Here’s a brief summary of the cement plastering process we used on the exterior of our earthbag roundhouse: Step 1: Put cement between the bags in the gaps. Step 2: Add thin coat of cement over bags. Step 3: Add more cement. Step 4: Add more cement. Step 5: Trowel the plaster smooth and use … Read more
As promised, I’m posting more pics of our roundhouse as I get time. I’ve started to upload some of these pics to my new Picasa web album. Floor: We opted for a concrete floor colored with natural iron oxide pigment. The pigment is sprinkled by hand and troweled into the top ¼” as the concrete … Read more
Daniel Jones has a special feeling for the Australian Aborigines and conceived of a project to help them protect their heritage. He built an earthbag dome close to the beach at a swampy inlet that is an Aboriginal heritage protection site where an ongoing blockade against unsustainable greedy mansion development continues. The History Pod ‘Murrong … Read more
The current newsletter from CalEarth describes how they have been designing an earthbag shelter/home prototype for use in Haiti. This structure, consisting of a 10 ft. main dome surrounded by 3 apses (a 7 ft. sleeping apse, a 5 ft. fire cooking apse with storage below, and a 5 ft. apse that can be used … Read more
Wrapping walls in mesh – starting under the first course of bags and going over the top of the bond beam – is a simple way to add a great deal of extra strength to your earthbag structure. Fishing net and plastic lath are ideal for wet climates. Galvanized wire lath or chicken wire is … Read more
Ever since the earthquake in Haiti we have been inundated with requests for information about using earthbags for reconstruction efforts. Owen Geiger and I have joined with Patti Stouter to assemble a coherent response to this need that is based on our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of earthbag building, coupled with some knowledge … Read more