explains how they built their four meter dome step-by-step clearly enough that others could build one similar.
This project is now featured on our Projects [...]
The Broken Earth Foster Village
Posted in Building Styles, Domes, Emergency Shelter, Introduction, tagged Add new tag, Domes, earthbag, foster care, village on December 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
James and Suzanne McConnell, co-founders of The Foster Village, are creating a self sustaining earthbag eco-pueblo pilot program for foster teenagers near Ojo Caliente, NM. Children living full time in an eco-pueblo along with their visiting parents, when appropriate, will work side-by-side, interacting and caring for animals, gardening, building earthbag domes, milking goats, making cheese [...]
Bucket Chutes
Posted in Filling Bags, Introduction, tools, tagged bag filling, bucket chute, earthbag on December 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
To keep earthbags open during filling I recommend a bucket chute – a plastic bucket with the bottom one inch cut off. A 4-gallon bucket fits perfectly in our 18” wide bags. Simply insert the chute in the bag opening and you’re ready to add fill material.
Credit for this clever idea goes to Trevor Lytle, [...]
Simple Earth Buildings for the Humid Tropics
Posted in Building Styles, Foundations, Introduction on December 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Simple Earth Buildings for the Humid Tropics by Patti Stouter is the third in a series of PDF documents that she has written (and made available for free) about building in hot and humid environments. This 17-page document focuses on several basic home plans that could easily be built with earthbags.
Patti writes, “These buildings have [...]
Earthbag Furniture
Posted in Bag Material, Introduction, tagged earthbags, furniture, rice hulls on December 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Looking for the perfect furniture for your new earthbag home? Everyone’s familiar with bean bag furniture, but most brands use polystyrene fill, a possible carcinogenic. Consider making your own furniture filled with rice hulls as an all natural fill.
Rice hulls are surprisingly comfortable. I discovered this by accident about six months ago when I sat [...]
Emergency Earthbag Shelter Proposal
Posted in Emergency Shelter, Introduction, tagged Add new tag, earthbag, Emergency Shelter, shelter on December 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Patti Stouter and I have just completed a proposal for Emergency Earthbag Shelters. The basic premise is many times tarps alone do not provide sufficient shelter for humanitarian relief operations, while tents may not be available or cost effective. What is often needed is a simple family shelter solution that is easy to transport and [...]
