Earthbag Construction Episode 2
Preparation
Barn Raising
Remember hearing about the good ol’ days when neighbors would join together for a barn raising party? After several requests, we decided to have ourselves a “wall raising” party for Bryson’s earthbag bedroom. Friends, co-workers and neighbors will be joining us to help but before that can happen, we need to prepare.
Watch:
Last Episode: Episode 1 Earth Bag Construction Breaking Ground -Click Here :)
Next Episode:Episode 3 - Earth Bag Wall Raising Party -Click Here :)
Shelly
October 16, 2015
Video Transcript
We’re inviting some people over to help with our Earthbag building.
It’s time to prepare
First, easy access to damp dirt
Well it’s not like I forgot Jeff was coming over
But, he was there early
And I wasn’t ready
So I jumped out of bed because he just knocked on the door
To get us some dirt for Bryson’s building
We had laid out a circle
For him to be able to pull the dirt from
What a time savor
The difference between a huge bucket on a tractor
And a wheelbarrow and a shovel
He has the ability to scrape those wall at the perfect edges
You did a great job
It’s amazing what you can get with a few bucks and a case of beer
I appreciate you
Thank you, you’re awesome
Go back and make sure my couch hasn’t moved
Bree: Next, installing the electrical wire and boxes
Shae and Bryson and I had a goal
We would put in one layer of bags a day
And get up to, I don’t know, a couple of feet
Where the guys are going to be putting in the electrical
Just a layer a day in preparation for the people to come
There were several evenings where we decided we would
wait for the sun to do down
And we put up this big light
And went ahead and worked into the evening
Are you guys out there, I can’t see you
Awww, yes
Oooooooohhhhh
Shae: That’s our bag building right down there
It’s really scary. The fire is just right there.
On a hill, not too far from here
We wanted to get the electrical in
prior to the people coming over
Because we didn’t want to mess with that when everybody was here
Garen came in to help us
In what universe have we ever been like everyone?
The plan is to go ahead and put these boxes in
In strategic locations for the inside
And one for the out
We have to separate the wire with the barbed wire
we use to hold the bags
We are able to use the “U” shaped nails to separate the two wires
The purpose is so we don’t get an electrical short
Bryson: If it shorts out, it is going to be a bummer
Gary: Then we’d be running wire on the outside
(Whispers) We don’t want to do that
Bree: The electric will be hooked up to the nearby solar system
The final step before the group of people came over
which is getting one layer above the electrical
They broke up in two groups
Gary & Bryson and Shae & Garen
They raced to see who could finish the circle first
They had a huge doorway in their bag circle that they didn’t have to bag
But you know they always have to have the last word
because they don’t want to lose any of their “beefiness” or whatever
Bryson: Are you doing okay?
Shae: Are we doing okay?
But we totally won
Garen: We just like crushed you
We beat them like nobodies business
We definitely won. We creamed them.
Bree: We need several cleats.
We have 3 different types of cleats that we use
to hold the bags to whatever structure it is
We have the simple cleat that sits inside of the 2 earth bags
that’s used for nailing pictures and so on
Then we have another cleat that fits up against a window
and we are able to back nail right to that
so it holds the window in place
Then we have a third kind that we use
when we are coming against our post
like around to the doors, they have kind of an “L” shape
We’re able to nail into the “L” shape and into the side post
We made over 40 cleats
I can make mine really fast but Bryson
he put like a bazillion nails in there
Bryson: And then when you’re done putting nails in this side
you flip it over so the nails stick up like this
Shae: I do mine easier
When you’re doing the cleats you can put in 5 nails or 20
and I was just putting mine in and I had them beautifully
nice, in a row. Everything symmetrical, perfect
And Shae was like, bam, bam, bam done. Bam, bam, bam done.
Shae: One left
Shelly: Wow
Bree: 2x12 window frames are also needed
Gary: I found on craigslist a couple of great, brand new windows
that we are going to use on Bryson’s room
a 4x3 and a 2x2
Cost us $120 for both windows
Windows, you know
We are going to be using these for the steps and window frames
2x12s and 2x10s
The size of a window is static, meaning it’s usually 1/2 inch shorter
so it will set inside of window frame
in our case, we could make the frames 3 foot by 5 foot
3 foot by 4 foot and so on
I used 3 2x6s and nailed them together as a big header
Shae: Why do these things have to be together?
These are headers that go above the windows
Help support the weight of the roof
So we’re not putting the weight of the roof over the top of the window itself
Bree: Steps are next
We forgot about the steps
we had to back up and pull some of the earthbags off
These are the treads for our stairs
that are going to go up. 2x10s
There will be 9 1/2 inch treads
Come with me, I’ll show you how it goes on
These will all go up
Every two rows, we’re going to have one step
in a circle going all the way up to there
Inside the walls we, of course, ran nails up and ran nails down
similar to how we do our cleats.
We chose to bring it out and let it free hang
and a small, temporary post underneath it
We are also going to have bottle prepared
We are going to put in a little bottle window as those steps go up
Bree: Lastly, a center pole is placed for measuring
We place a pole in the center of the building
Its’ an inch and a half pipe that runs 9,10 feet in the air
Now we have a nice pole that runs through the center of the building
to gauge the circular earth bags as they go around
Bree: The lightening storms are bringing additional challenges
Bryson: This is what happens when it’s too wet
Water starts bubbling up
And it gets really sloshy
You can’t bag on top of that, it’s jello
Gary: If that doesn’t dry out, we’re going to be in trouble
Bree: Tune in next when when our friends come over to lend us a hand
Shelly: Oooh, nice boots
Garen: Yeah!
Shelly: Oooh, watch the nails!
Shae: Please subscribe
For more information, you can click the website below
Thanks for watching
Bryson: My awesome room
Da, Da, Daaaaa
You see Dad by it
We put in the arch
We’re going to put up that arch there
We put in one step
to go up to the top of that
Step by Step - Building of Bry's Earth Bag Room
Full Verion - Building of Bry's Earth Bag Bedroom
Walk Thru Our First Earth Bag Construction Project!
Garen's Earth Bag Interior with Rocket Stove
Garen's Earth Bag Room - the Exterior
Bree's Earth Bag Room
Partners
Resources
www.greenhomebuilding.com/adobe.htm
www.earthbagbuilding.com/articles.htm
www.earthbagplans.wordpress.com
We moved from the city to the country in 2005. Since then, we have been building structures, raising livestock and growing some of our own foods. We are crazy about family, nutrition and want the best for our growing family.
