What if you could build your own home with living plants instead of using processed materials that have been shipped half a country away? Well, now you can.
Structural aspects
Hyper-Wattle Video and Update
Patti Stouter, winner of the $300 House contest, is at it again. Her latest project combines 1. gravel-filled poly bags (earthbag foundation), 2. hyper-adobe (compacted soil in mesh bags), with 3. hyper-wattle (straw filled mesh bags or tubes soaked in clay). The structure is then plastered with earth and lime.
Patti: “I am so pleased with how firm the straw wattle walls on my bench have become. I’m glad I chose a layout that will be an asset to my yard, because the wall is there to stay.
Earthbag House in Turkey Survives 6.1 Earthquake
Earthbag Foundations for Soggy Seismic Areas
By Kerry Bingham
As far as I know, mine was the second earthbag structure to be built in Turkey, and it was met with widespread skepticism. With frequent earthquakes, severe flash-flooding on the south coast during the winter months and rising damp, many thought the house would either ‘melt’, slide or be shaken to the ground.
Log Bridges and More
Cliff, a long-time reader and frequent contributor from NZ, sent this tip to me. The same basic building process could be used to make roof trusses and other structural components and buildings such as free standing domes. Source: The Rainbow Bridge
Building a Light Clay Straw (Straw-Clay) House
“This is an introduction to light clay straw construction (a.k.a. “straw-clay”). In the summer of 2010, I started construction on my first house (20 ft. x 12 ft.). It was stud framed with light clay straw infill. I had helped with other natural building projects and had some conventional experience. This article is the product of all of my mistakes (and few successes) so that you, my fellow builder, do not have to walk the road that I have. Fortunately for y’all I built a chicken coop in 2011, and that helped me to learn more about building correctly with light clay straw. (One mistake being I should have done the coop first, but at least my chickens are happy.)
Hyperadobe with EarthenHand
This is one of the best videos I’ve seen in illustrating how to go about building a project. In just a few short minutes it manages to show the construction process from foundation to roof, using lots of animated portions to speed it up. There are several particularly worthwhile aspects of this 800 square foot … Read more