Patrick Dancel

Hi Gregory,

The poles I talk about are necessary to hold the roof to the ground; they are planted verticaly into the ground (5 poles make a pentagone, 6 poles make an hexagone, etc...) and the top of each pole must go a little higher over the top of the walls so the roof can be attached to someting.
My problem is to find the best place to locate them: inside the house, along the walls or outside or whithin the walls (wich I don't like because of the barbed wires that are supposed to go all around the house).
The earth on my lot is very sandy but I have also sand and coral bits that could be used; I could even get better earth delivered by truck if necessary.
Cheers.

Patrick

Hi Gregory,

Thanks for your time.
As time passes we keep changing our minds about the house we are going to build and we are going to build three!
Today we think the best is to build a first house as follows:
1 dome of 6 m diameter, 1 dome of 5 m diameter and a bathroom where the two domes join each other.
The main change is about the roof part; we now think we won't do full earthbags domes but only the walls and then we'll build wodden frame to hold natangora roofing (some local sort of palm leaves).
So, the new problem is that we need to plant some poles into the ground and ceiling high so we can fixe the beams for the roof on them.
The problem is where are we going to plant these big poles?
Inside the walls, between the bags? I don't like the idea as it poses a problem with the barbed wire that is supossed to go all around the house.
So, should we plant these poles inside the house or outside?
Is it possible?
I bought Geiger's book and looked trough some website and forums; luckily I have plenty of time before I start building and the advantage here in Vanuatu is that I can employ up to 10 people to help me.
Last thing; the lot I bought is a bit sandy and I wonder if it needs to be stabilized...

Cheers.

Patrick

P.S/ and happy new year!

Hi,

We plan to build on Aore island (just in front of Luganville, Santo) where we bought our lot, on the beach.
We are thinking about building a first house with two domes of 4 m diameter each and we also think about a wooden and palms roof instead of earth bags up to the top.
There would be a bathroom nested at the intersection of the two main domes.
First thing is to get a building permit, so we have to make up our minds on this one wich is not easy as the more we get informations, the more we change our plans!
First idea was a 6 m diameter dome with only earthbags up to the top...
Of course any info will be appreciated.

https://www.facebook.com/projetvanuatu/photos/pcb.1724697077759318/1724696504426042/?type=3&theater

Hi Glenn,
So, my 6 m diameter dome has become a 3 m diameter double dome, like an "8" (two 3 m diameter domes, joined) and where the two domes join, I plan to add a bathroom; say about 2 m diameter with 2 m high walls without a roof. Maybe we'll build a wood and palm leaves little roof that would cover half the bathroom surface so we can use the bathroom when it rains and stay dry... The shower area would be under the open sky part as it doesn't matter to shower under the rain

Next stage is about the plaster to cover the outside surface of the domes; I understand this has to be very waterproof.
Do you have any info about this?
Special mix plaster? Waterproof paint? Both?

As I see it now, I imagine small earthbag domes, linked together for strengh with lots of deck area in front.
I mean here we tend to live outside as it's warm all year long and we need to go inside only to sleep.
So I plan on lots of surfaces of wooden decks with natural roofs (palms, the local way) and little alleys to go from one house to the next.
At the end it looks like the smurf village or some hobbit village thing.
Something like this: (the writing you see on the pic is Thai; I'm not sure wether these houses were built in Thailand or not but I know it rains a lot there, so ther should be a way...)

Hi Glenn,
Maybe I got it wrong from start!
I thought earthbag domes were designed to resist earthquakes and that the two lines of barbed wire between each row of bags were enough to make it resistant.
I watched a few videos, visited a few websites and bought Owen Geiger "Earthbag building guide", but I have no knowledge at all about architecture (I'm a photographer ).
I'm just looking for the cheapest and best way to build a house; my plan was to build earthbag houses because two of them will be used as accommodation for tourists and the fact that this building method is very unique, would be a plus to attract people. You know, the Hobbit house by the beach... with paradise garden and a natural pool...
Then I thought that because it comes out so cheap and because it's so resistant, more houses would be built for the local people; you heard about the Pam cyclone a few months ago?
Nothing stood where it ran. Local people build shacks with wood and palms; everything flyes away when there is too much wind.
Now what about if I build very small domes? Say 3 m diameter for the biggest dome and then have 2 m diameter for an extra dome or two...
Three small domes instead of a big one and at the end it's like a little village with small domes everywhere!
Some plaster would be used to cover the bags to make them water resistant and also give them a color; naked bags are pretty ugly.
I'll find out what the best mix is to cover the domes; plaster, waterproof paint,...
For the inside of the houses I was thinking about tamped earth.
Looking forward reading you; have a good day.
Patrick

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for your answer.
I was thinking about 6 m diameter for the biggest domes. Is that already too big?
It's true that natural roofs look good and here they use pandanus palms or other palm leaves but I really wanted to build only with earth bags; I can have earth filled bags mixed with sand and cement if necessary.
Do you know what would be the good proportions?
Wanting to build domes without classic roofs is not only because i'm hard headed, it's also because I'm on a tight budget and I thought in the future it might develop for other "poor" people here.
But I'm not stupid so if really it's no good to build domes here I'll do something else.
I have time and the other good thing is that labour is cheap here; I could easily have 7 to 10 people working with me (wich made me also think tubes would be better than bags).
I dug two wells on my land because I want to be able not to use corrugated iron roofs (uggly and dangerous when too much wind).
The land is pretty good on my lot; just have to look at the massive trees to understand anything will grow there. There is sand under the earth.
I can also have extra earth and sand delivered at low cost if necesssary.
To sum it up I'd say I really want to try these dome houses and I'll do anything to make it work.
Thanks for your time.

Patrick

Hello,
I arrived in Vanuatu a month ago and I plan to build 2 dome houses (1 dome and then the other one with two) for tourists and at last one 3 domes house for myself.
My main worry is about the rain and so I'd like to know how to proceed about making it all very water proof.
Thanks for advices.
Patrick