Welcome!
This blog, created by Dr. Owen Geiger and Kelly Hart, is an adjunct to our website www.earthbagbuilding.com. We are very pleased to bring this blog to the public and hope that over time it will provide a service in both revealing new information about earthbag building and also providing a way for people to interact with us and others who place comments here.
This is our way of creating a community of folks from around the world who want to find out more about earthbag building and share their ideas with all of us.
Why We Created EarthbagBuilding.com
There is an astounding amount of information on the Internet, including information on earthbag building, but it is very time consuming to find just what you need. Projects, articles, pictures, blogs, forum postings, etc. are scattered everywhere, much of it repetitive or not useful.
It takes a human editor/researcher to filter out the best content. The search process for this website has taken around 80 -100 hours so far, mostly a little here and there in our spare time. Most people won’t spend that much time searching for a new topic they’re just learning about, and so the information remains essentially ‘buried.’
We used different search engines and different search features to uncover the information. Google Images search feature was particularly helpful. (Click on Images from the Google home page.) Search phrases included ‘earthbag’, ‘sandbag’, ‘earthbag building’, ‘sandbag building’, ‘earthbag construction’, ‘sandbag construction’, ‘earthbag shelter’… You get the idea. Each search phrase turned up new information!
This process has uncovered over 100 interesting earthbag projects so far, and more are discovered each week. So there’s a lot of great information out there, but most people aren’t aware of it … yet.
Like our mission statement says, “Sharing information and promoting earthbag building,” now we’re compiling all the best articles, projects, photos, websites and other resources for your convenience and to help mainstream building with earthbags. In addition, all of the content is searchable from one search page: www.earthbagbuilding.com/search.htm
We hope you enjoy our site!
I am looking for comments on domes built below grade then covered over with soil to leave only a very small tip to the sky. I have not found anyone who has done this, any leads out there? Thanks, Brian
I once saw a very small (about ten foot diameter) earthbag dome being built below ground as a pantry/root cellar. This was mostly being done by volunteer participants at one of the Natural Building Colloquiums in New Mexico. I don’t know if it every got completed.
I made a partially bermed pantry with earthbags that was adjacent to the house I built in Colorado, and this worked out fine. There are some pictures of this at http://greenhomebuilding.com/storeyourfood.htm . This room was partly supported by wooden poles to help hold the upper portion in place.
When building, especially below ground, it is extremely important to take precautions about the stability of the structure. Earth is very heavy, so the stresses on such a building are enormous. More work needs to be done to assess just what can be safely done with this.
There’s a picture of the rootcellar mentioned above at Kelly’s website: http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/articles/nbc03.htm
It was never finished. Kind of a waste.
I just finished an article on how to build an earthbag rootcellar. It’s due out this winter, but because of contractual obligations I am not at liberty to discuss the details. I’ll make a post on the project as soon as it’s published. It should meet your needs nicely, so please check back later.
Thanks,
Owen
Earth Sheltered subgrade buildings have a number of challenges that have been overcome, geology, soils, drainage, seepage, ventilation, lighting and radon. Peter Vetch has mastered this and biomorphic constructions. I still love Hobbits, although just movie sets, real earth homes can be built that way with sandbags arched along a road cut.
Subgrade constructions always have potential for seepage and flooding problems, but above grade earthen structures have advatages of earth but few drainage, cut/fill and geology problems. Try diggin and building one above first to get feel for challenges of subgrade. Backhoes make such basements possible with less danger of caveins. Never enter earth holes above your waist that are unsupported.
Good Old Fresno Forestiere dug like a madman for years, awesome subterranean orchards and arched passages.
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/forest.htm
Sandbags into big rocks scapes are another wonderful way to build. We have yet to see sandbags integrated into real mining into either gravels or hardrock, but it is being studied, currently rock bolted chainlink gunnite is preferred. Hard Hats & MSHA Cards Required ! ;-)
Best Wishes
Steve
I am building a 40′ diameter half-circle house into the earth, about 7-8′ high at the highest. I would like to use earth bags or some alternative to concrete. aside from barbed wire on each course, what would I need to do to get this approved. I live in Northern CA (Mendocino County) and the house will be UBC (code). Is there anyone with experience building such a structure in earthquake country?
You’ll have to find an engineer in your area. Look for engineers with experience in alternative building and foundation design.
The best example of code approval in seismic areas of California is the work done at CalEarth, near Hesperia. They have actually designed and helped construct an earthbag public building for the city, and the system was required to undergo extensive testing to be sanctioned by the authorities. Since then they have sold similar designs for complex dome structures that have been code approved in various other states.
Every project is different, and every jurisdiction is different, and earthbag building is very new, so there are no guaranteed ways assure success for getting building permits…but at least there are some precedents. Probably the best advise is to have a discussion with your building authorities and find out what they require in order to approve your project, then go about assembling what you can. There are some resources provided at http://www.earthbagbuilding.com of former testing that has been done as well as profiles of various successful code-approved projects.
Good luck…
Hey Bill Taylor, I also live in Mendocino and am interested in your building project and your progress getting it up to code. Maybe open to lending a hand in construction. This seems like a move in the right direction.