Knowledge is power, as they say. Serious natural builders will want to draw from the best pool of knowledge available. You see, earthbag is just one part of natural building. There are design and site issues to learn about, how to best use sustainably harvested wood, how-to information on roofs, plastering, and so on. It’s … Read more
Often plaster mesh is not required, but when it is needed it’s useful to know which type of plaster mesh is most affordable – chicken wire, plastic mesh or fishing net. I think stucco mesh is overkill and so it’s not covered here, although it’s often required by code and so you’ll have to plan … Read more
Poly bag prices have been going up lately and I’m sure readers are looking for the best deals. This seems like a good time to start tracking the lowest cost bag suppliers, so I encourage readers to leave a comment below with your recommendations. For clarity’s sake, I suggest posting: – Company name – Website … Read more
As promised, I’m posting more pics of our roundhouse as I get time. I’ve started to upload some of these pics to my new Picasa web album. Floor: We opted for a concrete floor colored with natural iron oxide pigment. The pigment is sprinkled by hand and troweled into the top ¼” as the concrete … Read more
We used pre-made panels of thatch to roof our roundhouse. Thatching is usually very slow and laborious, but we thatched our roundhouse in just one day and for only $100. That’s why I love thatch panels – they’re very inexpensive and all the tedious work has already been done. And they work great on round … Read more
Co-founders Hubert Huot and Julien Balmer in Koh Phangan, Thailand have started a new website to promote earthbag building. Their jungle hillside property on Koh Phangan island is a tropical paradise and was the site of a workshop I was involved with in May. There are numerous beautiful structures at Phangan Earthworks that you can … Read more