A Guide to Building Earth Homes

D. Allen Hughes, P.E.

Course Outline

This course covers the following subjects:

1: Introduction - Types of earth houses
 2: Soils - And what can be done with them
 3: Stabilization of soils
 4: Where to build
 5: Foundations
 6: Lightweight roofs
 7: Preparing the soil
 8: Making adobe blocks
 9: Making pressed earth blocks
 10: Making walls with earth blocks
 11: Making rammed earth walls
12: Roofs for earth houses
 13: Floors
 14: Surface coatings
Suggested references Appendix
Appendix A - Atterberg Limits of Soils
Appendix B - Useful Formulas
Common Soil Problems

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will have learned or been exposed to the following concepts pertaining to earth home construction:

• Site Selection;
• Site Preparation;
• Construction Layout;
• Foundation Types;
• Footing Depth, Size and Materials;
• Footing Width Determination;
• Mix Design for Concrete Footings;
• Foundation Walls;
• Foundation Wall Types (Concrete, Masonry or Stone);
• Introduction to Adobe Blocks;
• Introduction to Rammed Earth;
• Introduction to Pressed Blocks;
• Introduction to Wattle and Daub;
• Introduction to Cob Method;
• Introduction to Suitable Soil Types for earth Home Construction;
• Soil Sampling and Classification;
• Eight Field Tests for Determining Soil Suitability;
• Three Field Tests to Measure Quality of Adobe Blocks;
• Soil Stabilization - Eight Most Common Methods;
• Water Proofing – Five Most Common Methods;
• Preparation for Soil Mixing;
• Hand Mixing;
• Mechanical Mixing;
• Adobe Block Machines;
• Curing Adobe Blocks;
• Quality Control of Adobe Blocks;
• Building the Walls;
• Mortar for Adobe Blocks;
• Earthquake Designs;
• Rammed Earth Walls;
• Building Forms for Rammed Earth Walls;
• Door and Window Openings for rammed Earth Walls;
• Roofs for Earth Homes;
• Floors for Earth Homes – Tile, Tamped or Rammed Earth Floors;
• Surface Coatings for Earth Homes; and
• Cost Analysis of Plaster, Slurries, Paint and Special Chemicals.
  

Intended Audience

This course is intended for use by engineers, architects, builders and aid workers.

Benefit to Attendees

Students will gain an historical perspective of an ancient method of home construction that is also still widely used.

Course Introduction

This course is based on the publication, A Handbook for Building Homes of Earth which is used and distributed by the Peace Corps. The techniques and methodologies described in this course document may be useful to improve the efficiency and methods of earth home construction. The significance of the methods of home construction introduced here is that they are some of the oldest known methods of building permanent dwellings and are some of the most cost effective methods of construction.

Course Content

This course is based on the publication by Peace Corps' Information Collection & Exchange (ICE) "A HANDBOOK FOR BUILDING HOMES OF EARTH".

A Guide to Building Earth Homes

Course Summary

This course makes a brief citation of the history of earth homes, summarizes a broad study of current earth home construction methods and introduces recommended best practices for planning and constructing earth homes.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

---

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

---