Rammed Earth House

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I attended an exhibion af art works by local artists yesterday that was housed in a rammed earth home.
The structure is created by using a blend of locally sourced road-base materials, sand, cement and waterproofing admixtures. Then adding enough water to achieve an optimum compacted density.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/P4030055.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/P4030053.jpg

http://www.earthstructures.com.au/

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@dadpad,

How's the insulation/thermal efficiency?

I think this is how they ought to build houses, here in Texas. Really thick stone/earth/concrete walls to keep out the brutal heat in the summer.

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Drew.
SRE - STABILISED RAMMED EARTH. These walls are 300 or 400mm thick with high thermal mass.
They are ideal for internal walling or external walling that does not require a high R-value.

ISE - INSULATED STABILISED EARTH. These walls are 400mm thick with a 50mm Styrofoam insert.
Walls are structurally integrated using patented Earth Structures stainless steel bridging pins.
These walls achieve a 2.48 R-value. They are useful for achieving higher external wall R-value levels.

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I obviously messed up a link in my first post. meant to post this one

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/P4030054.jpg

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Heres another house in town, similar construction material different builder.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/online%20photos/P4050079-Copy.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/online%20photos/P4050080-Copy.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/online%20photos/P4050082-Copy.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/online%20photos/P4050081-Copy.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/online%20photos/P4050083-Copy.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/dadpad/online%20photos/P4050084-Copy.jpg

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Whilst looking closely at the garage walls it was apparent there was some kind of insect or something burrowing into the walls. Possibly wasps or perhaps blue banded bees. The finger sized holes had been taken over by spiders.

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@dadpad,

Do those horizontal lines delineate where one lift of earth was compacted before another was added? Do you know how the control joints are done; is there an insert or are they cut?

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Texas, and I strongly suspect, where Dadpad resides in Au would be great candidates for rammed earth/adobe type structures with solar powered radiant floor heating [small demand] and I would guess, not much needed in the cooling season with the huge mass and appropriately shielded walls, surrounding porch, and a ceramic insulation coated roof.

Not for the mass market, too labor intensive, but for the average Joe, an average handy Joe of course.

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Do those horizontal lines delineate where one lift of earth was compacted before another was added? Do you know how the control joints are done; is there an insert or are they cut?

yes the orizontal lines delineate the layers.
I dont have any idea about control joints.
this link might be usefull
http://www.earthstructures.com.au/html/construction.html

Contrary to your opinion the cost of theses houses is similar to standard Brick veneer construction.

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@dadpad,

Quote:

Contrary to your opinion the cost of theses houses is similar to standard Brick veneer construction.

Is that brick veneer on wood frame construction, DP?

I was suggesting that a person could build themselves a rammed earth home pretty cheaply if they had some basic knowledge. Do these rammed earth homes use wood framing for interior partitions?

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@dadpad,

What is the depth of each lift? They look to be about 2 feet/60cm. Were the walls in the houses you saw 8 foot or 10 foot for each floor?

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Quote:
Contrary to your opinion the cost of theses houses is similar to standard Brick veneer construction.

Is that brick veneer on wood frame construction, DP?

Brick veneer is a layer of brick outside a timber framework.

Quote:

I was suggesting that a person could build themselves a rammed earth home pretty cheaply if they had some basic knowledge.

The setup cost for form work and hydralic rams would be prohibitive, I imagine youd need a pretty decent cement mixer, easy access to good quality clay (not just any old dirt) could be a problem. Screening the clay to remove any rock/stone/pebbles.
Its probably not as easy as it sounds.
Having said that I know several people who built their own mudbrick houses.

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@JTT,

Quote:

What is the depth of each lift?

200 mm

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