We build stabilised rammed earth homes.
Rammed Earth is the wall system that is used solely for the external walls or shell of the home. You can build rammed earth walls within the home as well, but this is not required and will cost more.
A little about the system:
- The rammed earth building technique uses available materials from the closest quarry such as concrete spec sand and road base gravel.
- To meet engineering standards, an 8 to 10 percent ratio of portland cement is added to the mix as a stabiliser. Rebar also has to be installed and embedded in the walls for tensile strength.
- Walls are typically 18″ to 24″ thick
Innovative Earth Inc uses a sandwich type method; with the insulation being sandwiched or embedded within the rammed earth wall. Insulation is installed within the forming system, then the rammed earth mix is poured into the forms. Workers operate pneumatic tampers to tamp down the mix on either side of the insulation. The finished product will look similar to that in most of our photos.