Most often lintels are built separately from bond beams. See Wood Pole Lintels as an example. But what if you want maximum strength for a multiple story earthbag structure (see Rainwater Towers Apartments) or if you have lots of window and door openings? Integrating the bond beam and lintels as shown in the drawing above … Read more
Most earthbag builders use concrete bond beams on vertical wall structures. That’s the best choice, especially in seismic or high wind areas. But what if you’re not in a seismic or high wind area? If money is tight, time is short and you’re more of a carpenter than a concrete worker then consider using a … Read more
I hope you’re enjoying these posts about Eternally Solar’s earthbag method. Dr. Johnny Anderton of Eternally Solar / EarthBagBuild has kindly supplied more details about their lintel and bond beam system. This is very practical information. “The attached sequence will show how it goes, with bag layer, then concrete fill in channel, then rebar and … Read more
Our earthbag design team is busy creating home and shelter designs, as well as innovative building ideas for the reconstruction effort in Haiti. (See Kelly Hart’s Alternative Bond Beam and Lintel system, for one example.) As you’re probably aware, conventional bond beams and foundations are made with reinforced concrete, but these are costly, labor intensive … Read more