Every year we publish the most popular blog posts for the last 12 months. We’ll do that again in November on our 4th anniversary. Our goal here is to look at the most popular blog posts since we’ve started – the Best of the Bestest. Think of them as hidden gems unless you’ve read all … Read more
Yesterday’s post was about the earthquake resistance of earthbags. Today’s post illustrates what an earthquake resistant gravel bag foundation looks like and explains why this design is so effective. Gravel is an ideal material for this application because it’s durable, reasonably inexpensive, readily available in most areas, has high bearing strength and prevents wicking of … Read more
Our ever alert researcher into all things earthen, Patti Stouter, has found that testing has confirmed that earthbags can provide excellent base isolation to lessen the impact of earthquakes and severe winds on buildings. The Advanced Materials Research group has published a paper titled Cyclic Simple Shear Tests on Base Isolation Using Soilbags. “Soilbags have … Read more
Let’s take a brief respite from castle plans, shall we? Our website traffic has hit another major spike and so I’ll take this opportunity to summarize some key facts about earthbag building. A few quick facts: – Successful completion of an earthbag/strawbale shake table test in Nevada applied forces that surpassed that of the Northridge … Read more
Special thanks to Eugene in Russia for the heads up on this great find. This earth building book by Gernot Minke’s is one of the most informative books on the subject, and now it’s available as a free download. How can you beat that? Thank you Gernot Minke for all you’ve done in support of … Read more
Make sure you get the basics right so your earthbag home is safe, sound and durable. As obvious as this seems, the most fundamental earthbag building principles sometimes get lost in the forest of information. That was one reason for writing the Earthbag Building Guide – to focus on the most important steps and demonstrate … Read more