Earthship 2story/basement

Nov 03, 2011 22:46:22

Is it plausible to make a earthship have a basement.

If so would we just dig it all out and start tires from the bottom to top?

I'd also like to maintain a masonry type floor for the top floor. So i guess a load bearing post or wall or two would have to be put in the basement.

I don't like the split level ones, and I figure basement is better then 2 stories.

I've heard of some earthships having similar things but not a full basement, but they don't really say how it was done.

Would it work to have a traditional basement poured in and have the top where the tires would sit poured thicker to the width of the tires?

Thanks

Nov 04, 2011 08:27:09

I don't have an answer for your question. People don't seem to like to talk about earthships around here much.

Before you decide to build an earthship, you might want to find a place to make a small retaining wall from pounding tires full of dirt.
Mike Reynolds used heavy equipment to dig the dirt that was used in the tires. If you plan to dig the dirt by hand and pound it in the tires....you may find that YOU are the tired one.

I made a small retaining wall in my yard from dirt that i dug up and wheel barrow-ed over and pounded... 4 tires was enough for me. Not 4 layers - 4 tires side by side. Going up to higher levels without machines would add even more hard labor.

I may still use pounded tires as a footing for my next structure, but I'll probably use other materials for the walls.

Nov 04, 2011 14:33:36

I've done plenty of digging in my day. I'e already helped work on an earthship so i know the work involved.

I just hand dug out holes to sink in 2 2500 gallon tanks.

More then likely I will have an excavator come out to do the dig out and tires will be filled by hand.

I plan on doing the newer global design, had actually planned doing something very similar to it before it even came out. The U's were a little much for me i like an open floor plan.

Nov 04, 2011 19:24:17

Good. So you know the work involved. To me, using the rammed tires for a footing would be easier and cheaper than most types of footings.

I have a lot of black locust trees and i kinda like the idea of a cord wood and cob wall.

I'd like to see pics of the place you build - so keep posting as you go.

Nov 04, 2011 23:02:54

I'm still a ways off from that mostly in the planning phase.

The tanks are actually part of an aquaponics system that I'm upgrading.

I'm pretty set into doing an earthship, I've gone away from cordwall since we did a shack like that and while we didn't build it to the highest standards its a tad drafty, and we used wood that had been seasoned for 3 years almost.

Looking at places up in the high desert in Arizona and I think an earthship will be perfect up there.

Nov 05, 2011 09:15:48

The SW desert area does seem ideal for earthship building. Land can also be cheap for acreage as water is sometimes hard to get and other utilities can be hard to get also.

Be careful of grazing rights as some land you can put a fence on your own property to keep the rancher's cattle off your place. I don't know a thing about water rights there.

when your children are suffering from your punishment, tell them it will help them write good poetry when they are older. Like this tiny ad:

A rocket mass heater heats your home with one tenth the wood of a conventional wood stove

http://woodheat.net

Better Wood Heat DIY Rocket Mass Heater DVD