maha fae

Sorry, by thatch I meant wattle. Oops.

I do like strawbale but have met someone with a strawbale home and heard the horror stories. Bugs being the biggest problem.

I love cob....always have. But we will building near Springfield Missouri...where it gets darn cold. So I had let my cob dreams go to the wayside because of the temperature. But it kept nagging me because I love the cob homes. Is this a feasible solution for the insulation issue?

Basically using a large tree post or similar, use thatch to connect the two posts creating an inner pocket. Fill the inner pocket with insulation material (lava rock would be the easiest to obtain for us I think) then coating both sides with cob.

I have a lot of research and initially I was very interested in the rice hulls. But we will be living in central Missouri (quite a distance from the rice fields). I then started finding information on making your own charcoal and that gave me an idea. If you used the chips from your local tree trimmers, it is possible to make charcoal chips and maybe use these to insulate to fill the bags with. Would double as a filler and insulation. Any thoughts?

Thank you
That is awesome.

Thank you John I never considered that. I guess in the same respect the inner can wall will help keep it cool in the summer?

I wonder if anyone else has had successful results making a can wall as insulation?

I love the Earthbag homes but we live in Missouri. Our weather fluctuates all the time and we will desperately need insulation. Wanting to recycle as much as possible, would it be possible to build the earth bag walls then add a second 'wall' on the outside made of sealed aluminum cans? The sealed aluminum cans would be cobbed next to the earthbags on the exterior and then cobbed over again. Would this create insulated air pockets that would be effective for insulation?

I live in Missouri aka Tornada Alley...and on the New Madrid fault line. Because tornados & earthquakes are something we have considered when building, we have decided to build a round house with earth bags. Unfortunately I am reading these provide little insulation to our cold winters/hot summers. I read in a book it would be possible to cover the exterior of the earth bag home with straw bales. Can anyone see a problem with this? The first thing I wonder about is the moisture issue. I do know I want a large roof overhang to prevent as much rainfall as I can from touching the exterior walls.

I have been reading about earth bag structures and am wondering about the windows. From what I see, the windows are not meant to be opened. A tube with a rubber ball is used at the top of the structure for ventilation. Is there a way to build an earth bag structure with functioning windows?