Don't TRY This at HOME! Advanced Earthbag Laying Techniques

here's the problem we're down to kids for the day people think that they're out there all the time no no no no no what we're doing right here is what I would consider Advanced Earth bag Lane and guess what they're almost perfect we'll get there eventually the hyper Adobe roundhouse is our most ambitious project yet taking everything we've learned from 5 years of experimenting with natural building and offgrid systems we've designed an incredibly unique earthbag structure that will serve as our family home in the centerpiece of our Homestead it's been a long road to get here starting with the foundation we leveled and compacted our base dug out the trenes for the walls put the plumbing in wrapped and protected our lower layers set over 30 Door and Window forms installed electrical outlets and switches bottle brick Niche forms locking them all in place with over 250 tons of material and today we're focused on laying course number 15 of 30 [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning hey guys we are back out at the hyper adobi roundhouse for I bet you can't guess more bags more bags course 15 M we're working on the inner circle here's the problem we're down two kids for the day yep ADI is off at a job and Jack is inside watching the Doodles because you know we have the doodle pin yeah but there's no shade over there and it's 75 degrees in February yeah we have not built any shade in the doodle pin because uh it's supposed to be winter and we didn't think we needed to build one yet but here we are it's just it's going to be a little tricky it's going to be a little slow goinging but we are working on an inner circle because that way we don't have to deal with ramps and it's a little closer for everybody so the point of this whole intro is it's time to get started on course 15 again sounds good let's do it going to take it slow keep being so courageous it won't bring us down time moves so fast also I feel like we have to make sure with explain that the Doodles are not outside all the time just because we built them a doodle pin no so a long time ago well last year the end of last year we built them this 1 and 1/2 acre doodle pin mhm and people think that they're out there all the time no no no no no Doodles can't really do they're not like the Pyrenees the panes can be outside all the time they've got the insulative fur and all that stuff Doodles they get real hot and they get real cold so they need to be in a climate controlled area so that's why they're in the Airstream most of the time also they're just spoiled dogs so yes we pamper them and put them in air conditioning most of the time now summer early in the morning late in the afternoon they get their their Wiggles time and yes they're outside for a couple hours and they run around but then they always come back in So when we're out here working in the winter it's been great cuz it's really cool and they can hang out and it's not a problem but with it being I know 75 doesn't sound crazy hot it's hot but at this elevation and with the sun and without any shade I was it's just too hot for them so yeah the trees don't have leaves so there's like literally nowhere for them to go unless we build them a shade structure and we just don't have the time yet so we're sacrificing a person sacrificing a person I me I meant that we're down in person so that someone can be with the dogs so that means we are going to get a little distracted at some point in the future yeah but I don't think it would take very long like we can set the post one afternoon and then I can build the roof structure like it we just need somewhere for them to have shade it doesn't have to be like a building or you know what it might get cold again who knows winter in the desert but for now it's hot and they're inside all right we're moving slow we're going to keep going second [Music] back something we're paying attention to as we're getting further up on these Circle forms is that we want to mix the material in the bag that starts to go over this we want to put extra cement and extra water in it so it's almost like a jelly bag so it's going to harden up a little bit harder than normal but for this particular area we want it extra stabilized as it goes over the circle so we're over the halfway mark so the bags are starting to have that sort of curve in them and they're going to start have to start being supported as they go up the first batch of mixes was super wet and then we'll kind of even it out as we go back some of you have asked in the comments and this is a great question by putting all of these Niche forms in between all the door and window forms isn't that affecting the structural Integrity of your wall it certainly can and I think something we probably haven't been clear enough about is that what we're doing right here is what I would consider sort of advanced Earth bag Lane like we've been doing it for almost 5 years now and we're pretty comfortable with this but I definitely wouldn't recommend anything like this if you're just starting out and you're building your first Earth bag building so what's going to happen with an opening like this is even with with a small section like this as you're breaking these walls apart the trick is is you want to make sure you're keeping everything perfectly pump so you'll see we have a big Sixt level and every single course that we put on we are taking it all the way down we're making sure that that wall isn't starting to step in or out because it's very important number one it follows the curve it's a curved wall and number two that it comes straight up and so what's going to happen when we get above these forms there's going to be a layer that goes all the way across and that top layer is going to lock all these walls back in together and I know it's crazy it doesn't seem like that could work but we totally saw that in the chicken Garden when we did that outside wall with all those different windows that wall was super wobbly all the little individual pieces between each window felt like you could totally move it until you laid one layer across the top and then it locked everything back into place so yeah you can do you just you really do have to be careful and there's definitely some places where we've been like h no that's too much it's taken too much out of the wall um and there's some places where we've compromised a little bit and it'll be fine but uh yeah we're we're making it work so just keep that in mind uh if you're doing an earthbag building I wouldn't put a ton of holes in your wall until you're really really comfortable laying good clean Plum Earth bag walls you have some experience with [Music] it there are so many reasons that we have chosen to build our home this way guys by building the walls with Earth we are introducing way fewer chemicals into our home with a little research you may be surprised to find out how many unnecessary chemicals are in your drywall your insulation and even the paint you put on the walls did you know that laundry detergent is actually one of the worst culprits for Unnecessary chemicals every wash with traditional laundry detergent can leave behind a harsh chemical residue on your clothes which then in turn gets on your skin thanks to Earth Breeze for sponsoring today's [Music] video making the switch to Earth Breeze ecos sheets is easy ditch the bulky jugs and replace them with Earth Breeze laundry sheets they dissolve in both hot and cold water which is good because I only have cold water in here and they are free from Optical brighteners and other harsh chemicals like dyes parabens and preservatives I know I feel so much better knowing I'm not exposing our family to harsh chemicals in our laundry if you'd like to try Earth Breeze Eco sheets scan this QR code or visit Earth bre.com tiny shiny home to save today now let's get this laundry done so we can go back to [Music] building okay on to the next next wall let's go also it's not just the niche forms but also all the window forms and the door forms as we go over the top of those with a long single bag that'll continue to lock that wall in and as we put the roof on and we tie the roof to the bags and then connect it all together it's all going to lock it in tight and it's going to be stupid strong like really really strong [Music] we took a little break in the shade of the wall which was the first it's actually tall enough I mean you got to sit down but you know it's pretty good so yeah we're just going to keep going we're are we halfway yet no almost jeez we're moving slow uh yeah just still going around these forms yep we'll get there eventually [Music] oh [Music] this what we call the adeli special blind blind tie off there spikes there oh yeah there a CLE there [Music] okay I got it [Music] this is our halfway mark on all of our window forms and guess what they're almost perfect I think we have one that's like slightly higher than the others as far as bags on the middle of the window forms but otherwise it looks really nice and we are halfway up on our Circle FS so man we are we're moving bab we're moving oh was that not on the we're moving if you could Tamp a little bit faster we'd be done a little bit faster excuse me you heard [Music] me S closer to the H we why we yes we rule our own the man yeah yeah keep our heads up high pushing on like a CH why you moving so [Music] SL I don't know cuz I've been filling Scoops all day handing them to you huh reaching the end of the road just really tired yep me too I like that brush I think we need to do that at the end of every day well each scaffolding should have one I don't know if that's necessary they're $10 but that's nice like it is I got it the other day cuz I thought I don't want my husband slip and fall in this gu oh is that what you thought uhhuh that's why I got it uhhuh oh was a [Music] long you're too long yeah she wants to be secure she doesn't trust anyone the [Music] [Music] night n n n n [Music] n [Music] swinging s swinging [Music] swinging swinging swinging it's all swinging it's all swinging friends family loved ones we have to invite you to a very special event coming up yes the double Dome canab collab in canab Utah guys us the Mojave Center and Hayden and milie from kiture all the way from Australia are coming to canab and we're all collabing on a double Dome two domes and we can't forget about the part that we're doing which is the hyper doobe bench and fireplace guys we are inviting you to a two-e workshop it's happening April 26th to May 10th the first week is going to be building we're going to build the two domes and the fire like that's the goal is like build it all the first week and this is like a teaching workshop so you're going to have a lot of people who really know how to lay Earth bags that will teach you every step of the way and it's going to be super Adobe and Hyper Adobe so you'll get Best of Both Worlds you get to decide which one you like better uh wink wink first week is going to be building the second week is going to be Plastering that is your favorite part there's going to be a chef on the site there's going to be some excursions some uh field trips so it's not going to be all work there's going to be some educational classes it's going to be like we said before the biggest earth Bag Party of the Year also you can camp on site yeah you don't have to worry about getting a hotel as long as you have a self-contained camper or a tent we will have showers provided as well as a bathroom guys please come out to this event it's going to be so much fun and we cannot wait to see you come hang out with us 2 weeks April 26th to May 10th here's the link go sign up and we'll see you there all right we are back out of the roundhouse we've got everybody out here except Ashley she's working on video and watching the Doodles inside where it's nice and cool because it's pretty warm today we're going to be working on the bedroom Circle wall which is like the really big one with all the windows which we just added cleats to and all those little vertical forms for those uh gin bottle bricks or someone called them in our comments the gindos which I love we're definitely keeping that so yeah we're just going to get started it's going to be a little slow going it's very fiddly but we're going to figure it [Music] out little too long just making a little adjustment little precarious that's so awkward awkward spaces and Corners all right we [Music] go hand watch your hands that was way too close seen [Music] Jet's measuring with his feet so it's about 12 so like 15 14 15 16 so you have to bring your feet down here I don't believe you that look like you did 10 steps I'm going to do it I'm just going to okay [Music] moving a little slow we got a lot of these little handbags as we'll call them where we have to fill them by hand measure them up to the exact height of the distance and then kind of lean them over and massage them into place and it just doesn't go as fast as all the other ones as all the other ones yeah so that's okay we'll get done what we can we're hoping we'll get to this section right here CU we have to do both we can't just do one side because we did that before remember and we push the form over so we do it we're going to have to do both of them I just don't know if we have time to do both [Music] [Music] you got me I'm take good [Music] job no you don't back keep it spicy there a f we on a right Dr [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] that looks 27 and a half it's close enough I say that's what we did last time wasn't it mhm okay keep the light on I'm coming home I no long longer want to roll set the table cuz I know that I'm running out of road I wondered from Miles all around Dawn had left me Sunset bound the only time I was ever found was when I got lost in [Music] you thought I'd never change my ways been a noad all my days but you shook me to my core now there's nothing I want more than a see you in the morning fall asleep by your