Earthbags are ideal for building greenhouses due to their resistance to moisture damage. Most anyone can build with earthbags, which can cut construction costs. When filled with insulation such as perlite or scoria, earthbag walls and foundations enable you to grow plants year-round.
Excess heat from a greenhouse attached to your home, like the one pictured [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Earthbag Greenhouses
Posted in Building Styles, Economics, Insulation, Introduction, climate, tagged attached greenhouse, earthbag building, earthbag construction, earthbag greenhouse, greenhouse plan, sandbag greenhouse on April 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Earthbag Buildings Can Look Any Way You Like
Posted in Building Styles, Introduction, tagged earth house, earthbag building, earthbag construction, earthbag home tour, earthbag homes, earthbag houses, sandbag building, sandbag construction, sandbag homes, sandbag houses on April 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Much as been written about the technical aspects of building with earthbags and how they can be used to build safe, durable, beautiful, low-cost structures. But many readers are unfamiliar with this building method and are wondering what earthbag buildings look like. This inspired me to create a virtual tour of some of the best [...]
Thatched Roofs
Posted in Building Styles, Introduction, tagged earthbag building, earthbag homes, earthbag houses, sandbag building, sandbag home, sandbag houses, thatch, thatch roofing, thatch roofs on April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Many earthbag builders are fond of curved houses. That’s great because earthbags readily lend themselves to curved shapes. But what about the roof?
Thatch roofing is one good solution, depending on your climate and local codes. Here are a few links to get you started.
Exotic East, Bali huts and thatch
Installation instructions
This is clever because it [...]
Instant Earthbag Building Blocks
Posted in Introduction on April 19, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Jerry Collette of www.recycledrice.org is planning to use prepackaged rice hulls that come in 50 lb. polypropylene bags to build an earthbag tipi at the Pine Ridge Reservation. (See www.earthbagbuilding.com/bulletin)
He says that they cost about $6 US each, so it is not exactly dirt cheap, but there are definite advantages. Rice Hulls make excellent insulation, [...]
Internet Radio Show Appearance
Posted in Introduction, Uncategorized on April 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I was a guest on an internet radio talk show Wednesday, April 15, 2009 in the afternoon, discussing topics related to green home building. Quite a bit of the discussion was about earthbag building. See http://truthbrigade.com/
If you missed the live show, it will be archived at http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-11887/TS-212923.mp3
I don’t actually make my appearance on the show [...]
Toxic Drywall and the Ills of Modern Building
Posted in Economics on April 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I just read this article about the toxic effects of new houses that used drywall material shipped from China to the US in the last few years. Many people are getting quite sick and can no longer live in these contaminated homes. Nobody quite understands exactly what the cause is, except that the suspect drywall [...]
Decorative Finishing Details
Posted in Building Styles, Economics, Introduction, tagged decorative details, earth homes, earthbag homes, earthbag houses, finishing details, mosaics, salt cedar, sandbag homes, sandbag houses, tamarisk on April 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The folks at The Year of Mud: Building a Cob House have put together a great site, including very informative articles on creating mosaics in earth plaster and building a reciprocal roof (we’ll save this for a future topic). Dirt cheap techniques like mosaics can really enhance the appearance your home.
In addition to mosaics, there [...]
Dome Roofs
Posted in Building Styles, Ceilings, Domes, Introduction, tagged dome, dome roof, earthbag building, earthbag dome, earthbag home, earthbag house on April 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Tim Merritt, earthbag enthusiast and reader of our blog, sent us this roof idea from GardenDome.com. Tim is considering using these domes on top of earthbag walls to create more interesting shapes and save labor on the roof. The GardenDome.com website showcases over 60 domes of all different sizes and shapes. You can [...]
Building Earthbag Houses for Profit
Posted in Economics, Introduction, tagged affordable housing, building houses for profit, earthbag, earthbag building, earthbag construction, earthbag homes on April 9, 2009 | 5 Comments »
One of the biggest issues in society is the cost of housing. Hundreds of millions of people can’t afford housing (even in the US, Europe, etc.). So, there’s a huge demand, but a lack of affordable supply. Here is a prime business opportunity for those who are knowledgeable about earthbag building, since earthbag (sandbag) [...]
Creating Earthbag House Models
Posted in Domes, Economics, Introduction, tagged earthbag, earthbag construction, earthbag dome, earthbag house, earthbag house model, earthbag model, earthbag vaulted dome, sandbag house on April 8, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Creating scale models is a great way to learn earthbag building techniques and help visualize your future home. Tim Merritt sent me some pics of models he’s been working on and I was so impressed I wanted to share them with other readers. Tim used modeling clay for his models. Kelly Hart created models for [...]
