Here’s a bit of good news from Patti Stouter. I just heard from Maurice Wilson that the raschel mesh tubing for Hyperadobe earth building has come in. He has a limited supply, but the manufacturer has sent longer rolls. These rolls up to 1400 meters long will still be offered at the price for 1000 … Read more
Our ever alert researcher into all things earthen, Patti Stouter, has found that testing has confirmed that earthbags can provide excellent base isolation to lessen the impact of earthquakes and severe winds on buildings. The Advanced Materials Research group has published a paper titled Cyclic Simple Shear Tests on Base Isolation Using Soilbags. “Soilbags have … Read more
Question: I can only find second hand (misprinted) woven polypropylene gusseted bags that have a laminated coating on the inside (for flour and other food products). The laminated coating is actually integrated into the bag so you can’t tear it out (almost like a thin, iron on layer). Do you think the laminated coating will … Read more
Let’s take a brief respite from castle plans, shall we? Our website traffic has hit another major spike and so I’ll take this opportunity to summarize some key facts about earthbag building. A few quick facts: – Successful completion of an earthbag/strawbale shake table test in Nevada applied forces that surpassed that of the Northridge … Read more
Kimuma Watanabe is a Japanese architect and Associate Professor at Kochi University of Technology in Japan. He has been involved in many projects with earthbags around the world. One of his smaller projects is an installation of a demonstration dome featured in these photos. The Japanese aesthetic and precision is obvious in the way the … Read more
Make sure you get the basics right so your earthbag home is safe, sound and durable. As obvious as this seems, the most fundamental earthbag building principles sometimes get lost in the forest of information. That was one reason for writing the Earthbag Building Guide – to focus on the most important steps and demonstrate … Read more