A big thanks to Luke for tipping me off on the Earthbag Builders group at Facebook. The focus of the group is primarily on earthbag, but there’s also related content such as this excellent video on converting shipping containers into low cost housing. I could watch videos like this all day long.
Yesterday’s blog post on Production Earthbag Building using Rice Hulls introduced one method for building walls with rice hulls. As you can see from the drawing above, the construction process is very straightforward. This method uses a standard post and beam frame with posts set in concrete footers and beams attached to the posts with … Read more
Developing a network of friends can be a big help for achieving your dream of home ownership. A quick search on Meetup.com for ‘earthbag’, just one of numerous social networking sites, turned up the following groups that may prove helpful. Texas Natural Builders “This group is for anyone interested in Natural Building. We explore and … Read more
Mike, in Texas, has been asking some interesting questions about wrapping a post and beam frame with tubes of rice hulls. He thinks this is probably the fastest way to build an earthbag house. He may very well be right. Conversations and blog posts like this one are my favorite. Here’s part of my email … Read more
So, you’ve bought a piece of land in a remote, rural area with few or no building codes and more jackrabbits than people. Where do you live while you’re building your sustainable home? Pay rent? Nah, that’s so twentieth century. You want free accommodation so you can put your money toward your new home, and … Read more
Adobe bricks with top coat of poured adobe Set dry adobes on a bed of sand or sand and gravel, sweep sand in the joints and then trowel on a top coat of adobe mud. Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) Set CEBs on a bed of sand, sweep sand in the joints, coat with sealer. Tamped … Read more