The Process of Building Rammed Earth Walls. Alternative Construction Methods
The exterior walls being constructed in this video are 18 thick rammed earth. Rammed Earth is an age-old building technique used worldwide. Rammed earth homes and buildings built in the late 1700s and early 1800s can be found throughout the United States . Our rammed earth walls are built by tamping a mixture of soil, 3% portland cement, and a 6-10% moisture content. With a skid loader the soil is dumped into the forms. It is put in lifts of 7-8 and is tamped down to 4-5 with pneumatic tampers. A larger footing is required for the mass and weight. The forms can be stripped immediately, as the wall is strong enough to stand right away. For each day that passes, the wall becomes stronger. The exterior of the walls will receive layers of foam insulation, metal lath and stucco. The interior of the wall will be lathed, plastered and painted. The finished thickness of the wall will be nominally 21″ thick. www.rammed-earth-homes.com
January 18, 2010 @ 1:09 am
Stupid question for earthbuilders. I read your comments in the description
box and it states that the exterior walls will have foam and stucco on the
outside and plaster on the inside. I thought that the earth rammed walls
could be bare and the rammed earth would act as a insulator. Do all
exterior earth rammed walls have to be covered?
December 14, 2010 @ 7:06 pm
The costs vary from house to house but to get a ball park estimate you
could say between 5-8% higher than a traditional house with all things
being equal.
February 18, 2011 @ 10:24 pm
@earthbuilders Offset by savings in energy costs almost immediately. Not to
speak of stable indoor temps. I’ll never live in any other kind of home
again. You guys make great houses.
February 22, 2011 @ 6:58 pm
Thank you very much for your comment. Me Too!!!
March 22, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
It is usually dusty around here! No surprise there is a cloud around the
skid loader. After 25 years of tamping walls we have the “formula” down. If
the moisture content is off it will not compact. Our “test” is a fist full
of the moistened dirt–it stays together, drop it on the ground and it
falls apart. Would be interested in reading your technical report! Thanks
for your comment.
March 31, 2011 @ 8:14 pm
Thanks but we can only do 3 billion years.
June 2, 2011 @ 9:19 am
what do you use for the plywood reinforcement?
June 25, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
Hi, i will be the owner builder of a rammed earth home starting next year.
I was wondering if my walls are to be higher than my formwork, at the last
tamping at the top of the wall, do i add rebar within the first portion of
the wall before i move the formwork up? I guess what i am asking is, do the
bottom and top walls braced/connected or does the top wall just sit on the
bottom wall? Really appreciate your expertise.
June 28, 2011 @ 9:29 pm
Please contact me through our website –the Contact page and we’ll expand
on our services. Thanks.
September 20, 2011 @ 5:07 pm
How well would rammed earth walls incorporate with cob walls, if one wanted
to create straight earth walls & curved cob walls in the same room? Are
there any problems with separation of the walls or cracks where they join?
November 20, 2011 @ 8:39 pm
what is the price comparison compared to a regular build?was interested in
building my own home and have been looking for different building
constuction designs that has excellent insulation from heat and fire
australian bush is prone for it and was interested
July 11, 2012 @ 4:39 am
im curious, what about canadas -30c winter?
July 12, 2012 @ 9:53 pm
Why does everyone use the small tamper instead of a larger one, wall would
have to be wider, but …..? Good stuff
July 19, 2012 @ 10:22 pm
The tamper we use allows easier access to the space within the form. It is
manageable in terms of moving around the form, lifting it over the ties,
it’s weight is manageable, and it works!
January 25, 2013 @ 5:07 am
could this do well on tropical climates? i mean from constant alternating
droughts and heavy rains would this type of building survive?
January 25, 2013 @ 5:10 pm
Although I am not an expert nor have we had any experience in building in
the tropics I will put forth this answer. With the right roof –pitched
with large overhangs and the right drainage around the house (along with
the right soil for the walls) I would think it would do well.
January 26, 2013 @ 7:21 am
thanx 4 the response…i hope to build this type of bldg. in the future and
i still have to do a lot of research..
December 18, 2013 @ 5:31 am
Rammed earth building technology:One of Alastairs additions
January 8, 2014 @ 2:25 am
This goes back 4000 years at least. Some of the oldest cities excavated are
rammed earth. The pneumatic tamping cuts labor but the same quality used to
be done with lots of hand labor. Some places add a part asphalt for water
proofing. But in ancient times other materials were added to the earth to
achieve similar benefits. One other plus to rammed earth.. when the
building is no longer needed you don’t have a lot of waste to dispose of.
Just knock down and plow into the ground or recycle into a new building.
Biggest problem in spreading the technology is building codes and a lack of
a trained labor force.
April 2, 2014 @ 9:57 pm
hmmm ramming earth is new to me, my question is, the mixture doesn’t look
sticky, but like dust, how the helll does the wall stay up and not just
fall apart? lol
April 9, 2014 @ 6:03 pm
For a low wall, non bearing such as a yard / garden wall, can you just dig
a trench and build the wall monolithic (no concrete footer), just rammed
earth into the hole all the way to the top? What’s the thinnest you can
build a wall with rammed earth? Is 6″ wall possible or does the width
have to be much greater? If the wall was only 4′ to 5′ tall where you
could easily stand on the ground and tamp it, you wouldn’t need to be
standing inside the form.
May 17, 2014 @ 6:49 am
April 9, 2015 @ 10:50 pm
Beautiful!
May 18, 2015 @ 7:56 pm
The Chinese have a Emperors tomb that lasted thousand of years it was made
out of compressed earth they say it is most stable….. doesn’t rot and
even withstands some flooding… which I wouldn’t try but if it is thick
they say it is the best to build anything with.
July 14, 2015 @ 7:34 am
Can you make trapezoidal walls so that the inside is 90 degrees to the
foundation but the outside is slightly angled? How thick does the wall need
to be at base and top in order to have a load bearing wall 16.5 feet high?
I want to build a load bearing wall 16.5 feet high with a base thickness of
3 feet and a top thickness of 1.5 feet. Is this possible/ acceptable to New
Mexico building code?