The next thing I am looking at is foundations and how to do them on a budget…its probably going to be a gravel trench with maybe some stone walling to get the bags off the ground. Any tips?
Rubble trench foundations are one of the best ways to go; they are inexpensive, and they work. If the first few rows of earthbags are filled with gravel, they can go right on the rubble. C: I am nervous about the longevity of the gravel filled bags though…they have a lot of weight on top of them. R: The key to longevity with polypropylene bags is to keep the UV from the sun off of them, otherwise they are virtually indestructible. You can read about the results of loading tests at Testing/prismtest And actually, once you have the bags sandwiched between two good layers of plaster, they become similar to structural insulated panels, which have a soft inner core and rigid skins…and these are structural components. Tests have shown that even strawbale walls that are rotting within will often remain standing because of the strength of the plaster!
