Earth bag shed questions about hard-assing and diddling

Hi, I am building a 180 sq ft EB shed into the side of a hill.  I filled all of my bags first, as I dug out the hill, and then learned about hard-assing in the Kaki Hunter book EB tricks and tips.  I am wondering how important this technique is if you have good fill?  Also, I'd like to hear opinions on diddling the bags (no funny stuff here people, diddling refers to tucking in the pointy ends).  I can still diddle the bags post hoc, but that will get old and would like to avoid it if I can.  And remember, this is a shed, not my house.  Yes, I would like to build as well as I can always, but maybe these techniques are not critical in my case?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Tina Tex wrote:Hi, I am building a 180 sq ft EB shed into the side of a hill.  I filled all of my bags first, as I dug out the hill, and then learned about hard-assing in the Kaki Hunter book EB tricks and tips.  I am wondering how important this technique is if you have good fill?  Also, I'd like to hear opinions on diddling the bags (no funny stuff here people, diddling refers to tucking in the pointy ends).  I can still diddle the bags post hoc, but that will get old and would like to avoid it if I can.  And remember, this is a shed, not my house.  Yes, I would like to build as well as I can always, but maybe these techniques are not critical in my case?

Thanks for your thoughts!

These are great questions.  Lemme confirm: you've already filled the bags, but you want to diddle them?  If so I'm not sure that is worth the effort if you are getting a good join between your bags.  I don't know about hard assing.  I don't know if you've heard of hyperadobe but it's what captured my imagination the most.  No diddling, no bags.

Just checking!
Is hard-assing and diddling done to music?
If so, what genre?

I wouldn't bother if the bags are filled. I used both techniques for my foundation and while they did help, they weren't really necessary. Post some photos, we would love to see the build.

Thanks, everyone, these are the answers I was hoping for...I will just make sure I am happy with the how the bags are lying.  I think I will try to hard-ass the corners kind-of, by giving my corner bags some good ground bumping before laying them down.  We will see how it goes.  Starting the first courses in the morning!  I will post pics.

Tina Tex wrote:Hi, I am building a 180 sq ft EB shed into the side of a hill.  I filled all of my bags first, as I dug out the hill, and then learned about hard-assing in the Kaki Hunter book EB tricks and tips.  I am wondering how important this technique is if you have good fill?  Also, I'd like to hear opinions on diddling the bags (no funny stuff here people, diddling refers to tucking in the pointy ends).  I can still diddle the bags post hoc, but that will get old and would like to avoid it if I can.  And remember, this is a shed, not my house.  Yes, I would like to build as well as I can always, but maybe these techniques are not critical in my case?

Thanks for your thoughts!

When we built our root cellar, hard assing and diddling were very important for wall uniformity. It keeps your wall looking like a wall... hahaha

Without hard assing or diddling you tend to use more materials than needed, the wall structure will not be as uniform and not as strong in my opinion.

Check out my earth bag root cellar thread.

One of the greatest thread titles I've ever seen.  No plans on building an EB anything, but you better believe I was reading this.