Major Breaking News. Tim, one of our readers, sent me some information the other day that explained how Bill McNulty has patented the process of making cast stone using natron salt (sodium carbonate) mixed with powdered granite, limestone, basalt, schist or sandstone mixed with water. This is a slightly different method than proposed by Professor … Read more
We’ve been discussing Professor Joseph Davidovits cast stone research at the Geopolymer Institute in hopes of applying this concept to earthbag building. You have to admit the possibility of building a house with dirt cheap, natural materials that turn to actual stone and become fireproof, insect proof, bulletproof, etc. is intriguing. [Update: two people have … Read more
There’s a wide range of earthbag building systems and some are obviously better than others. Let’s summarize the leading V.G.E.W. contenders. Links are included to make it easier to research the details. – Eternally Solar’s earthbag walls filled with sand. Engineering tests show they exceed building code requirements – Eternally Solar’s earthbags can be filled … Read more
From Patti Stouter: The cardiologist with the Haiti Christian Development Project who helped get the Bois Marchand earthbag house built near Gonaives, Haiti sent a link to some photos- 2 are the new earthbag buildings at a small village called Bognol. I helped to design the site and these buildings. Earthbag houses bring great excitement … Read more
Patti Stouter sent me this news about raschel mesh from a supplier in Canada that works perfectly for the narrow rubble walls in her Totally Tubular design. She builds hyper-wattle — tubes of lightweight insulation — on top of the narrow rubble walls. “The 18″ wide raschel got here last night and I tried it … Read more
One key to affordable natural building is to use low cost, locally available materials. Look especially for what others don’t want – things like ‘problem soils’, dredgings, ‘wastes’. This brick making video was the inspiration for this blog post. It explains how a company in the Philippines uses abundant, locally available materials to make brick. … Read more