Earthbag Mixture This being an earthbag house, one of the primary tasks involved in building it is making the mixture to put into the earthbags. We start out with the piles of clay that have been dug up around the building site. My father-in-law, Lee, made mud pits–like kiddie pools–with boards and plywood and tarps, and…
The Walls are Coming! I’m so excited to be past the trenching and foundation stage and working on the actual walls! We’ve hired some helpers to come out during the week, and on the weekends sometimes Denise and Jeff come out and may bring friends to help as well. Thanks to the additional hands, things are moving…
Foundation, French Drain, and the First Bags! We’re making steady progress on the earthbag house! Here’s what we’ve been up to: On the afternoon of August 13th, after we had finished filling the last of the trenches, Keith rented a mini excavator to dig the foundation and the cistern/utility room, which will be set lower…
On Saturday morning, July 26, I sluggishly opened my eyes in a cute AirBnB bedroom in North Carolina. It had been a short night–we arrived at 1 a.m. after 16 hours on the road, where I got to see some parts of the country (such as St. Louis) for the first time ever. The previous weekend…
In the Trenches Before we can raise the walls, we must dig the trenches for the power and water that will feed the house. That was the focus last week. Keith picked up a trencher from Home Depot’s rental center in the late afternoon on Thursday, July 10th and unloaded it from its little trailer. …
Earthbag House Project – The Beginning Greetings from the American Heartland–the home of my husband’s family, and our home base between the numerous travels we make throughout the country and around the world. We are in Eastern Kansas and about to begin the biggest personal project either of us has undertaken–building a house for Keith’s…