“Three long months… 2,000 sandbags, 4,000 nails for closing the bags, 90 cubic yards of lava rock, 4 miles of barbed wire, -40 lbs. of combined weight-loss & 37 cans of Cattle Drive Chili… we have completed construction of our dome home.”
Note: They used scoria (lava rock) as fill material.
So amazing! Ive built simple and affordable yet versatile domes using Magidome steel connectors. http://www.magidome.com
Love the dome. Can’t wait to get started on mine.
From the picture I’d have to assume that you can get some cold temps and this helped influence you using lava rock for the insulation effect?
How wide are your bags? Did the lava rock (scoria?) hold up well and make a stable wall? Did you have to using any buttressing or wood framing in the walls?
Hi David, We used 2,000 18″ x 30″ sandbags and 90 cubic yards of 3/4″ lava rock. We didn’t use buttresses because the smaller domes were buttressed against the main dome, and there was more than 5 square feet between the front windows. We used lintels above the window frames and doorways, but that’s about all the wood we used. The walls are very stable.
Hey Owen,
Please follow our blogs next week at barrelsofhope.org if you are interested in our next project phase of building earthbag structures in Jacmel, Haiti. We’ll be there from 7th-14th of March and we’ll be sending updates from the jobsite each day on the progress.
thanks!
-m
Okay, I’ll try to remember.
I love it!
Nice! I’ve added them to my blogroll. Which reminds me – have you considered adding a blogroll and list of other site links here? That would be really helpful, if you have the time.
Here’s our list: http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/earthbag-blogs/
It would be good to have them on the sidebar where people can more easily find them.