The Making of an Earthbag House in India

In the last post I referenced the work of Sindhu Bhaskar as part of the Thannal Mud Homes Trust in India.  She and her architect husband Biju built their own earthbag home made almost entirely with natural materials. In this video you can see how they made this 550 Sq Ft  home in one and a half months. They made around 1000 earthbags from scratch and used soil from the site. To lay 1000 bags it took less than 15 days with 2 men and 2 women. It cost less than baked bricks to do this and the walls are 1.5 feet thick. They used different plaster, mortar paste mixes made out of Prickly pear juice, aloe vera, tamarind seed, Haritaki, sticky rice juice, tapioca starch etc and with a touch of tailored coconut leaf roof.

You can watch this video at www.youtube.com

Then after almost 3 years they made some upgrades to the initial home. The coconut thatch roof was changed into a sandwich double roof of lime-straw and terracotta tiles, which can reduce the maintenance cost in the long run and provide better insulation for cold and hot climates. The bathroom was upgraded with waterproof Araish lime plaster. Kitchen interiors with shelves into the wall and waterproof plaster also gives a fresh look. Bed with storage space made with Adobe bricks and Lime plaster shows how furniture can also be built with mud. Loft space for children made with pallet wood and a bamboo staircase shows how small and valuable spaces can be added into a home, increasing the usability and how a home can grow with providing for the needs of young generations. Verandah space with an outdoor seating with Pallet wood also depicts how traditional spaces can be incorporated into contemporary homes.

This video can be seen at www.youtube.com