gmkeicher Hatfield

ok so not completly done of course we are not doing a swimming pool but rather a natural pond so the dirt toward the 2 levels of bags will be a part of the pool, we will coat it with mud, then stucco it, then pool plaster, then paint it so no to pvc liners. it will also have a 10 foot tall water fall and slide attached. there is a grotto located just behind the pool structure, that has not been built just outlined. also this roof top will hold our pool hot water solar collectors. to keep the pool warm, the basic conscept would be to have just over the sqaure footage of the pool 10' round 4 feet deep be heated with the pool heater and the conjoined shawlow pool full of aquatic plants and fish. the water fall would provide some soothing sound and air to the water.

after the last two levels of sand bags we coat it with 3 shovels sand 1 shovel of dirt, then dry 1 day and coat with 3 shovels sand 1 shovel of portland cement then done

HERE YOU GO

because i am cheap, i love the dirt, the bags are cheap and the dirt free, because filling a bag with my dirt, placing the bag and creating some thing out of nothing is enjoyable, i cant stop coming up with ideas, here is the latest idea, why build a wall out of cinder block cement bricks, they crack they are expensive, they depleate the natrual resourses ? well any ways that sounded good, and you have to have some one that knows what there doing to build one for you. so i built one out of sand bags!

intrested i am now in process of building it need help filling sand bags and placing them then plastering them, i am also doing walls and out buildings I have sucessfuly built a sand bag green house and am growing citrus trees in it. I have a little expereience in building with sand bags and a lot of ideas. I am currently undertaking the swimming pool, garden wall upper wall, almost all done, then the parking lot wall 60 plus feet over 6 feet high with 2 windows in it, almost done. then the grotto bulding not yet finished, the 2 story cabanna, 9 ft under ground done 10 feet tall above ground just started. then the 20x20 garage just started need sand bag wall up 6 feet finish with steel siding first 3 courses done. then the chicken coop not started, then the outdoor storage shed not started, then the water tank room not started, all of this work needs to be done. i keep reading on the internet that classes or work shops cost 500 to 1600 dollars. if you bring a 90 lb bag of cement per day and you are a hard worker i will show you how and how not to do it. for free. please contact me. I live in a small town in northern arizona the dirt is good the weather is crisp and the work is rewarding. if you would like hands on experience at doing this type of building please let me know.

after more thought here is some intresting thoughts instead of lining the rooms with sand bags i will build pillars of sand bags 8 feet tall. every 4 feet. next we have a lot of rail road ties here so i will place these ties on top of the pillars, creating a shelf to place the sand bags onto. creating the dome to the 12 foot level. with the tunnels in between each room i will line the walls with sand bags then taper them in to create a arch because of the intense strengh of the system. i will create a sand bag staircase at one end of the hallway. also i need to deflect the wind down into the tunnel to have adequate air exchange, so i will build a scoop out of sand bags at the entrance of the tunnel. the wind allways blows west to east here so it would work out perfect.

so I asked my buddy to come over with his back hoe he is going to dig a 10 foot long trench 3 foot wide at the end of it he will dig a 12 foot deep 10x12 foot room. at the end of this he will dig a 4 foot by 3 foot trench then a 12 foot deep 10x12 foot room then again a 4 foot trench. then at the end he will dig the last room 12 feet deep and 10x12 a long with the last trench 10 foot long. i will take the dirt and line the trench's with sandbags creating a arch about 8 feet tall then back filling to ground level. My wife is so excited. the reason for us is this, in our area in north east Arizona the fruit trees warm in spring time then the blossoms come out and next the 3 foot of snow fall or 76 mile per hour winds. so no fruit. our orchard has failed for 8 years running. also we are intrested in growing citrus however we live in growing zone 6 so we are unable. we did start growing citrus indoors in our house and it is flourishing. we also have a root cellar we built 4 years ago and i love the fact that it never freezes. this will be a large under taking however we like the work. and it is very rewarding to us. are green house made of sand bags is just finished and allready growing all kinds of lettuce and veggies. look up earthen bags and see all that has been done with the domes no roof just stack the sand bags to create a dome or arch!! we built a small test arch 3 foot high and 3 feet wide the width of a 3/4 filled sand bag. i drove my 3/4 ton ford f 350 4x4 on top of it no problem.

In my case I would build an underground greenhouse, basically a square/ rectangular hole with used windows for roofing. The thought ocurred to me to just lower a used shipping container down that hole, and cut away the roof and put in the same windows here. Apparently the walls would either cave in from the pressure of the soil, or rust away within a year or two.


wow after stumbling on the web site about the fellow who dug into hardpan and created a under ground house and several under ground citrus tree gardens, I too want to build a green house under ground. since i have allready built a green house out of earth bags or sand bags I know this is the method I will use. The sand bags properly tamped with barb wire between each layer are incrediblely stroung. also I have discovered that you can build them into a dome.!! this is important. in so much that if I dig a 12 foot deep hole 10 by 12 feet take the dirt pilled up and fill sand bags then line the dirt walls with the bags slowly tapering them in to create a dome. leave the opening large enough to place a used window then back fill the rest of the dirt aginst the dome leaving the window at or just above ground level. I have reserched this on that site and found out the when the dude did it in california he also had to tunnels for air exchange.

ok so i have more photos of the done structure (green house growing patio citrus trees)

here is more photos