Comments on: Earthbag Daydream

By: Shirley Ross

Shirley Ross — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:53:21 +0000

This is a very nice looking plan, but I’d have to have a modern bathroom. With my diabetas and high blood pressure being as bad as it is I have to take two baths a day during the summer.

By: Earthbag Daydream « The Permaculture Project Blog

Earthbag Daydream « The Permaculture Project Blog — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:25:02 +0000

[...] 3, 2009 by wweiseman Check this out from Tiny House Design: http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/2009/12/02/earthbag-daydream/#more-3353 Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)No [...]

By: Michael Janzen

Michael Janzen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:23:24 +0000

James… I guess it just goes to prove that no planning department is alike. I’m beginning to brainstorm a new online tool that would help people find communities that are friendly to these sort of alternative solutions. If you have any suggestions I’m all ears.

SteveR… I do need more Lloyd Kahn in my life His work is an incredible inspiration. I did actually start to draw circular and organic shapes but I’ve just not had much experience doing that in SketchUp. I’ll spend more time on that.

Craig… love to post some of your SketchUp concepts if you’re interested in sharing.

By: Craig Moorhouse

Craig Moorhouse — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:04:59 +0000

I’ve been interested in earthbag homes for many years. Kelly Harts’ website has a wealth of info on his and many other homes “built with bags”. Kelly has also pioneered the method of filling the bags with insulative materials like porous lava rock (scoria) or per-lite.
Something I’ve been giving much thought to lately is using walls made with bags filled with scoria or perlite on the outside of an ISO shipping container home. Since the shipping container walls are steel, you could weld brackets on the side of the containers that would hold banding material that would hold the bag walls nice and tight against the containers.
I’ve made countless sketchup models of such homes – the possibilities are endless.
Craig Moorhouse

By: SteveR

SteveR — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:34:41 +0000

Dude, you need more Lloyd Kahn in your life. The whole point of using earthbags (or any natural building technique) is that it is extremely flexible and you are not restricted to straight walls and boxy shapes – those were invented for ease of manufacturing from standard sized materials/ As nature doesn’t product standard sizes and shapes, these forms are not to be found in the ‘natural world’.

Earthbag design (which btw, can use clay instead of sand) imposes few restrictions on shapes. Free your mind of impure boxes.

By: James Jarrett

James Jarrett — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:17:28 +0000

Permits may not be as much of a problem as you think. Most places now have permitting systems to allow for simple (and complex) greywater systems. Composting toilets have been around for years, so unless your water/sewer building codes have not been updated in the last 50 years, that should not be a problem either.

The part that worries me are the walls themselves. There is no way to know exactly what those bags have been filled with and mudded over so the inspectors can be difficult.

Still, a nice design if you live someplace that the soil works well for this. Ours is all red clay, so not a good choice.