Earthbag Videos
Video 1 Clearing the Land for Foundation, Making Foundation
Video 2 Packing the Tires with Gravel, Measuring Device
Video 3 Testing the Soil & Poly Bags, Getting Limestone at Quarry
Video 4 Decorative Window with Tire & Beer Bottles
Video 5 Filling Bags, Adding dome for Master Bedroom
Design by Lisa Majors
> The EARTHBAG home is made of old tires, sand bags, cans and bottles, adobe, and other recycled materials. It has no wood frame work, no attic, no shingles, no central air, no trim and can cost less than $5000 to build. It is the greenest form of modern living using recycled materials, recycled water systems, natural resources found on the land, and is more sound and sturdy than traditional box-shaped homes. The EARTHBAG home has better air flow due to it's shape, is fire-proof, termite-proof, and is more likely to withstand natural disasters.
Double Dome
>News! - We just added another addition to the main dome...an 18 foot diameter master bedroom. We felt as though we would need more room for kids and the 25 foot dome was not enough. There is a loft above the main dome which will be for kids rooms. We have not decided how they will get up there yet. We may add small stairs or a ladder to the right of the front door. (The orange and red dots indicate electrical lights and boxes.)
Single Dome
Design by Lisa Majors
> Round is sound. Our Earthbag home is 25 feet diameter and will eventually become our guest house. We have already choosen another spot to make our home and it will have several pods joined by one central pod. By building this structure first we should learn a lot. We are still researching methods and materials in books and online.
> We decided to put one row of tires filled with SP2 gravel then work our way up with 22 x 34" poly bags filled with a finer crushed limestone gravel. The bag width and the type of material will help insulate the house for comfortable living in the summer and winter. The interior and exterior walls will be made of a limestone, mud, and mortar mix applied in layers.
> At this time the land has no electricity or running water. We have some rainwater stored for cleaning our hands. We plan to get electricity but would like to add solar energy in the future. Paul will be making some solar heated devices for heating water and we will use a small pot-belly stove for heating the house during the winter.
Paul & Lisa Majors
>Paul Majors and Lisa Alvarado-Majors have never built a house before but that's not stopping them from building an EARTHBAG home in Arkansas. They expect to finish in only 3-4 months. They are determined to stick to the $7000 budget while showing others how they can do the same. Original plans included one dome with an outlaw septic system as seen in Mike Reynolds book about earthships. The county where we live requires a building permit ($600) and an approved septic system with a 1200 gallon tank even if we reuse all our gray water and have a compositing toilet. ; (
Paul Majors is a mechanical contractor and services many commercial restaurants in the Northwest Arkansas area and Lisa Alvarado-Majors is an artist and independent filmmaker.
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Earthbag Home Budget $7000*
( $5000 single dome/$7000 double dome)
Spent as of June 2010 Tools Backhoe, Tamper Masonary tools Materials Gravel 100 tons Gas for Backhoe wood for window forms & door forms Concrete bags x 4 @ $4.00ea. 1000 misprint see bags &80+110 shipping 2 ton crushed limestone Barbed wire, chicken wire 44 tons Crushed Limestone 240.00 House Materials Wood Front Door (Commercial Remodel find) 0.00 2 x 10" lumber for stairs 22.00 Plumming Bathroom Sink (Habitat Store) 6.00 PVC Pipes Electrical Plastic Conduit 200' Wire 150' 20 Elec. boxes & connectors 4 Deep Cell Batteries from RV 200.00 Temporary Meter Loop-used - 100 AMP 0.00 DC Motor from Treadmill (Thanks Dad!) Septic System Soil Analyzer for Soil Tester - Perk Test - Septic Water Storage 275 Gallon Water Tank $107.00 Solar & Wind Energy TOTAL
Building Supplies Needed Permits Benton County Building Permit $700 Materials 70 tons of Crushed Limestone 800.00 Windows 30" x 30" Qty 4 x $65ea. Exterior Door - Free find 2 Interior Doors Sinks & Faucets - Habitat Store find (bath) Toilet Cabinets Countertops 200.00 Poly Bag Tubing 325 yards, 18" wide Plumbing Plumbing Supplies 200.00 Electrical Lights - living room, kitchen, bedroom, bath, porch Breaker Meter Solar & Wind Energy Inverter Water Storage Septic System 1250 Tank - required by County Backhoe Rental 3 day weekend + gas $500 Pump $200 Drain Lines $2000 TOTAL Other:
Used tires - free!
Plastic Sheeting - $60
Concrete Mixer Rental or Used $____
Appliances:
Gas Stovetop $150
Propane Refrigerator $800
The Majors Earthbag Home
We are moving along slowly but surely. The weather has been great so far and allowed us to get a lot of bags filled on the weekends and sometimes during the week. The two tires with mortar and bottles will be added to the top of the dome for decor. (See video 4) It's a race against the clock now!
This crushed limestone is cheap, easy to use and settles like concrete! Each bag is filled and tamped several times until hard and level.
This bag holder comes in handy for filling bags. We tuck in the corners at the bottom to get a smoother edge and pin the top with a galvanized nail to hold the top. Each bag is filled in place and flopped over next to the previous bag. Two strands of barbed wire hold each row of bags in place.
The electrical box is screwed to a 2x4" stud with a 1x6" base. Nails are driven half-way in the bottom board to secure top and bottom bags.
This box is rock solid after being sandwiched between bags! The box is exposed to allow for adobe/stucco finish of about 1 1/2 inches.
Paul is tucking the bag into place after placing an electrical box between the two bags. Each row of bags is about 6" in height and adds to the height of the house. We are placing the electrical boxes about two feet from the floor.
Chicken wire around the doors helps to keep bags uniform and adobe/stucco to adhere to edges.
Wood stairs (2x10") are being added between rows of bags to get to the second floor. The weight of the bags hold the boards in place. A 4 x 4" post will be added on the end once the floor is in place.
Nylon string is also used to hold barbed wire and conduit in place.
These beer bottles have been sawed with a tile cutter and taped together to make glass bricks for walls. I also put these in auto tires for decorative windows. This method allows light to pass through the bottles and can be used for interior, exterior, and even shower walls. More photos to come!
Earthbag Home Time-Line*
(*We build on weekends)
2009 August 15 22 29 September 5 12 19 26 October 3 10 17 24 31 November 7 14 21 28 December 5 12 19 26 April May June July August September
Life will be good with NO House Payment!
Suggested Books
> The Earthbag Building by Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer
> Earthship by Mike Reynolds
> The Strawbale House by Steen, Bainbridg3
> Building Green by Snell & Callahan
> Water Storage by Ludwig
Suggested Magazines
> Mother Earth News
> Flare - Solar Products
> Stark Bro's - Nursery Catalog
> Northern Tool + Equipment
> Abundant Life Certified Organic & Biodynamic Seeds & Supplies
Suggested Websites
> www.calearth.org
> earthship.org
> greenhomebuilding.com
> dreamgreenhomes.com
> foei.org
> heifer.org
Suggested Videos
> Food Inc.-the food industry's detrimental effects on our health and environment
> King Corn-questions government subsidies and the quality of what we eat
> The Gerson Miracle - a holistic method of treating cancer and other diseases
> The Botany of Desire-explains history of apples, tulips, marijuana & potatoes
> Blue Gold: World Water Wars-who is scrambling to control it?
> America: Freedom to Fascism-Investigation of the Federal Reserve
> The Union: The Business on Getting High -sheds light on hemp
> Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room - downfall in business world
> Who Stole the Electric Car?- the short life of the GM EV1 electric car
>The Business of Being Born - America's maternity care system
(all available on www.netflix.com)
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http://www.youtube.com/ardometvComments on Crazy Green Earthbag Home
I just saw the video. I'm so impressed. Your pacing has improved -- story telling is fantastic!! The camera work (as far as the visual) is great. The next step is the sound. You've come a long way. Get the sound good and you've got a top notch production. I wanted to know more -- on the edge of my seat.
Cynthia - Filmmaker, WriterLoved your videos and we would love to come and see your house. We are deeply Christian and want to live a simple and easy life so the earth bag homes look like the way to go.We hope to hear from you soon.Peace
Joyce and BillHello, I have been thoroughly enjoying your videos. I can't wait to show them to my husband. I have been trying to explain this building method to him for a while now. He has been a conventional contractor for 30 years and isn't warming up to the idea very quickly. This should help tremendously!
Amanda CowanThanks Lisa for taking the time to respond...looking forward to the next clip of you and ur hubby's progress. For now we'll live vicariously thru u. Since florida isn't too open on the natural building. And just for the red tape permit we"re looking at least 7 thousand(septic tank,well, certified engineer plans..yadayada...uggh. I'm glad u guys are still trucking along;)
Melissa ChestnutWe were amazed to find that u r building an earthbag home in arkansas. Dawn & I live in Fayetteville & have a few acres near Taos. We have been planning to build a starter earthbag dome in NM this summer. We just heard about u and I am on my way to Puerto Rico for a 10 day Earthbag workshop. We'd love to talk with u & see what your work. Let us know if this would work 4 u.
Joe & Dawn Newman
Asi Asi TV
PO Box 10241, Fayetteville, AR 72703.
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