Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series, 8)

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(as of Sep 07, 2026 14:36:16 UTC – Details)

The only comprehensive, illustrated, step-by-step guide to building with earthbags.

Over seventy percent of Americans cannot afford to own a code-enforced, contractor-built home. This has led to widespread interest in using natural materials-straw, cob, and earth-for building homes and other buildings that are inexpensive, and that rely largely on labor rather than expensive and often environmentally-damaging outsourced materials.

Earthbag Building is the first comprehensive guide to all the tools, tricks, and techniques for building with bags filled with earth-or earthbags. Having been introduced to sandbag construction by the renowned Nader Khalili in 1993, the authors developed this “Flexible Form Rammed Earth Technique” over the last decade. A reliable method for constructing homes, outbuildings, garden walls and much more, this enduring, tree-free architecture can also be used to create arched and domed structures of great beauty-in any region, and at home, in developing countries, or in emergency relief work.

This profusely illustrated guide first discusses the many merits of earthbag construction, and then leads the reader through the key elements of an earthbag building:

Special design considerations Foundations, walls, and floors Electrical, plumbing, and shelving Lintels, windows and door installations Roofs, arches and domes Exterior and interior plasters.

With dedicated sections on costs, making your own specialized tools, and building code considerations, as well as a complete resources guide, Earthbag Building is the long-awaited, definitive guide to this uniquely pleasing construction style.

Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Society Publishers
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 19, 2004
Edition ‏ : ‎ 6th
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0865715076
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0865715073
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.62 pounds
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 16 years and up
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.56 x 10 inches
Part of series ‏ : ‎ Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living
Best Sellers Rank: #279,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Interior Window Design #53 in Architectural Materials #86 in Sustainability & Green Design
Customer Reviews: 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (552) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers find this earthbag building book thorough and easy to understand, with plenty of illustrations and photos. The writing style is well-crafted, and one customer notes it’s written by experienced builders who have perfected the technique. They appreciate how the book covers all necessary information for building an earthbag home, and one customer mentions successfully designing and building their own home using the guidance provided.