Email from a reader: Hello, I am trying to put together a design for an earthbag dome built into a hill in New York, and for a few reasons, I would like to have some of it underground. Actually, there are two adjacent domes, one with a diameter and height of 14′, and the other 8′. The frost line here is at least 48″, and I’ll probably go down further.
Domes
Flexible Form Rammed Earth Construction (Earthbag Construction) Part 1
Very good video about building earthbag domes that shows half a dozen or so innovative ideas I haven’t seen before. I can’t think of another video or project where I’ve seen so many new interesting building tips. So hat’s off to The Roundtable that’s building these domes in Uganda.
Earthbag Dome Home in Hungary
“Hello Owen, As you can see finally my first alone project has finished, hoorraayy!!. I want to say thank you for your guidance at the beginning and also I wanted to tell you that your book sometimes gave me that little help too because to reflect my knowledge and to see the things again in your book gave me a real help in times when I was not sure anymore what to do, not because I don’t know the things, because when my fear is coming up that I maybe can’t make it because it’s my first project with nobody around me who knows something about earthbag. So this was a quite heavy pressure for me because the people expected much and my building group knew nothing. In those moments your book was a real help because it was like talking with somebody who knows…
Thermal Performance Data on an Earthbag Dome
Awhile ago, I wrote to you asking if you had any recommendations for stabilizing our 14′ (inner diameter) scoria dome tank house which had started to fail as a result of the bags breaking down. I wanted to give you an update.
We paid a crew last November to shotcrete it inside and out, and it is performing very well. I just wish I knew whether it was the mass of concrete or the insulation of the bags. Probably a combo. I am interested to see how it performs once the mass has heated up a bit this summer.
Earthbag Rental Dome in Chihuahua, Mexico
Hi Owen,
There is an earthbag building at a hotel in northern Mexico. I travel near there every 3-4 months, so have been able to follow the progress. The last trip it seems to be finished on the exterior, so wanted to grab a photo for you.