Customer Reviews

Earth Construction: A Comprehensive Guide

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So many natural building books are written by people who seek to 'leave the rat-race', circumvent building codes, live outside conventional society and their books reflect their ideologies. Those books are fun to read and have some great ideas but lack the hard scientific approach, the testing, details and production methods backed up with figures and graphs. It may be a 'dry' read for those looking to browse but this is the book you should turn to if you are seriously interested in Earth Construction. The authors unflinchingly criticize poor design, inefficient production methods and honestly say when there is not enough evidence for them to comment on any facet of the subject. The book covers soil investigation, stabilization, press designs, rammed earth, transportation and preparation of soil, design (including seismic) of walls, roofs, floors, finishes (including earth render/plater) and more. Also included are common waterproofing details adapted to earth construction and analysis of the most common design flaws along with descriptions of their effects to the building over time.
I have many books on this subject. This one is the dirtiest on my shelf; why?, because it is getting the most use both in the office and in the field.

Everything you need to know on Engineering an Earth Constructed House. The book does have a few B&W photo's of Earth Buildings but could use allot more for my taste. It should probably be updated with a new addition that includes information on Nader Khalili's book 'Ceramic Houses & Earth Architecture'

Great Book with much to learn. Good diagrams and methodical explanation of earthen construction. Given the finite resources available in the world, the rising population and our ever growing need for building high quality homes, more needs to be undertaken to educate and empower those working in the built environment to be able to readily make use of such construction methods so that they can stand side by side to modern methods of construction in terms of quality and durability.