We often get questions about where in the U.S. it is possible to build a home without some authority looking over your back and telling you what can and can’t be done. This is especially pertinent to earthbag building since as yet there are no codes that directly apply to this method, meaning that it … Read more
Using earthbags for interior walls would take up too much space and so they’re generally not recommended for this purpose. Thinner interior walls are more efficient. The easiest solution is to frame interior walls with 2x4s or, for plumbing walls, 2x6s. But there are more sustainable alternatives. On some of my plans I use adobe, … Read more
Do earthbags really become hard as rock or is this exaggeration? I did a little experiment on the roundhouse we’re currently building to find out. The answer depends primarily on the choice of fill material and the degree of compaction. The moisture content and curing process also play a role. We used road base – … Read more
Many people want to know the lowest cost way of building. Here’s a short comparison of costs to build an earthbag house using ‘free’ options versus buying the building materials: hand dig soil on site = free versus deliver soil $200 gather materials and make thatch panels = free versus buy thatch panels $100 hand … Read more
Here’s a drawing of my favorite earthbag slider that makes it easy to place bags on the wall without getting hooked on the barbed wire. If you want to make one, start out by cutting a sheet of 1/16th thick steel about 13 inches wide by 16” long. Tack weld a piece of 1” by … Read more
Square corners and tunnel-like window and door openings just don’t look right to me on natural homes. Gently curved openings and corners are much more elegant. Rounded openings have numerous advantages. Around windows, they allow more light into the home and improve the view. And they add a little extra space around doors, making it … Read more