“Hello, We want to add two rooms to an existing small older home, my question is: We want to build a straw bale home with pallets on both sides, the thought is to put up the straw bales, then put on earth/clay/mud on the bales. As we put the mud on we will put a … Read more
“Hi Owen. We certainly learned a lot from this building process. The most important lesson was this: someone on site must be familiar with construction techniques and be good at providing quality control and project and crew management. Our experience was that if you are not using volunteers who are independently enthusiastic about earthbag building, … Read more
From time to time we answer reader’s questions. Zafra: We’re researching the possibility of acquiring cheap recycled concrete rather than having to pay for gravel for our foundation, but we’re concerned because we’ve read that concrete can wick water upwards to the earth walls. Owen: Good question. Recycled concrete will work fine if you break … Read more
“The nautilus was designed by Flo Kroll, architect Helene .v.d.Merwe, and Helena Wagener during the preparation of the Sustainable Built Environment conference 2005. The Nautilus integrates various earthbuilding methods, including sandbag, cob, adobe, and straw bale. Biomimicry – the application of evolutionary design intelligence to human needs, suggests that natural patterns can be usefully applied … Read more
The drawings above show how to join new earthbag walls with old ones using buttresses. Put barbed wire between every course in the buttresses and through the rest of the structure. In the short-term, the buttresses strengthen the walls and serve as benches and plant stands. Here is the two step building process: 1. Build … Read more
“A series of domes constructed of earth, sand and water combine to make a home for Thea Bryant and her family. Dried mud is collected in buckets all around the structure and can be reconstituted by simply adding water. The structure was built using 40-year-old plans developed for the United Nations to build homes in … Read more