How To Build A House Single Handed
89Table Of Contents
Once we had four acres in southeastern Arizona, we naturally wanted to build a house. Doing it single handed sounded like the only way to go for a number of reasons: Our financial situation, though improved from what it had been, was hardly conducive to overspending...I wanted to be able to improvise constantly without having to listen to coworkers who might argue against a given idea...and, quite frankly the most powerful reason of all, I'm just not a team player.
So there.
In the end, what came into being was a "hybrid earthbag home". It has a perimeter foundation of loose concrete blocks set squarely on the ground, earthbag walls for the first six feet of height, standard (though heavy) timber framing above that, and a "normal" roof composed of premanufactured trusses, sheathing, roofing felt, and steel roofing panels. Since the beginning, I've been writing articles (hubs) documenting our progress ("our" meaning my wife, Pam, and me)...but it's not that easy for the average reader to find a particular page covering a specific phase of the building project. This hub should change that. It's a Table of Contents itemizing the construction phases in chronological order with a link to each page, followed by a single photo from that page.
HOW TO BUILD A HYBRID EARTHBAG HOME SINGLE HANDED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Ready-A-Homesite-For-Earthbag-Walls This page covers laying the foundation and framing the entry doors.
2. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-The-First-Courses-Of-Earthbag-Home-Walls If you've never stretched barbed wire or filled sandbags, here's the way it's done (for home building).
3. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Protect-Earthbag-Walls Earthbag walls need to be protected from the sun or else those UV rays will eventually destroy the bags. Note: This page looks great...but the protection described therein turned out to be temporary when high winds later ripped into the project. After that, there was a whole lotta rethinking going on....
4. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Make-Earthbag-Wall-Adjustments Earthbags are not hard to work with but do tend to "droop" at wall corners as well as needing other adjustments. This page shows you how that's done.
5. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Equip-Earthbag-Walls-With-Windows-And-Utility-Tubes Since you don't want to have to "punch holes" in a completed earthbag wall to install windows or allow electrical wiring or gas plumbing access to the home's interior, it's a good idea to handle all this once the walls reach the "desired height"....
6. http://hubpages.com/hub/Sarah-Palin-Soldiers-And-Earthbag-Walls Murphy's Law came along and knocked down half of my house while my wife watched in horror. This was not a fun day but in the end turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The crash made me rethink the design for the top eighteen inches of wall (above the window tops), and the result was a vastly improved method of construction.
7. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Redesign-A-Fallen-Earthbag-Wall Breathe easy? I couldn't even rest well until the fallen walls were back up and a new plan put into place!
8. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Top-Frame-A-Hybrid-Earthbag-Home This is where, after restacking the fallen walls, the house truly became a hybrid with thermal mass down low and massive insulation up high.
9. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Put-Up-Roof-Trusses-Single-Handed Pam was terrified for weeks after I told her I'd be adding the trusses without a crane or even a second man to help get them into the air. After she saw how it was done, though, she finally relaxed.
10. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Sheathe-Roof-Rafters Once the sheathing is added, the roof is entirely stable...but still vulnerable to heavy rainfall (water damage) until the next step....
11. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Tarpaper-A-Roof This process went about as smoothly as any step in the construction project to date, in part because I was working with 30# felt, not the lighter, easy-to-tear 15# stuff.
12. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Install-Metal-Roofing-Panels Having built this house literally from the ground up, topping the entire structure with weather-and-fire resistant metal was pure pleasure despite the tedium of applying nearly 2,000 roofing screws.
13. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Sheathe-Top-Framing Covering all those big holes (a) means the bogey man can't get you if you sleep inside and (b) only a little wind-driven rain will be able to get through until it's time to stucco. Well, how about that--it's a house!
14. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Stucco-A-Hybrid-Earthbag-House This Hub provides decent detail about preparation prior to actual stucco application--but I was under the gun, time-wise, and neglected to take photos of the actual mixing and troweling work. Oops!
Summary
Note: A few of the hubs published about this home-in-progress were not included above for the sake of (relative) brevity but are included in the links capsule below in case the information they contain might apply to your own project.
Project Links Not Included Above
- How To Build A House For Under $20,000
The ledger showing every expense as it occurred. - How To Fix An Undulating Wall Foundation
If you start building on ground that's less than level, there's a way to rectify the situation. - How To Install A French Drain, Cowboy Style
A detailed procedure to keep the soil dry under your house during the monsoon season. - How To Ready A Hybrid Earthbag Wall Home For Roof Trusses
Here's an explanation of how to set up an interior bearing wall--advisable for a house our size (36' x 36') but unnecessary for smaller structures. - How To Reinforce Earthbag Walls Using Intertie Studs
Long, straight earthbag walls sometimes need a bit of extra support on the interior sides. Here's how.
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"Cool" indeed! Amazeing what A man (woman too) can do, with determination. I've learned its a matter of overcomeing ur own "fears"...AND a bit of hasseling with the dreded "Code" folks. Sometimes u HAVE to bend but with a bit of wisdom, not as much as people think.
Got a FLOOR PLAN drawing? or will this be a "One Rm for All" structure? If so, one can "devide" into "areas" with folding Pertition "walls". (Just a thought). Aho?
Urs is FAR bigger then my Miny Dome, by FAR. Whats ur projected $$ outlay, Ghost?
Anyway....yes ; COOL! re
This is really amazing, Fred. You never cease to amaze me with your good nature and amazing work ethic. I hope to become just half the man you are as I'm not really that good with my hands but want to somehow improve upon that. You really remind me of my oldest brother who's somewhat loony in a very good and constructive way. He always wants to do things himself as he truly believes that he can do everything better than anyone else. That's why we call him "Superman." He might've met his match with you, however :)
Thanks again, Fred!
Yayyy! I was hoping you would tie it all together so I could "Grok" it as Heinlein would say. Now I can go back to the details to completely get it, but this really helps me visualize and understand. Great job! Say, is it true that Ghosts can't go through earth bag walls? =:)
Really interesting. I liked watching it come together. Will look forward to more.
Mel, I will of course add each new hub for this project to the above Table of Contents, but there may be a slight hiatus coming up. Except for painting the exterior as a temporary protection against the sun until it's warm enough to stucco, I've got a few other projects clamoring for priority--gray water drain for the RV, drainage ditch around the house, wind turbine assembly, etc.
Red Elk, I don't have a floor plan drawing--this has been done from Day One with all plans residing nowhere in the Universe but between my ears. However, there IS a floor plan: Southwest quarter = my bedroom/bathroom. Southeast quarter = Pam's bedroom/bathroom. Northwest quarter divided between my office and a hallway coming in from the back door (that'll be where a lot of plumbing runs and where a lot of tools get their own shelves, etc.). Northeast quarter = kitchen and living room kind of thrown together studio style, with maybe laundry too but maybe not--that may end up in a separate structure altogether.
It could not have been done at all without the marvelous "Owner Builder Option" Cochise County put into their building code in 2005. This allows any owner of 4 acres or more to "opt out" of all inspections (after the septic installation is finished) and build any sort of structure desired without ANY more inspections--and you have 3 years to do it. Thank you, Cochise County.
Projected cash outlay: When I began, the goal was to produce the shell (not counting all the interior work) for no more than $20,000. As of today, with maybe $2,000 left to go counting stucco, a cement mixer, and final paint, the cash spent (including for the septic system, building permits, and all building surplies AND a few minor tools...) comes to $15,674.
Dohn, thanks for the kudos. I can really identify with your brother--I truly would not trust anyone else to do a single thing in building this home. Might make one exception later on, possibly have a pro put in the propane furnace...but no guarantee on that, either. I've seen the pros do some really dumb stuff. The house in Colorado (that went to foreclosure) was put up by "experts", but we had a problem with the air conditioning--and it turned out the reason was that the stoned electrician had left both ends of the electircal wiring jammed into the earth under the house instead of being connected to each other! Not a real trust-building experience.
Winsome, feel free to Grok away to your heart's content. I'm pretty sure that at least THESE earthbag walls would stop most Ghosts. When I've tried slipping through them, anyway, the high clay content constituted a real ectoplasmic barrier.
Sheila, thanks--I've enjoyed watching it come together, too. My wife tells me she's absoultely amazed that one 66 year old dude could do something like this by himself...and as we all know, keep the redhead happy, everything else falls right in place.
Like the way you build the house. Although it can take lot of effort from a person like me. But I would love to try it, if I have time myself :)
Cool hub
Shane, it can take a lot of effort from ANY kind of person. It's not a matter of "trying", though, but a matter of "doing". "Trying" (in my vocabulary) usually means guaranteeing failure, as in, "Well, I tried, but...." As for having the time, that does help, but even without "having time" I'd still have had to tackle the project--because otherwise, we have no home.
Thanks for commenting.
I just read your other hub detailing the expenses, and I am amazed how affordable this project is! Great hub!
Thaks, Relica. I should point out that it could have been even MORE affordable IF:
1. The wind hadn't knocked down a couple of walls and convinced me that the tarpaper under the chicken wire (as furring for later stucco) had been a waste of time and money.
2. I hadn't bought 6 rolls of barbed wire when it turned out I was only going to end up using 3 of them.
Overall, though, no complaints so far.
I want one. We are moving to AZ. When we retire. I would love to build one of these
i continue to follow your progress. appreciate the synopsis. thanks
:)s :)
Granny's House--why not?
Sylvia--you're certainly welcome! (Had it wired for DirecTV today; are we optimists or what?
Very cool Ghost. I sent the link to my sister. She hopes to build a wood workshop from free and inexpensive materials. She has picked up some good stuff by monitoring the bulky trash pick up dates for nearby subdivisions. Never know where you're going to draw your greatest inspiration from.
Thanks. And, best of good fortune to your sis. We've not acquired a lot of free stuff here, but when we lived on a mountain acreage in Montana (1999-2002) we sure did. There were two local dump sites within reach, both small with no attendant and therefore no one to care if you helped yourself to discards. Amazing what turned up sometimes. If memory serves, the "most precious" treasure was a three foot chunk of beautifully finished countertop which fit in one corner of our little cabin just right and served us well for all three years we were there.
Ghost,
My son is so much like you! His dream is to build his own home one day. Before his dad and I divorced we built an addition to our home and starting at about 5 years old (he is 30 now) he "helped" his dad do most all the work (except the electrical) themselves. Since then he has rebuilt my kitchen, replaced the bathroom and laundry room floors due to a water heater that leaked for years and we did not know until the floor rotted out! In other words he has almost redone my entire house (new roof, all new paint inside and out, replaced all plumbing etc.). I will show him your work and I’m sure he will be very interested to see it. He is a free spirit like his mom and cannot stand the thought of being tied to a 9 to 5. You really are a Jack of All Trades!
I look forward to more of your work.
Shyanne
Jack of All Trades and looking to learn a few more, it would seem. Got out the trusty #2 shovel and started digging a trench for a French drain today, anyway...:)
I've never seen anything like this, Ghost32. this is great stuff! I hope you get a LOT of viewers to this hub.
Thanks, Mythbuster. I believe the viewers will indeed add up over time, as this one is beginning to get looksees from both Google and Yahoo searches already. Which is never a bad sign! :)
Wow that house is really cool.
Here in the UK i have seen some people who build with bales of straw then cover the walls with rustic lyme plaster.
I bet the house is well insulated by the earth?
Werebear, there are straw bale houses like that in this area, too. As far as insulation goes, the earth isn't very effective that way--earth, from what I've read, is not a great insulator as such. But what it does provide is thermal mass. The day's heat soaks into the earth and gets released during the night, which evens out the home's temperatures a bit.
Not that I'm taking any chances. The attic, which is of standard frame construction, will receive regular R-30 fiberglass insulation, and there'll even be an additional interior wall with R-13 batts as well.
The combination of all that thermal mass AND all that "normal" insulation should end up being impressive....
My grandpa build his house single handedly too. I don't realize other people still actually do that these days...
It's probably not that common in the U.S. these days, but more folks are doing it than you might realize. One neighbor to the east of us (about half a mile away) built her own place out of straw bales, and the neighbor who first told us about the best way to deal with the County here locally has built his own out of pressed bricks made from high-clay-content soil found on his own land.
There must also be a pretty strong interest overall. My most popular article to date is titled "How to Build a Survival Cabin on a Shoestring Budget", with nearly 50,000 views accumulating over the past 3 years.
Very impressive Hub. I love your pictures!
Thanks!
I scanned the posts and saw where you had covered the bag-dom with wire mesh wrap, then the winds came and now they dont have it on. In reading the part where you did apply the wrap with common wire, not galvanized, you said it would hold long enough, why the extra money and time.
I beg to differ with that approach if its not too late for a change.
The wire MUST be rust proof, else you are wrapping a plaster cast with nothing to hold it to the underneath structire except, air. All lath must be securly attached to the support it would seem else when the last wire rusts through, and plaster is NOT waterproof, just water resistant, then the skin of plaster has to way to hold on and the whole lath/plaster is free to fall.
But since i have seen the roof on structure minus the lath, is there some other plan I missed out on?
I do like the massiveness of the structure. I cam to your blog from the Terlingua sites.
Thermal mass is good but it still allows heat/cold permeation, so is the mode of cooling a small swamp coller with off the grid power?
You bring up excellent points. My responses:
1. It's wa-ay too late for a change, since we've been living in the completed structure for nearly a year now. However, your comment reminded me that I needed to add item #14 (above) to the Table of Contents to complete the series of articles--so, thanks!
2. The wire, regardless of whether it rusted out or not, would never have done much to hold the stucco to the walls anyway--because the wire was BARELY enough to hold lightweight paper-and-wire in place.
3. The paper was discarded after the wind damage because I realized I'd be making a big mistake if I tried applying stucco that left air space between the "plaster" and the earthbags--which was your most excellent point.
4. The "plaster" is hardcore concrete stucco, all done from bags of premix purchased from Home Depot--as a rookie, I didn't dare tackle mixing the lime and cement when I could buy the stuff ready-done. When it was applied, it was troweled in so that there's an inch or so of thickness covering the outer, rounded edges of the bags...and as much as three to four inches of depth where it fills in the the "seams" between bags. The resulting MASSIVE outer shell consists of something like 10,000 pounds of concrete stucco that is--well, INCREDIBLY strong AND bonded directly to every curve of every bag. Piddly-diddle little wires have virtually NOTHING to do with THAT--once the stucco had set in place, that is.
We don't call it "THE BORDER FORT" for nothing! LOL!
5. You're also absolutely right about thermal mass not being insulation. I don't address that issue in these shell-building Hubs, but INSIDE the shell, I had room (by design) atop the concrete block foundation perimeter to add a "regular" frame 2x4 stud wall, insulated with R-ll fiberglass batting.
That's for the walls. The attic has R-30.
6. Last summer, we got through okay with nothing but a couple of fans in Pam's room. I don't need any cooling at all. But for maximum comfort and coming up on one full year's experience of living in the structure, we can say that we seem to be looking at an almost even "seasonal break". That is, 3 months of summer could use some cooling, 3 months of winter need heat, and for 3 months of fall and 3 of spring, the thermal mass "pendulum" keeps things perfect temperature-wise without spending a penny either way.
I may add a window air conditioner this summer or the one after that (depending on finances, time available, and Pam's need) for her room only; we'll see.
7. By mid November, we could see heat for the deeper winter months was going to be highly desirable. So I purchased and installed a ventless propane heater designed for supplemental use--but which does the job in THIS home as the primary heat source, and beautifully so. We were able to keep the interior temperature comfortably in the low 70s even during the cold snap that dropped to 7 degrees above Fahrenheit and snapped every outside water line in the county, which means we could go subzero outside and still make it through just fine. And that's with a wall heater putting out just 20,000 btu max.
Yep, we're delighted with the place!
Ghost
What did you do for a floor?
And, is the house off the grid power wise, or is there a 110 out there now? You talk of a septic, so where does the water come from? well, rural water district, 250 gallon tank out back?
I know, lotsa questions.
By the numbers:
1. The floor is set directly on the Earth in three layers: (A) 6mm black plastic as a moisture and dirt barrier, (B) 15/32" OSB strand board (the same stuff used for sheathing board everywhere), and (C) 3/8" interlocking 36" square rubber flooring (like you sometimes see in weight gyms) made from recycled tires.
Total floor cost: Roughly $4,500, start to finish.
2. We're off grid and intend to stay that way. Can't stand being "connected", though both Pam and I have lived more years that way than not (up till now). The power lines quit about half a mile from here, though we wish is was half a hundred miles.
Power for the moment is portable generator only. Had a wind turbine that failed after a few months (defective design), though it worked long enough for us to realize the wind, while plenty fierce around here much of the time, does just plain quit blowing for extensive periods throughout the year as well. Plan on going to a mobile solar generator (no property tax increase that way) when we can afford it.
3. We own (presently) one of five 4-acre parcels in a 20-acre development. At the moment, we're the first and only homesite, have an option on an adjacent parcel, and the other three have not been sold. We hope to see our finances improve enough to eventually obtain the entire 20 acres, but not counting any unhatched chickens, either.
At the far side of the 20, there's a well which was put in by the developer, so we have a well share. The water table is down 325 feet below the surface, so we use a 5500 watt portable generator to pump 500 gallon batches through more than half a mile of water line (as it winds around the area to get to our homesite.
I have a plastic storage tank mounted on a wooden tower (which can double as a place to take showers during high heat, when water directly from the storage tank is not too chilly). The tower rises just 9 feet above the ground surface, and the resulting gravity feed flow is minimal--but light years better than nothing.
Again, when we can afford it, I'll be installing a booster pump to up the pressure (have had the pump itself on hand for more than a year, but not the means to set up a power source and protect "all that" from freezing)...and also, most likely, adding a much larger underground tank.
Unfortunately, the big generator is down, can't seem to diagnose the problem (won't start), and a giant dog (Neapolitan mastiff) who drinks a LOT of water just walked up the driveway and adopted us a few days ago.
Uh-oh...:)
Great job on the house! I was a Code Enforcement inspector for a couple years (Virginia), but my "property rights" nature conflicted to the point I had to give it up. Your home is great, but out here it would give the Building Officials a heart attack, and you'd probably be hauling it off unless you have a good read on the 2nd amendment. At least your county people have some good common sense! Wish I had seen this from the beginning, what a great project!
grayghost: It would give the Code folks a cardiac here, too, but for one bit of amazing wisdom evidenced by the County when it passed an Owner Builder Amendment to the building codes in 2005. Under that (as long as you take Option 2), you do have to have a licensed guy put in the septic (which was irritating), but then NO MORE INSPECTORS EVER, and the Building Permit gives you three full years t Git 'R' Done.
It says right in the Amendment wording that it was added to encourage the use of alternative building materials & methods AND to help folks produce dwellings they would actually enjoy occupying.
The only snag would be if we wanted to connect to the electrical grid, and since we view that thing much like Neo views the Matrix in the movie by the same name, NOT a problem.
I can really understand the conflict you experienced while you were an inspector. Yowza.
P.S. 2nd Amendment is well understood in these parts, as you might have guessed.
Ghost
How did you attach the wooden top sill plate that the short wood frame and ultimately the roof trusses attach too?
I love the view of the painted house and the back drop mountains.
Is that Mt Scepioporus of the Chiricahua mountains in the background? That places you on the far east edge of cochise county, near the NM/AZ border.
We're a touch farther west than that; those are the Huachucas (don't know the name of the peak). The Chiricahuas are to the east of us.
That top sill plate covering the earthbags? Over each window frame, the plank is fastened to the top window plank with plenty of 10d nails. Over the bags, there's a 3/8" hole drilled and a 100d spike (12 inches long) driven down through each and every bag in the top row. The spikes reach down through two full rows of earthbags (which, being high in clay content, set up almost like brick or concrete over time) and sometimes a bit into a third.
Ghost
I was wondering about wind load acting on the roof like a wing, and since you had gone to hurricane clips for rafters to plates inside and outside walls what was holding the whole shebang down to the foundation. Then i thought well, maybe he used the interior wall studs but that didnt seem to be the answer in pics I could see. Therefore my question.
I can see spikes driven into bags from above but that helps to aid in sheer forces, not suction (lifting up) kind of like an airfoil, and since you had been dedicated in using hurricane clips thought the old man had to have a plan. (Its all right, I am 61, so I can say your an old man LOL)
So as I see it, the weight of the entire wood structure is what keeps the whole thing together as far as horizontal forces goes.
Anuder question, the low lope of your roof, was that from a money issue, or was there some other reason for it being only 1 in 12?
Larry: The slope is 2 in 12, not 1 in 12, but yeah, it's still a low pitch...and yes, it's deliberate. Partly for money, yes, but also for (a) appearance and (b) to make it safer to walk on for both initial construction and any necessary future maintenance.
The appearance part was to keep the profile as low as possible, adding to the overall impression of a hunkered-down fighting fort--which it is. We're situated one mile from the Mexican border, and anyone who blithely presumes one can live a lifetime in this area without ever facing the possibility of an armed attack is out of his mind. So the place is built to withstand such a possibility, but ALSO to PROJECT AN IMAGE that says to anyone passing through--such as the countless northbound illegals--"HARD TARGET LIVES HERE. IF YOU'RE PLANNING A HOME INVASION, YOU'D BE WISE TO TACKLE SOMEBODY ELSE."
And it works. Driving to town and back on shopping errands, etc., I sometimes scan dwellings along the way, asking myself, "If it were ME figuring on tackling a place, which places would I most avoid?" And our Border Fort always comes up as number one on that list.
It isn't just the roofline, of course. Even the layout of the home, storage semi trailer, camp trailer and 3 steel storage sheds is set in an "L" formation so that (with the exception of one shed) a warrior in any one door could provide covering fire for any other door. The back door to the home might look like a way to go for an enemy force--maybe.
Now, about the "wing" effect on the roof.
1. The "wings" do extend out over the eaves on the north and south sides.
2. However, there is NO overhang on the east and west ends; there the metal was trimmed flush to the outer wall stucco--so there's NO wing at all for the wind to grab.
3. This means that the major winds tend to "slip" along the eaves and get a bit less lift going than if the roof flared out over the building on all four sides.
4. The "hold things down" effect is cumulative, from a number of construction details. The weight of the roof itself is nothing, of course. The weight of the top-framing (which is very securely attached to the roof) does help some.
5. The next hold-down detail involves the interior stud walls. On the two "wing sides" especially, every stud is nailed directly to the lower board of a roof truss with two 10d nails. That's the top of the stud.
6. Then, all of the ceiling boards are heavy OSB strand boards, the same stuff used to sheathe the roof, screwed directly into the bottom of the trusses with approx. 40 sheetrock screws per 4'x8' board.
7. The interior walls are all of the same heavy OSB material. NOW (adding roof, ceiling, inteior walls all together) we're talking some SERIOUS weight.
8. But wait! There's more! Every bottom sill board is nailed directly into the concrete foundation blocks, and every place there's a window or a door, the interior wall boards are screwed to the window or door 2"x12" plank framing as well.
The result: For the wind (and we DO get wind!) to lift the roof, it has to move the ENTIRE STRUCTURE or it's not going ANYWHERE...it can't get ANY lift except on those two "slippage" wing sides, AND with all of the earthbags plus extensive 3 pallets of OSB, etc., involved, we're talking a minimum of 80,000 lbs. in a relatively low-to-the ground structure.
A couple of days ago, we were hit dead-on with one helluva dust devil. I was sitting right here at the computer at the time, and you could hear the popping sounds as the wind TRIED to tear things loose--but nothing moved a millimeter.
Ghost
1600 bags more or less?
Larry,
Would have been about that if the walls had gone to full height using the bags. For the six feet of height that ended up being the deal, however, it was only in th 1300 range.
Thanks for assist.
hanwillingham: You're welcome.
kdupree: Thanks. Now, to snag that wily Leprechaun, steal his gold, and finish the inside properly! :)
Ghost
How is the place now that hotter-n-hell temps have moved in and stayed too long?
Also, are you going to apply solid foam board insulation to the inside before you apply any interior wall covering, and what are you planning on using there and attached how?
Larry, the temps aren't that bad since the monsoon rains arrived.
About the inside: This is July 2011, and I've had what could be done on the inside since October 2010, when the money ran out.
What is NOT done yet: Flush toilets, showers, bathroom and kitchen sinks, a kitchen range, kitchen cabinets, and central island kitchen counter/table.
What IS done: Interior 2"x4" stud walls insulated with R-11 fiberglass batting insulation and faced with OSB strand board interior walls, MOST of which have been painted (before the pain ran out). Blinds for the windows. Flooring consisting of (a) 6mm black plastic moisture-and-dust barrier under (b) OSB strand board under (c) interlocking rubber flooring tiles.
Also done: Plumbing for the laundry room, thoiugh the washer is down at the moment, and plumbing for a utility sink in the utility room. Cooking is done on a two burner (but awesome) camp stove for now.
Ghost
How did you attach the studs to the structure, aka bags? Its been some time I read the start of this process, did you have a 2X12 PT sill plate under the first course of bags to attach the wall studs to?
How warm is it INSIDE with 100 p0lus temps on the outside? What is the cooling source, swamp cooler, and if so, what powers that? Photovoltaic cells?
Larry, about the warmth first: With 100 plus temps on the outside and when we've had (on occasion) no real relief at night for a period of weeks, it's gotten as hot as 93 inside. There is NO cooling source other than leaving the windows open and hoping for a breeze after the sun sets.
Which is a problem for Pam. She can handle it fairly well up to about 85 degrees but fades pretty fast after that. My intention--when money permits, which is should do well before NEXT summer--is to set up a small (5,000 btu) electic AC unit (120 volt, not 240) on a stand about five feet away from her bedroom's south window.
Between the AC and the window, a hunk of sheet metal will be formed as ductwork to pass the cool air into her room.
Power will be perhaps temperarily from a portable generator (as we did in 2000-2002 in Montana off grid), but eventually we plan to power the entire place (AC and all) from a sizeable solar generator that packs its own photovoltaics.
If need be, to retain the coolness, her bedroom door can be closed. (That room is more of a "studio" in a way, with a TV and a big recliner as well as a separate bathroom. She spends most of her time there anyway.)
The cats and I survive a few 90-to-93 degree summer days just fine; for us, cooling is a waste of money. I'd never seen a home with AC until I was at least 30. A car either, for that matter.
Okay, the studs: No lumber sill plate. The earthbags sit atop the outside 11 inches of a perimeter "foundation" of four-inch-thick concrete blocks some 16 inches square. The bottom board supporting the studs is nailed directly to those concrete blocks (using, of course, masonry nails).
Great job! I really enjoyed watching this house come together. I was amazed at the budget, very affordable! I will check back often! www.cshandymansvc.com
That really is amazing, I don't think I've ever seen a house quite like it. Building a house for such a tiny sum of money seems impossible, even if it isn't finished yet. It does remind me a bit of a playhouse my grandfather built in his back garden many years ago for his large number of grandchildren. I think his was all timber though and about a third the size of yours.
Over here in the U.K the vast majority of houses are brick built and need to follow planning and building regulations so we never get to see something as interesting as this.
Very entertaining hub.
CSHandyman: Thanks!
GALAXY 59: It really is finished (and has been for nearly a year now) except for the addition (inside) of amenities like flush toilets, showers, etc.
You might not want to underestimate the ingenuity of your countrymen, though. I just tried Googling "UK earthbag home" and got a LOT of interesting hits. We do believe ours is different from most (if not all) others because of the "hybrid" aspect, i.e. blending earthbag and "standard" frame construction into a single building. But there are lots of UK projects you'd suspect gave the building regulation folks absolute fits! :)
Sorry, Ghost32, I meant not finished on the inside too. I have never heard or seen anything like this in the UK. As you say, I suspect if homes like these do exist over here they are in VERY remote places far away from the prying eyes of planners, who would indeed have a fit!
We do have a small number of self build projects all over the country, but they tend to be more along the lines of prefabricated concrete and steel structures. And, of course, there are still a few of the prefab homes built as a temporary measure to rehouse people who lost homes to German bombs during the war.Those were only supposed to last about five years and are still standing proud.
I do know of one house built into a hillside near where I live, dug out of the earth and covered with a sod roof , it might look a bit like an earthbag home but at an asking price of £500,000.00 I suspect it is a lot different on the inside!
Got it. We expect to finish the inside within the next year--hit a dry patch money-wise, and have hopes for improvement on that front before too long.
At £500,000.00, it SHOULD be a lot different on the inside, eh?
Great job!
Thanks. It's doing the job so far. :)
Nice job on the earthbags.. I CAN RELATE to how hard they can be...pound,pound,pound...we added a room on our place that is earthbags and boy, did we get a workout..Great Job :-)
I got it down to a "science" after a while, but my wife tells me I grew muscles a guy should not be able to suddenly produce at the age of 66.
Thanks for the "Great Job".
Ghost, I have commented on the project several times over the past year and i have a question. In reflection, what would you have done differentl, besides wrapping the first layer with the plastic coated chicken wire stuff?
I know that is a loaded question, but if you had to do it over again, what would you advise for a "lets try this method the next time?"
Larry, I've actually thought about that a lot...and I keep coming up with, "You know, if I have to do this again, I'll do it EXACTLY THE SAME WAY--with adjustment on just a few minor details." Those details are:
1. Have a very deep conversation with the septic system contractor before he starts...and watch him like a hawk all the way through. Which I did, but next time, I'd want the septic main drain pipe to reach the house at WELL under floor level, with only the stub popping up in the center of the floor. My guy installed a tank model he'd never used before, and there was a glitch: The septic drain is actually starting to surface from the Earth by the time it reaches the building, which means we have to step OVER plumbing pipes when we go in or out of my bedroom.
2. Like you said, no paper covering over the bags.
3. I'd set up a LOT of wall bracing for the earthbag walls EARLIER than I did. Braces aren't needed for the first few rows, but after 5 or 6 (rows), I'd set up a bunch. Certainly by the time 8 rows were in place, at most. It was my underestimation of the wind danger that had the walls topped out (at 13 rows) that allowed the two walls to fall down.
Once the exterior stucco is applied and the interior walls erected to replace the bracing, then the structure is as sturdy as they come. Before that, not so much.
4. Pam has mixed emotions about the rubber flooring--it doesn't clean as easily as linoleum and shows dirt more readily than carpet. But I purely love the stuff, and even my wife admits the "rubber bounce" has undoubtedly saved her a broken bone or three (from her occasional falls--she's not always steady) already. The one thing I WOULD do about the rubber: Order a larger number of tiles than I did. In my original order, I calculated the square footage and added 10% for wastage. It should have been 20%. We wound up needing about 13 more 3' x 3' tiles to finish the job.
5. I might try to come up with the equipment to dig a larger/deeper drainage trench for the French drain. We now own a trencher (bought it used on eBay) and have plans to acquire a mini-excavator someday, now that our finances are somewhat improved, so this year the trench WILL be more effective. What we have to date, though, was all dug by hand, most of it in the middle of a monsoon rainstorm. It would be nice not to have to bail out for any more 3-hour stints during the summer downpours.
And...that's about it. Wouldn't change another thing.
When you say that you would brace the walls sooner, how would you have done that? Bracing 2x6 flat against the bags with braces attached to the ground, sandwiching one inside and one outside opposed to each other? About every 6 feet or so along the walls?
A close look at photos #7, 8, & 9 (above) will give you some idea. When I did get serious about bracing, I used anything at hand--even a few stray pieces of 2" x 12"--but mostly 2" x 4". The lefthand portion of #7 shows one "bracketing" brace setup that worked about the best: Triangular setup inside AND out, tied together over the top with a short piece. Sometimes the points touching the Earth had to be stopped from "kicking out" by driving anchor stakes for them to rest against.
Every 6' would have been awesome, but every 8' would do the trick in most cases.
Hi,
Fist off Thanx for looking at my posting. I am a disabled person building a home for my family 25 miles from St Johns on a natural ruarl landscape. I only mention the disablement because i need help. The home is around 470sqft at the base. I need to complete the project by winter for my family (Oct). I can offer meals, enlightening conversation and instruction in alternative fuels, energy, housing & food production. I am an inventor and have patents in some of these areas. I am working on setting up a website at www.earthbaghome.com. Please email contact info. sosmybiz(at)Gmail
Chuck: I'll certainly leave your post in place in case someone who can help does happen to stop by.
Can't pitch in myself, though. I'm familiar with St. Johns and wouldn't mind buzzing on up to give you a hand--but my plate is already full and then some. My wife is deeply disabled on a number of levels, unable to travel, and cannot be left home alone.
May the blessings be.
Great story from beginning to end. I imagine myself quite like you in that I would rather do it myself then pay others or work with others.
My wife and I are looking at different style homes to build on our land next year. Would you recommend an earth bag home to someone living in a colder climate? We are along the appalachians in maryland but the land will be next door in West Virginia.
Thank you
Erik
Erik, I'm probably not the most authoritative source on this, but one thought does come to mind regarding the workability of an earthbag home in a colder climate:
No matter what the climate, I never considered using JUST earthbags. Even here, I built a second, inner wall (later, but always in the plans) that is standard 2"x4" frame construction with R-11 insulation. Earthbags do NOT insulate much "as such"; what they do is absorb heat when they can...and release it (both back into the home and out into the open air) when they can't. If I were to consider earthbags in West Virginia, I'd want that "second wall" to be 2"x6" with R-19 insulation if I could.
mel22 Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago
Wow ! Cool ! Never saw an earthen bag structure b4. ! very cool. I'll be checking in periodiacally to see the rest. Nice view of the mountains in the back there !