Nick, one of our readers left the following comments. “I think the sheer lunacy of the housing situation, what you pay versus what you get, will insure that alternative means of construction will prevail in the end. Even if you don’t have the patience to build yourself, you can buy a steel warehouse building, say … Read more
I’ve been writing about the problems with building codes for a while now. Just for the record, I’m not 100% against codes. Limited codes can be beneficial, but the current situation is way over the top. This fact is well illustrated by comparing trailer houses (also called mobile homes) to buildings made of earthbags. A … Read more
From Haim, a reader in Hungary: “What gets me about the [building] permits in America is they are basically useless. Consider: – Hurricanes in Florida – Fires in California – Cold as Siberia upper peninsula Michigan The above 2x4s and drywall just don’t hold up well. People slave their whole life just to not be … Read more
DAVID: Your adventure in “Twelve by Twelve” is part of a long tradition of restless Americans. In early America, Francis Asbury never even owned a home and traveled throughout his adult life, staying in other people’s homes. John Steinbeck traveled in a pickup truck equipped with a little camper. Thoreau famously lived in a tiny … Read more
This week is the 4th anniversary of Earthbag Building Blog. The growth in readership and content has been amazing. Web traffic on our blog has tripled in the last year! There are now 882 blog posts and over 4,300 comments. Thanks for your support. We’ve clearly hit a tipping point. There’s enough variety of content … Read more
New FEMA flood insurance regulations are going to have a huge impact on homeowners who live along US waterways. Robert Rash (see below) says these regulations will impact 40% of Americans. Keith Haley, a former weather forecaster who has lived in his current home 47 years and never been flooded, is being required buy FEMA … Read more