We just finished installing light fixtures in our earthbag roundhouse. This step has taken a lot longer than anticipated. The porch light by the front door was easy to find since it is conventional looking. But we wanted something special inside for our three wall sconces because they’re more prominent. Two sconces, one on each side of a fold-out bed, are located on curved earthen plaster walls. Another sconce is in the bathroom. We’ll add some table lamps after all the furniture is in.
I spent hours scanning websites for something unique, beautiful, curved and inexpensive. My heart was set on rice paper lamp shades. (Do a Google Image search to see the amazing variety that’s available.) In the end though, we went with the dirt cheap option, since demonstrating how to build affordably is a major goal of the project. My girlfriend found some ridiculously inexpensive split bamboo lamp shades for $1.25 each. The light fixtures were $2.50 each, plus compact fluorescents. This keeps us on budget for $10/sq. ft.
I see. Guess I’d better go find a blog about conventional building then… :-)
Many earthbag building details and methods are the same or similar as regular construction. We can’t cover all of this or we’d lose or focus on earthbag building. I recommend general construction books from libraries. Photocopy the most important info or take notes.
This lighting post got me to thinking about utilities and how they’re introduced into an earthbag house, and I realized I haven’t really seen much on that subject. How did you get electricity inside — was it a simple pipe laid ‘tween courses, was it above or below grade, etc.? The same could be asked of water, what considerations have to be made and when to make them…
Most everything about plumbing and electrical is the same as conventional building. Most of the differences have already been covered (how to attach electrical boxes, etc.)
You can bring the main line in overhead or bury it.
A new post is coming soon on running plumbing under the walls.