Sandbags can be filled with a minimum of tools (often just a shovel is used), but sometimes you need machines to speed the work. Maybe there’s an urgent need due to flooding, or maybe you’re building a large number of sandbag (earthbag) houses. Here’s a sampling of some of the sandbag filling machines currently available. … Read more
How would you build earthbag walls up to 12 feet above ground on pier footings? A reader asked me this recently. Hmm. Moving tons of earth up that high would be difficult, and that got me thinking of alternatives. One solution I came up with uses an insulation blowing machine and hand-held bag sewing machine … Read more
Superior Sandbag System, an erosion control firm in Orange County, CA, have a new tube filling machine that fills continuous polypropylene tubing. So far it’s been used for erosion control, but it could be utilized to mass produce affordable housing. Steve Villa and Steve Williams, the owners of Superior Sandbag Systems, invented the process and … Read more
There is a roving monk (with the unpronounceable name of Krpasundarananda) who travels the globe helping people build earthbag domes. He is a Meditation teacher with Ananda Marga and has been a Monk since 1991. Ananda Marga is a world-wide organization with spiritual and social activity centers on all continents. The mission runs schools, medical … Read more
A gusseted bag has a seam that eliminates bulging, protruding corners. Gusseted bags create neat, squared bag ends. Although not required for earthbag building, they can reduce plastering work somewhat by creating flatter wall surfaces. Unfortunately, they’re not readily available in our area, so I just smack any protruding corners with a hammer or stitch … Read more
My earlier post about Earthbag Building in Cold Climates on January 17, 2009 piqued some interest. Since energy performance on most buildings can be improved with insulation, including those made of earth — adobe, earthbag, etc. — I decided to pursue this idea further. So here’s another method for insulating earthbag buildings using tube sandbags, … Read more