I just found these new videos on YouTube and know very little about them. I’m eager to learn how they propose to build the large vaults, because these are very difficult to build with earthbags. The first one is an animated video showing how to build a dome. The second video is a fly-through of … Read more
Take a fly-through tour of the Enviro Dome, one of my most popular earthbag plans. Please note, not every detail is shown. The loft vegas (wood poles) and wood stove, for instance, have been omitted for simplicity. But you still good a good sense of what the home looks like. Anyway, I hope you enjoy … Read more
I am pleased to report that there are some new earthbag projects happening in Haiti. In fact, there is a small mountain community, Leogane, where two unrelated projects are under way! Both of these projects have lively blogs where you can follow their activities almost daily. At blog.konbitshelter.org you can see how this group’s first … Read more
You can still see adobe ruins scattered across the southwest. Even though the roofs have long since rotted away, the walls are still standing after decades or even 100 years or more of neglect. Clearly, adobe is pretty tough stuff, in part because clay platelets closely align themselves and bond together. It’s fairly straightforward to … Read more
Do not zigzag barbed wire between courses of bags, because this will lessen its tensile strength. A load (stress) on the structure, such as a hurricane, earthquake or differential settling, would tend to pull the structure apart as the slack is taken out of the wire. Zigzagging the barbed wire would provide more attachment points, … Read more
I just discovered a new YouTube video from AlJazeera TV that describes how folks in the Gaza strip, who have been denied many building materials such as cement and steel, have taken to building with earthbags. This short video shows how they are adapting some of CalEarth’s methods of using long tubes filled with adobe … Read more