Crow (click to enlarge)
Specifications: 728 sq. ft. interior plus 366 sq. ft. loft, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, Footprint: 29′ x 31′ plus porch
Description: One of my favorites, this design has a cathedral ceiling over the main living space, wood stove, passive solar design and large porch on the west to block the hot afternoon sun. There is a large loft over the bedrooms and bath.
Crow (click to enlarge)
Earthbag House Plans 
[…] Crow […]
Very good info. Lucky me I came across your site by accident
(stumbleupon). I have saved as a favorite for later!
what are the cost of building this home
There’s no way to know without making an accurate cost estimate based on your local costs. Building codes, cost of labor, etc. all vary considerably. Codes, for instance, can add many thousands of dollars for permits, engineering, extra concrete and steel, etc. Get a cost estimating book from the library if necessary. Most materials will be the same. Get quotes from local truss companies, etc.
We have been interested in these types of building for 2years now and we are ready to take the leap. This is the best design I’ve come across for our needs. How would I go about figuring out how many of the large red mess potato sacks I would need to build this home. The wife and I want out of this house note and this looks like the best option. We are searching for 3 acres in south AL. Which happens to be nothing but sand and clay. We figure every home needs a pond anyway. Any other information and if there are detail plans to purchase how to aquire them would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
See our FAQ page for answers to basic questions and then click on the very first link How Many Bags Does it Take? http://www.naturalbuildingblog.com/faqs/
We have 2-3.000 pages of free information, so everything you can imagine has already been covered.
Do a cost analysis that compares 1) digging a pond, and 2) buying road base (ideal mix), 3) typical ‘fill dirt’ from excavators. All will typically work just fine. Be sure to include the time for your labor.
Plans are available through Dream Green Homes: http://dreamgreenhomes.com/materials/earth/earthbags.htm
Detailed plans for those who must meet buildings are available from Structure1.com.
Please call 561 401 5632. Interested in custom crow house for st. John, u.s. virgin islands. I have the land and someone to do the blueprint.
Please call 561 401 5632.
I work over the Internet, not by phone. I will email you.
hello,
(soryy for my english, i’m french)
I want to make earth bag house with two floors for an African country. I need some proves for that. Is it possible to calculate the thickness of the wall to have a height of 5,5 m for exemple ?
Two story buildings: It’s difficult to lift heavy soil up high in the air. I advise earthbag on first story, lightweight construction on 2nd story.
Thank you for your answer. I think that we will have scaffold and we can settled a pulley. I just want to know if a wall is enought strong in earthbag for a height of 5,5 or 6 m ?
In compression, yes. Earthbag is 10x stronger than wood framed walls as documented in a test on our Testing page at Earthbag Building.com.
But that’s just one measure of strength. You have to make sure the wall is properly braced to handle the wind loads etc. This is what engineers do — they analyze all the forces that act on the building and determine the best way to reinforce it.
Hi Dr Geiger, I’ve been following you since about 2008 waiting for when life would allow us to follow this path. That will be soon.Two questions:
1) you wrote above that detailed plans for those who must meet building codes are available from structure1.com. Is this specifically for the Crow design as shown here or for all of your house plans?
2) can we give a house plan that we like or create ourselves to you, or to engineers such as structure1.com and have it adapted to suit earthbag in most cases?
Structure1.com is a big engineering company that can get my plans code approved (most any plan). This raises the cost considerably because of engineering fees and because codes require much more steel and concrete. They can also help you design your own plan. Send them your sketches and ask for a quote.
Many thanks for your reply. I sent an email to you about a plans order on strawhouses(at) yahoo.com – is that still the correct email?
Order plans from Dream Green Homes http://dreamgreenhomes.com/materials/earth/earthbags.htm
My email is naturalhouses [AT] gmail.com.
Hi, I am also in the U.S. Virgin Islands and interested if Janine Sprauve was able to get his approved as I would also like to build one. Thank you.
I imagine so, but you’ll have to contact her directly. Contact Structure1.com who can get it approved for sure. They give free estimates.
Can you tell me more about the passive solar energy in this design? I want some of the windows to be built out of recycled bottles and jars. Can you tell me which windows would be ok to do this to?
You would lose solar gain using recycled bottles, so only do this on windows on the north side.
Could this home be built with cordwood?
Yes.
Are your plans/homes used in Texas much? if so i would like to see the outcome of these plans
I think that this would be a good plan for Texas, with the entrance porch protecting the south side from too much sun.