Cristobal Cristo

Patrick,

I recommend the following:
-have your own detailed plans so you will exactly know what to build; I like having everything in 3D AutoCAD file so I can easily check the volumes (and then calculate weights), areas, check if objects are not intersecting with each other, etc
-plans for the bureaucrats - as basic as possible
-structural engineering plans if required

For electrical I have used chaser and cut grooves in the compressed earth blocks. I got used Bosch in UK on ebay, 110 V as wall chasing is normal practice in Europe, because it's normal to plaster walls afterwards.
For pipes I hid them in the slab and because of that I made them with 316 welded stainless. It matters a lot how you lay out all plumbing. Try to put everything in one corner of the house: mechanical room, bathroom and then kitchen with the kitchen sink on the bathroom wall. If pipes are good looking (not plastic) then you can leave them exposed close to the floor.
If you grout the blocks then you don't have to worry about SBC and you could use lime plaster. It just looks gorgeous and adheres to concrete very well. It would improve air quality in the concrete house - lime is permeable to water  so the plaster can breathe as opposite to concrete.
If you have any questions, please ask. I went through entire cycle of building masonry home (and smaller buildings)..

What I have built was a small compartment in the ground maybe 100x80x60 cm. I have used concrete pavers and then plastered it with SBC outside and inside. My experience with concrete block indicates that they are quite precise in dimensions. If they have not uniform height you can alleviate it by rotating block in the next course to cancel out the height differences.
I think that in your case - curved wall with grouted rebars would be the best. I would also patch the resulting wedge shaped vertical joints with some fine aggregate concrete.
How are you planning to finish the interior?

Nigel,,

I don't have good experience with surface bonding cement touching the soil. I built a small underground container and it started cracking after a few years in Midwest climate.
I can not imagine it would work on a curved but jagged surface.
Have you considered building the bermed wall straight?
If you use regular concrete blocks you could keep the curvature and reinforce them with vertical rebar and then grout solid. It would be actually better to do it for entire wall.
I assume that dry stacking is chosen, because it's easier and faster than levelling each block on the mortar bed. Having verical reinforcement would keep laying easy but at the same time it would ensure strong wall, especially if topped with a bond beam) and would allow keeping it curved. It would be an order of magnitude better that relying on SBC, which I consider easy, but weak and not lasting solution.

Quiet,

You will do it yourself, just start with the least visible and used window, observe any mistakes and improve on the next one.

I did. Since the wall is compressed earth block - masonry expansion anchors would not remain stable - after few turn ins/turn outs they would become loose.

I have purchased stainless all-thread 5/8" rods, drilled and tapped one side with M10 thread. I needed to purchase a lathe to do it, still cheaper than a local shop would charge for such a basic operation.
Then I drilled the holes in the custom frames, positioned frames within the wall, predrilled pilot holes in masonry, removed the frames and drilled with 16 mm bit for the length of the anchor: 100 mm for windows, 200 mm for doors.
Anchors would be gliued with Sikadur resin. Then I bolted the frames with socket head bolts.
I have used 8 bolts per window.
Actually Hilti sells all-thread anchors, but they did not have right dimensions and were still more expansive than custom made stainless anchors plus the cost of the lathe and tooling.

If I built another adobe structure I would cast some concrete in place of a future anchor location and use regular masonry anchors and it would be 10 times easier.

For UK I would consider aerated block:
-light so easy to move around
-easy to cut
-offers good insulation
-being resistant to elements it will allow you to build even one block at a time at your own pace.
After you finish the wall you can plaster or just lime wash or even do nothing if you do not have time. Two levels, measuring tape, hand saw, trowel and a bucket is all you need.

I have a question.
It's the second season I'm trying jujube, which supposedly drought resistant, can not cope with my climatic conditions and despite being irrigated and mulched, they just cannot stand the sun. I suspect they are "drought resistant" in gentle climates. I again planted two this time: GA866 and Honey Jar. GA866 has died and is regrowing from the roots. The other one also seems to be done (after producing several small 1 cm diameter fruits) and is also regrowing. Do you know if the rootstock will produce any fruits that make sense? I'm not going to keep it for grafting, because grafting was 100% failure in my orchard.

I grow over 25 kinds of figs. I can possibly help if I see photos of the leaves and fruits.

1. Are you going to pour 1" thick concrete to get to the lip level or 9.5"?
If this is 9.5" then:
-you need proper reinforcing, otherwise it will crack sooner or later and will be just weak. I consider concrete without reinforcing to be a joke and waste of time, money and materials.
-you would need to make sure that the terrain under the slab was originally cut or at least the garage was built on the fill dirt that was properly compacted, contractors in the mountains do not care about it and assume that random riding of heavy equipment will be sufficient - for the trailer probably yes, for serious masonry no
-if you are talking about 9.5" thick slab, it will be cheaper and much better to order ready mix concrete. It would be around 7.5 m3 which is roughly 10 cubic yards, so more than one truck. Concrete will be high quality, uniform and poured within short time - proper vibration is advised.

I'm not sure if making thicker slab would make any noticeable difference in the thermal comfort. If the slab was going down 9.5", below existing one then it would couple to the cooler earth down below.


2. I would start with stacking them dry to see if it helps at all. If it helps then I would recommend proper footing and then building the wall on the footing.