Joining New Walls with Buttresses

The drawings above show how to join new earthbag walls with old ones using buttresses. Put barbed wire between every course in the buttresses and through the rest of the structure. In the short-term, the buttresses strengthen the walls and serve as benches and plant stands. Here is the two step building process: 1. Build … Read more

Transforming Buttresses into Walls

From time to time we answer reader’s questions. “Can you discuss how to transform a buttress into a later addition to the home?” The drawing above shows one possible solution for connecting buttresses and additions. (This is one of our proposed house designs for Haiti.) The buttresses are located where future walls will go. Put … Read more