Typical adobe construction involves making adobe blocks by digging and mixing mud, filling molds with the mixture, drying the blocks in the sun, turning the blocks every so often, moving the blocks to cure under cover, and then moving them to the jobsite where they are often moved several more times in the course of constructing the wall. A typical New Mexico size brick is four inches thick, ten inches wide, and fourteen inches long (4x10x14). A brick this size will weigh about thirty pounds. Obviously building with adobes is a slow, labor intensive process.
sustainable
Dunne Family Update #2
Yesterday’s blog post about post and beam construction reminded me of the Dunne family strawbale house that we’ve covered previously. Click here to see the previous blog post. This project has always been one of my favorites, so it’s time for an update.
Transition Asheville Housing & Building Group – Earthbag Home
“Transition Asheville Trip to an off grid Earthbag home of Morgan Caraway & Mary Jane.
Off Grid Talk
Lots of rustic, off grid living information and photos at Off Grid Talk facebook page.
Oromo Basket House
Classic Oromo roundhouse in Ethiopia. Note the woven walls.
Earthbag Shelter Nepal
I came across this project proposal for Nepal. Very little information is available, although it looks very interesting. I encourage the designer to build a prototype and report the results.
“Earthbag shelter Nepal: Sharing platform for ideas and plans relating to construction of earthbag shelters in Nepal”