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Earthbag (sandbag) building

OwenG

Anyone interested in building with earthbags? Check out these sites:

Comprehensive information: www.EarthbagBuilding.com
Earthbag Building Blog: http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/
Earthbag House Plans: http://earthbagplans.wordpress.com/

 
May 16, 09 10:00 pm
strlt_typ

aside from gravity, what do you use to prevent the filled bags from sliding?

May 17, 09 11:41 am  · 
 · 
spyingonmykeystrokes

Two strands of barbed wire between each course.

Feb 25, 20 9:40 pm  · 
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gonad

a little something called love

May 17, 09 1:20 pm  · 
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binary

get your ish packed

May 17, 09 2:26 pm  · 
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some person

I appreciate how the walls of the plans on Earthbag House Plans are drawn with rounded corners. Drawings that respect the materials. Fantastic.

May 17, 09 2:42 pm  · 
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OwenG

Most builders use two strands of 4-point barbed wire between courses. The barbs hook into the bags and also get embedded in tamped earth. Also, barbed wire adds tensile strength. It's surprisingly strong -- strong enough for houses in hurricane, tornado and earthquake zones.

May 17, 09 9:25 pm  · 
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won and done williams

strange how in some ways building with earth bags seems [somewhat] contemporary, if not cutting edge, but then, you go to earth bag house plans and the elevations are of the most banal 1950s-looking ranch houses you could ever imagine.

May 17, 09 9:50 pm  · 
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OwenG

The main thing I'm after is low cost housing. And the most effective way of lowering costs is building small, simple houses using dirt cheap materials like earth.

1950s looking? I don't recall seeing anything like these from that era:

Enviro Dome: http://earthbagplans.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/enviro-earthbag-dome/

Native Spirit: http://earthbagplans.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/native-spirit/

2 bedroom 10 meter roundhouse: http://earthbagplans.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/2-bedroom-10-meter-earthbag-roundhouse/

May 17, 09 10:40 pm  · 
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hillandrock

The only problem with mound, sandbag aka "earthbag" or subterranean building is finding a good equilibrium in utilizing heat pumps.

While this hasn't been talked about a whole lot recently, some people in the late 1960s and 1970s realized that nearly every bomb shelter we had would become lethally hot within a few months of occupation.

While the Earth does maintain a steady temperature a few feet underneath the soil, it tends to hold heat just as well-- R values and the whole deal.

This is kind of the reason why I don't understand direct geothermal cooling. I completely understand it if you're pumping in chilled fluids to be stored and used but the heat transfer after a while is going to make it worthless.

May 18, 09 12:21 am  · 
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joshcurtis

I live in Chile and my main concern are earthquakes. Is it necessary to use bonding beams? If so, do they have to be installed only at the top of the constuction, or at the bottom too like brick constructions? I read that domes are more resistant but I'm interested un building a rectangular shape house to look like the typical adobe houses from zone, sadly most of the adobe homes fell in the 2010 earthquake.


I would greatfully appreciate your guidance on this matter.
Thanks beforehand.

Jul 20, 19 9:44 pm  · 
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