Posted in Introduction, tools, tagged earth house, earthbag building, earthbag domes, earthbag homes, earthbag houses, earthbag tools, hobbit houses, tampers, tools on December 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
It’s relatively easy to make your own earthbag tampers, but some may decide it’s simpler and more expedient to just purchase them. Here’s one tamper I came across after a quick search on the Internet: Ames True Temper 8″ x 8″ Tamper, 42 inch hardwood handle, $24.98, available from Lowe’s building supply centers.
Ames True Temper Earthbag Tamper
Posted in Economics, Filling Bags, Introduction, tools, tagged earth houses, earthbag building, earthbag homes, earthbag houses, earthbag tools, sandbag houses, tools on December 5, 2009| 1 Comment »
Earthbag building requires very few tools. You mostly need sturdy, basic tools such as shovels, buckets and tampers. Buy the best quality you can afford. This may mean buying from yard sales or Craigslist to get older, higher quality tools. A lot of new stuff is junk that will fall apart in a few days or weeks.
I’d start by reading Doni and Kaki’s Earthbag Building book. They describe everything you need, and their book has lots of photos and drawings on how to make your own tampers, etc.
These are the earthbag building tools I use.
Note: Now I use cement buckets, not the kind in the photo.
Don’t buy anything until you think it over a long time. Chances are you don’t need it. Builders in developing countries have a bag of tools about the size of a grocery bag, and with these tools they are able to build everything up to and including large houses, apartments, shops and other structures. Now personally, I would get a few more than that, but it does show how simple building can be.
Earthbag Building Blog 
