Bob Forknot

Those buildings look awesome man and well constructed , it's with these pictures I have a finer idea of how to create a second story in the house (thanks alot).
Yes, I tried searching around for different names with "also known as" others coming close to being called" poured earth , cast earth, just all different confusing names although I have alot more to work with earth building now upon discoveries.

Rammed earth's reputation for a strong structure with sand and cement put me off ease at first but thanks to you guys , I know I wasn't the only one with this idea in mind. As of right now I'm trying to figure out the roof and the floor structural engineering- I know it's a million ways to finish it but the structures daunting on scarcity from my current knowledge(wood or bamboo). Soon I hope on crafting another adobe test, drafting and creating a prototype of the house-So when I use straw I hope it's a little easier to sculpt and play with. Anybody else have trouble with making the worm test? -It has to be the lack of sand now that I think about it.It's a silly question on the surface but that bases should allow for good sculpting craftsmanship and finer details.

First off! thanks for the swift reply. It really helped alot in deteriorating any prolonged horrific months work of testing. Which concludes if you don't know the basics of the materials and the knowledge of fundamentals your gonna need alot of tissue.
You're also welcome jay C. Im drawing up a few pictures myself on how to go about the architecture. The pine needles get the boot in this situation.

I'm starting to realize and get a real picture in my head of cliffs, and how the materials works like roots. Non-cut ( all my experiments except # 2 resulting in a stable brick rock/pine adobe in mind ). I digged a small hole, cut some top-soil, and shifted the rocks- which magically appeared back in the mud upon being rained on some how? if you can imagine this is the worst part of the process through normal means labor intensive wise.The tension of downward compression was all go but the bending and twisting pressure gave out. Only to have my experiment and dreams crumble before me in the bare hands of my friend, even though it was a kind of a struggle involved. Which steamed me as I replied to my friend "it's not supposed to be thrown around and beatin' to a bloody pulp"."It's supposed to sit harmlessly and harmononically ontop of eachother's unit's". The pine tendons could be seen in the adobe but not nearly enough pine nor the the fact the absents of straw held the adobe formed together.

My cob sculpting skills are average compared to the results I was given( so a full cob wall is out of the picture for me probably and Im keen on the pattern of adobe but stacking arches, dome making, mud roof crafting, earthen floors or even starting a course are a little vague to my ideology. The test for these bricks were in a timely manner about 2 or 3 days and then it would rain before I check the results.

Hello fellow homesteaders!
Recently I've been conducting research and experiments on all earth building related and as I don't want to bore you with the theatrics of the whole process -I'll get straight to the point.

One question I have for you guys is can cob be rammed to make a stirdy wall? Some will say it wouldn't seem strong enough hopelessly comparing it to the original materials such as sand,cement, and clay in rammed earth but as I see it- Rammed earth is just another type of adobe(using cob made with straw,clay,water,etc) If I'm doing the same process in pressing cob (with the assuption Im building a cob home) isn't that the same as rammed earth?

Secondly - I've made plenty of test bricks in which one had no straw (turned out brittle and more easily crackable); the second was with pine needles, so it was still absent of straw( in which Im starting to believe pine needles just isn't the same because th e difference in the strength of the pine needles is very hard to form into cob balls for the form and the strength of pine needles isn't needed and just gets in the way of binding the materials). And lastly I've made a cob model with pine needles which it turned to rock like the others but as soon as it rained it was stirdy a little but also flimsy. I recycled the earth back to its original place in fustration and I'm hoping ....just hoping regular grass straw or mulch is the answer to my problem.

On a side note , where I live has plenty of red clay, and I use topsoil sand to form the cob which seems to work but If I could get an opinion on my organic material I've been incorporating that would ease me a great lot.