I’ve just started a YouTube channel about earthbag building in hopes of seeing this building method spread more quickly, and to help improve the standard of construction. It’s easier for many people to learn by watching rather than just reading about it, and it’s a fun way to pass some time. Hope you enjoy it. … Read more
Do earthbags really become hard as rock or is this exaggeration? I did a little experiment on the roundhouse we’re currently building to find out. The answer depends primarily on the choice of fill material and the degree of compaction. The moisture content and curing process also play a role. We used road base – … Read more
Many people want to know the lowest cost way of building. Here’s a short comparison of costs to build an earthbag house using ‘free’ options versus buying the building materials: hand dig soil on site = free versus deliver soil $200 gather materials and make thatch panels = free versus buy thatch panels $100 hand … Read more
Here’s a drawing of my favorite earthbag slider that makes it easy to place bags on the wall without getting hooked on the barbed wire. If you want to make one, start out by cutting a sheet of 1/16th thick steel about 13 inches wide by 16” long. Tack weld a piece of 1” by … Read more
In addition to drawing your plan on graph paper, I suggest marking things on the floor or outside in the dirt to help you visualize your future home. (This assumes you’re building a small structure.) You can scratch an outline of your rooms on the ground with a pointed stick or use stakes to define … Read more
One way to save money and reduce your impact on the environment is to use unmilled roundwood when building your home. Wood in the round is much stronger than standard dimension lumber and requires less processing. In our case it enables us to use local, sustainably grown wood instead of wood shipped hundreds of miles. … Read more