More Details About Eternally Solar’s / Earthbag Building System

Today’s post is from Dr. Johnny Anderton of of Eternally Solar / EarthBagBuild. We’ve been discussing various aspects of their building system over the last week or so. Clearly, this is another great earthbag system to study and learn from. “The design of the bags with the central channel allow for a lot of variation … Read more

Hemp Construction Materials

Here are some quotes from FantasticHemp. I cannot verify many of the claims made on their site, but this certainly seems like something to investigate further. “Hemp can be made into any building material, including fiberboard, roofing, flooring, wallboard, caulking, cement, paint, paneling, particleboard, plaster, plywood, reinforced concrete, insulation, insulation panels, spray-on insulation, concrete pipes, … Read more

Vetiver and Rice Hull/Clay

If you’ve been watching our videos, you’ve seen us making various earthen blocks. This one here is the best one so far. It has clay and rice hulls. Another very good block was the clay with vetiver grass. So I had the idea to combine the best – the rice hulls and the vetiver. That’s … Read more

Earthbag Roundhouse with Siberian Chum Roof

I’m always on the lookout for alternative building techniques. In this video, survivalist Ray Mears shows how to build a Siberian chum (tent) using a dozen poles. Three poles are tied together into a tripod and the remainder leaned against it. Reindeer hides are tied on top. But what of more permanent structures where greater … Read more

Mesh Bags of Recycled Foam

Patti Stouter has been experimenting with all sorts of things, including using mesh bags of recycled foam. She wants to build a Nubian vault with these bags of foam on a rebar frame. Scrap materials are often large enough to fit well in cheaper open weave vexar mesh tubes. This stretchy plastic tubing is used … Read more

Rice Hull Earthbag House

I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding with Paul in Chiang Dao, a district north of Chiang Mai, Thailand. We’ve been discussing how to build an earthbag house with bags filled with rice hulls. Rice hulls are super cheap, fire resistant, superinsulating, and super lightweight and easy to work with. Rice hulls are the by-product of … Read more