Photo Post #1

We’re starting a new feature today, where we post new photos we find on the Internet. Many earthbag photos we come across have little or no information, but are beautiful, interesting and worth sharing. As many of you know, the best projects are eventually profiled on our Projects page. But that requires having a certain … Read more

Spiral 2 Earthbag House

I have a new 2-bedroom version of my spiral house design. This version includes a large grow bed, exposed timber ceiling and living roof. Ample light is provided by the window wall next to the grow bed, window and door glazing, and suntubes. Distinguishing features include two bedrooms, masonry two-way fireplace, covered porch and cool … Read more

Attaching Shear Walls to Earthbag Walls

The specifications for reinforced earthbag walls in seismic regions from Structure1.com describe how to attach shear walls to earthbag walls. Properly built shear walls add a great deal of strength to earthbag structures, but are seldom discussed. I thought a detailed drawing of this feature would be helpful. The drawing below illustrates the key concepts. … Read more

Reinforced Earthbag Specifications

I am extremely happy to announce another major first for earthbag building. Precision Engineering has generously provided drawings and specifications for building earthbag structures in seismic areas to meet code. The documents have been combined into one 6-page PDF and are now available online. Reinforced Earthbag Specifications is a 6-page PDF describing in drawings and … Read more

Hempcrete as Earthbag Fill

Today’s post is from The House Made of Hemp article at Ecogizmo. You can read the full article for free on their site. I’m posting this because I see no reason why hempcrete couldn’t be used in earthbags. This would eliminate the form work and require less tamping than building with soil-filled bags. This would … Read more

Durable, Affordable DIY Concrete Countertops

We needed an inexpensive way to make durable countertops for our outdoor kitchen, and after a little head scratching we came up with a pretty good solution at a fraction of the cost of custom made – about $20 instead of $2,000. (This cost is for 12.5 lineal feet of 25-1/2” countertops.) This savings more … Read more