Earthbag Building Tools

Earthbag building requires very few tools. You mostly need sturdy, basic tools such as shovels, buckets and tampers. Buy the best quality you can afford. This may mean buying from yard sales or Craigslist to get older, higher quality tools. A lot of new stuff is junk that will fall apart in a few days … Read more

Happy 2nd Year Anniversary!

We’re happy to announce the 2nd anniversary of Earthbag Building Blog. Thank you everyone for your support. We love hearing about your earthbag projects and sharing information with others. Keep those project submissions rolling in. In the spirit of celebration, here are some of our most popular posts: Low-cost Multipurpose Minibuilding Cost of Earthbag Houses … Read more

Visit Our Family of Websites

Over the years Kelly and I have built up a great deal of free online content to help those looking for low-cost, sustainable building options. The amount of information has grown so vast that I now refer to these sites as “our family of websites”. If you’re looking for dirt cheap, DIY, sustainable building information … Read more

Wooden Shakes on Earthbag Houses

Wooden shakes are a sustainable roofing material because they can be made by hand using a froe and locally available wood. You can make shakes from many kinds of wood, but the best shakes come from old trees with tight growth rings. Install shakes over roofing felt, and fasten with galvanized roofing nails. Steep roofs … Read more

Earthbag Basements

So far very little has been written about earthbag basements. Earthbags are suitable for basements and other underground applications such as cisterns and rootcellars. Round or curved designs are inherently stronger than long, straight walls, which require reinforcing columns or buttresses. General guidelines for earthbag basements: – 24″ wide poly bags (measured when empty) – … Read more