Rapidobe - cheaper, faster, easier alternative for construction

[velacreations]

This is how to get your BOL bunker set up for cheap and easy.

It's a really simple construction system using dirt and billboard tarps. You could do this even in a very remote location, as the materials required are very lightweight.

The basic design is posts, then stucco mesh, then thick fabric (billboard vinyl). Pack with dirt, and once things are settle in, stucco the outside. For the stucco mesh, we use orchard netting, as it's cheap and available.

We call this system Rapidobe (rapid - adobe).

We made a 35ft by 4ft freestanding wall in 2 days with 3 people. We also built a 35ft by 2.5ft retaining wall in a day with 3 people.

For a freestanding wall, you do 2 lines of posts, and then the billboard tarp forms a "U" shape in between the posts, like a big bag. Fill, tamp, tie off, stucco, and you're done.

Here's some more information with detailed photos:
http://www.velacreations.com/shelter/building-components/walls/item/166-rapidobe-walls.html

We'll be doing a barn later this month using this method, and I expect it to work really well, as the site is dug into a hill, and also has some flat areas.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I had heard about something similar a few weeks ago, but this seems a bit neater and sturdier. I'd really love to make an earth sheltered home for various reasons, but I can openly claim heat and hurricane protection with no fear. I'll show this thread to DH. We'd like to start small......like have a storm shelter/root cellar in one thing. This might be do-able.

 

[velacreations]

cool! let me know if you need any help.

Also, check out earthbags, it is a similar technique.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

you mean filling them and stacking them up sandbag style? Cuz that's what I had been told about. I had been reading a bit about underground housing and someone told me about a sandbag system.
IDK, but I think I'd have to come up with some kind of flat wall after a while.
But its all very interesting to me.
I think it would be cool to have a dwelling that no one knew about too......like disguised as something else. Appeals to my sense of paranoia.

 

[velacreations]

yeah, you fill the bags with dirt and tamp them down.

Check out Mike Oehler's book, the $50 underground house. That is what inspired me. My system is easier than his, but they both work, and they're both super cheap.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Yeah.....I read that book about 3 months back, but I've been on and off considering the benefits of underground living since the 70's, when I was a teen. There are no underground/earth sheltered homes in my area that I'm aware of. Well, underground is out of the question because by the time you reach 2 feet, you have probably hit your first water, but by 8 feet, you have a very wide, well or pond. So it has to be constructed above ground. We have some really wild storms, so I'd hope I could have a shelter one day. But I'm hoping that the way it would be constructed would act as a natural permanent sandbag system would and hold back water until our levee system could handle it and the water be pumped out of the protected area. One of the main attractions is the insulation qualities it possesses. I've figured out what the year round temp underground should be in my area and it would be awesome to be surrounded by that temp, because just about each year we do have 100F temps for a few days.
But there is no way I could hide a hill here. There are no hills........stick out like a sore thumb, so it would have to be disguised.......sorry, but I love mystery and secrecy.

 

[velacreations]

you'd be surprised how much vegetation will help disguise a structure. Make your berm house then cover the berm with plants, and it will blend in fairly well.

 

[Beekissed]

Is it load bearing? Do the building inspectors consider it load bearing? I know that was the issue when folks first started using hay bale construction and such, getting the building code people to accept that the walls were load bearing enough to pass safety inspections.

 

[velacreations]

yeah, it is load bearing. It is compressed earth. The more you tamp it, the more load it can carry.

 

[Beekissed]

Do you have any pics of structures or homes with walls made of this construction? It would be interesting to see these and what states they were built in. I'm all for things that make life easier so this is of interest to me.