Hi everyone. I've been on this site for a while researching information on natural building and
rocket mass heaters and the like, as well as
chickens and
bees. Lol. Can you say varied interests? Anyway though, I just got the nerve to decide to put up a post asking for advice. So that's what I'm doing; I'm asking you all advice about earthbag house building as well as if anyone in the Southeast KY / Northeast TN area has suggestions on
local sources for materials. Hit us with your best suggestions, we certainly appreciate any and all help.
From reading the Forums here and checking out some of the designs by Owen Geiger and reading some various other sources ideas, we have decided finally on earthbag over strawbale since cost is so diff't for us btwn the two, plus raising
chickens we already have quite a few stored up. We are seriously looking for the best CHEAP way to get things done. We are looking to make a less than 1000 sq. ft. home for us and our kiddos (two small boys and one bun in the
oven, due any day now). We figured two bedrooms at this point with the design geared toward adding a "pod" or addition at a later point for the bun (since bun is a girl unless we get surprised). We aren't sure if a standard square or rounded corner square design would be most cost-effective over a more free-form or domed-type design. Suggestions?
We figured out costs for
concrete slab and ditched that idea for a tamped earth floor. We figured costs for a traditional trussed gable roof and think we need to find some better idea, since that cost alone comes to almost half of what we have budgeted for the entire project. The roof design is where we are stuck at the moment. We can source some lumber from local mills that
sell rough cut and cut our costs by quite a bit, but we really want efficiency to be good too and are not sure that some more organic designed home with a dome roof or such may be a better option than traditional timber construction roof atop our earthbag base on our tamped earth foundation. Suggestions? We are really trying to get out of the frame of mind of traditional building techniques since we are talking about a non-traditional home and they may not mesh well together from our mindset. Our other big issue is electrical. Neither of us have any
experience with it and know that we cannot afford to hire a professional. Any suggestions on where we can learn or find someone with experience that may help on the cheap?
Right now, its all research, research, research- trying to find the best fit for our tiny budget and our needs. We are blessed to live in a county that has no zoning restrictions, so that's one giant plus we have in our favor. The electrical inspection is about the only thing we really have to worry about passing inspection. That's the one area neither of us have experience with but we are certainly eager to learn.
Are there others here in our area of SE KY/ NE TN that have already built earthbag homes and would be willing to allow us to come check it out? We wanna learn all that we can before we start our endeavor. Thanks everyone! Looking forward to hearing from you all! Have a good day!!!
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