Suppliers of Misprinted Bags

I think it would be a great idea to start a list of suppliers who sell misprinted bags. Suppliers sometimes sell otherwise perfectly good bags at a discount when the printing quality is not acceptable. Most people use 18”x30” bags, so that would be the best size to locate. Please leave a comment below with the supplier names, websites and prices for misprinted bags that you come across. Also inquire about the minimum order. There may be a 1,000 bag minimum, so that would be good to know also.

Note: Our Resources page at EarthbagBuilding.com has a good list of bag companies who sell misprinted and new bags. My goal here is to expand that list.

I’ll start things off:
Fisher Bag Company Abigail called Fisher Bag Company a few days ago and was told they sell misprint 18×30 bags in bales of 1000 for $.30-.35 each.

Robin sent these companies:
Polytex Fiber Corp
Home page: http://www.polytex.com
Houston, TX
1-800-628-0034
Contact: Denny Smith

Edward Kennedy & Co Ltd
52 Bracken Road Sandyford Ind Est Dublin 18 Co. Dublin
Home page: http://www.edwardkennedy.ie
(01)2957788
(01)2957789

Company Name: Agripack & Bulk Bag Mnfr
Street Address: Blesbuck ln
City: Reitz
Province/State: Freestate
Country/Region: South Africa
Zip: 9810
Telephone: 27-072-4226627

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The Most Bang for the Buck? Part 1

What’s the most efficient, cost-effective way to build with earthbags? How can you enclose the most space with the least time, effort and money? Well, it depends in part on climate, individual skills and preferences as far as styles/building types. (Other factors will be covered in a future post.)

In general, round shapes are the most efficient. They create the most amount of floor space for a given wall length. This is easily demonstrated by drawing a circle and a square using the same lineal distance of walls. For example, draw an 18’ diameter circle, which will have an area of 254 square feet and circumference of about 56.5’. Divide 56.5 by 4 (= 14.1’) to obtain a square with the same total wall length. A square with 14.1’ per side has an area of about 200 square feet. So in this example there’s a gain of 54 square feet of floor space. (Draw this with your kids. It’s a great learning experience.)

So why do builders churn out square/rectilinear structures? Because modern building materials are rectilinear – plywood, OSB, sheetrock, etc. But we know these materials are energy intensive, costly, lead to monotonous designs and have negative impacts on the environment. Earthbag building frees us from these constraints and enables the use of more efficient round shapes. In addition, round shapes are inherently more stable. “Round is sound” as they say.

Size is also important. Large houses require much more time, labor, skill and materials and can easily wear you down, even more so for owner-builders. It’s far better to build only what you need. You can always add on later. Build with cash one stage at a time.

Another factor to consider is fill material – what goes in the bags. Lightweight materials such as scoria are much faster and easier to use than soil. This one factor alone can cut the labor by severalfold, because scoria is lightweight, easy to work with and requires less tamping. Scoria is insulating and so it’s ideal for extreme climates. Plus, scoria doesn’t rot, burn, attract pests, etc. One limiting factor is it’s less stable in certain applications such as straight walls and tops of domes that curve in too quickly.

And the winner is? I’ll give it a tie between roundhouses and domes, depending on the variables listed above. Small to medium sized roundhouses with simple roof designs have an edge in many cases, especially rainy climates and for those with carpentry skills. In dry climates, domes may be more efficient. Organic shapes that approximate circles are a close runner-up, although this often complicates roof construction.

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Sand Bag Munitions Storage Structures

A reader sent us the following email about another use for sand bags.

“Militaries around the world (mainly US as it has representation in nearly every continent) use sand bags to construct barriers to prevent propagation of munitions explosion. That is, large amounts of explosives are stored in large bins (the size of classrooms) made of sand bags. There are many such bins. If the munitions in one bin explode, the walls prevent the propagation of explosion as it is an excellent isolation that can absorb the blast. Such structures were used by the US Army in Kuwait in the first Gulf War. The bags were filled with sand; no rock infill was used and no metal bars were allowed. This was done so as to prevent sharp and hard elements flying all over in case of explosion.”

Sand Bag Reinforcements

This email provides more extremely convincing evidence of how strong earthbag structures are. I can’t think of any other building system that can match this, especially something low tech and affordable. Not every structure needs to be this strong, of course, but it is reassuring knowing your home is strong and safe. Where would you prefer to be if a tornado or hurricane hit your town? A tract home or code approved trailer made with 2x2s?

Photo credit: http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/bases/id11.html
Note: The photo above shows sand bags surrounding fuel tanks that feed a generator. So slightly different use, but same basic idea. If any readers have photos of sand bag munitions structures, please send them to us.
Related: Drawings of military barricades.

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The ‘Low Down’ on Housing Costs

We’ve been explaining how you can build a sustainable earthbag home for around $10/square foot. To build in this price range requires extra time and effort, but it is possible.

Unfortunately, if you look on the Internet, you’ll find people making outrageous claims about various building systems and how you can build for much less than $10/square foot. What they’re doing is playing games with housing costs. The bottom line is everything has a cost (including your time).

Unless they’re referring to a bare shell, an actual house has walls, windows, roof, basic electrical and plumbing, etc. If you want to create a realistic budget, you have to assign believable numbers to each item. Say, $200 for recycled windows, etc.

Let me tell you a story about Jim Bob, who’s developed a “breakthrough post and beam building system”. Here’s a summary of his “budget”.
creosote drenched telephone poles = free
cut and milled wood from owner’s property = free
windows, doors, roofing, and $20,000 solar system = free from curbsides
nails scrounged from burned down buildings = free
paint = $100

So Jim Bob has built this amazing house for only $100. It’s true, that’s what he actually spent. He’s not lying. But then he goes on the Internet and starts telling everyone about his $100 house, explaining how post and beam only costs 50 cents a square foot, or whatever. While he is telling the truth, it’s somewhat misleading if you don’t know the full facts.

You could do the same thing (play games with housing costs) with any building system and make outrageous claims. What’s the point? From my lifetime of building experience I’ve learned it’s nearly impossible to get below $10/square foot. Like I said, there’s a cost to everything.

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Lowest Cost Bag Suppliers

Poly bag prices have been going up lately and I’m sure readers are looking for the best deals. This seems like a good time to start tracking the lowest cost bag suppliers, so I encourage readers to leave a comment below with your recommendations.

For clarity’s sake, I suggest posting:
– Company name
– Website address
– Cost per bag (18”x30”)
– Cost per roll (18″ wide)

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