Martin Cubak Earthbag Roundhouse

Martin Cubak’s earthbag roundhouse
Martin Cubak’s earthbag roundhouse

“This is my earthbag, still under contruction, but I live there with my family for 2 yr. It’s been great, very good insulation with my amish cook stove, in hot summer stays cool. I build it very cheap… I did lime, cement plaster, stucco this yr. And painted it the way they do in europe, throw it on. I did 3 coats, 3rd coat was finish, no cracks! I tried cob plaster , but I did not like it. This feels much more strong…
Martin Cubak’s earthbag roundhouse under construction
Martin Cubak’s earthbag roundhouse under construction

Read more at the source: Permies.com
A Straw House in Southern Bohemia
YouTube

12 thoughts on “Martin Cubak Earthbag Roundhouse”

  1. Hi,
    The currency is in u.s. dollars,I wrote I’m in IDAHO,they don’t like czech crowns or euros …..yet … ;)

    But I’m from czech republic , “somehow these go toghether”
    I want to mention that I mixed in all plaster coats fiber hair that they use in mixing for concrete.
    In old dyas they like to use horse hair or straw ,but horse hair is better than straw.
    The fiber mesh is very inexpensive and it works very good.

    Reply
  2. Well duh.

    Nice catch Milton. I sure missed that. Thanks for setting me straight.

    Now that I look at it more closely, the video posted and the Bohemia Link are not the same house shown in the photos on Permies. I think that house in the video might be in the Czech Republic.

    I also see that he mentions on Permies that he has not done any finishing work inside the roundhouse yet, and the video and the Bohemia link show a house completely finished.

    No excuses though. I should have seen that he himself said he was in Idaho.

    I’ll accept the punishment of the blog readers. Everyone gets to throw a sloppy overly wet blob of cob at me (no rocks inside please). I’ve got my eye protection on. Fire away everyone!

    Reply
    • And I admit to inadvertently putting the Bohemia project link there. I caught it later but decided to leave it because they seem to go together somehow.

      Reply
  3. The cost is probably in US dollars. If you read the last post, the house is in Idaho.

    From Martin’s last post:

    “The walls are 22″ thick including plaster,im in central idaho(elevation 2000′) ,we have moderate winters and it works great so far”.

    Reply
  4. Well, bg

    I had no idea what the Czech currency was, so I looked it up on Google, and quoted what I found there.

    http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&sa=N&tab=lw&ei=HbRgUv_7MK_YyAGC94GwBw&ved=0CAQQqS4oAQ#hl=en&q=czech+currency&safe=off

    In any case, it seems highly unlikely that the builder was quoting 5000 of whatever the czech currency is.

    I guess it’s also possible that the builder decided to convert whatever his expenses were to dollars.

    As I said in my comment, I wish I knew what he was quoting.

    Reply
    • The price range you quoted in dollars or euros sounds about right. Maybe he will see this and set the record straight.

      This is a reminder to everyone to please document your project and share with others. And when you do, please keep accurate records and present the information in an easy to understand way with clear photos. Maybe have a friend check your spelling, etc.

      Reply
  5. On the Permies site, Martin said the entire building cost him, “5000.”

    I wish I knew for certain what currency that was in.

    The Czechoslovakian currency is the Koruna. 5000 Koruna is $264.09 U.S. Dollars

    That seems impossible.

    5000 Euros = $6773 U.S. Dollars.

    That seems very possible.

    He said it is 22ft dia, or 360 sqft. 22ft circle actually = 380 sqft,

    Using the smaller 360, that works out to $18.81 per sqft. Assuming he quoted Euros.

    That’s very inexpensive, especially for the very nice level of finish in that house.

    Well done.

    Reply

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