I used to test soil compaction on construction sites. And before that I was doing the actual construction and in an area just like this. Y'all could work more efficiently if the dirt had moisture worked in. It would compact better and take less effort. And as the inspections get more strict over the years they are eventually going to make you do it anyway so you really ought to consider this. You may not notice the first day but if you have a hoe or mini-ex to work water into the soil in a prep area or have one guy on a hose spraying over four guys on the tires it will get more compacted in less time with less effort. BTW I really love what y'all are doing out there. Keep up the good work.
rudy adair It's hard to say for sure. The air gaps that you may get from the soil not filling in around the angular chunks of block may reduce the density more than the chunks themselves. That is why is is so important to use water. It is literally a lubricant that allows the particles to move into the gaps. If you break them down to marble size I would not think it would be problem. There is a measurement called a proctor that you can do if you want to get really accurate. You may want to look it up as I'm not sure I remember the exact procedure but the idea is to get a measurement of lbs. per cubic Ft. The following should be close enough to get you within reasonable accuracy. It's a pain in the ass but there is no other way I know of... 1. Get a steal cylinder with a known volume.(maybe 3 inch diameter and 4 inches high.) 2. Get your sample of your cinder block mix and a sample of what you want to compare it to. 3. Then you need what amounts to a slide hammer with a weight on it that will compact the dirt into the cylinder. 4. Over fill the cylinder with one of the samples and drop the weight on it an exact number of times, from a specific height every time. ...say 15 times or whatever it takes to pack the shit out if it...within reason. If the cylinder is not flush with dirt, keep filling and repeat. 5. Once the cylinder is full and compacted, cut the dirt off flush, then dig the dirt out and weigh all of it. 6. Then take it off the scale, add a little water but keep track of the amount and repeat all these steps until you see a drop in the weight.(A little more soil should be required each time if you are doing it right but not as much when you are close to completion.) Once you see a drop in the wieght this means that the last or highest measurement is the maximum soil density and approximate water content to get that density for that sample. If you don't have a scale that measures in grams or better then you will need a large cylinder to compensate. you should be able to do your two samples in under tree hours. Now... Don't even ask me how to tell how close you are in the final project if you don't have access to a nuclear density gauge. you don't want to know! Just take what you learned from the proctor and guesstimate. I hope that helps.
Exactly my thought when I saw what happens to beating on dry dirt. It's like a never ending compaction process. Also. I have a few Ponds and if you mixed dry clay in that tires with dirt , then spray with water , watch what happens. Time is drastically cut down on filling tires. Experiment and try dry clay mixed with dry dirt and see for yourself. Peace
I was wondering about mixing sand, aggregate and water into a not quite as wet concrete-like mixture and just pouring it in. You would have to allow some drying time I imagine but you would get a single course done much faster. Possibly drilling some holes in the tires to allow it to breath? I'm gonna mess around with that. Where I live I get paid $1.25 per tire that I take from the recycling center.
Built a barn with tires. No pounding. I filled thetire walls with large rock to prevent compression then put very large rock in and buried it with dirt mixed with small stones. These wall have been up 11years. I also leveled the line where tbe tires go. My next project , I will did down about three in. and then fill. 8-10 inches is actually best. Here its extremely rocky (monster rocks) . Hope this helps someone. Enjoy!
@@rinchhensherpa6972 I am looking at using a pressure washer .. move a lot of dirt with as little water as possible. But yes... water will settle the dirt naturally.
I love earthships, but they are so labor intensive. I get a heat induced migraine just watching this video. If I won the lottery, this is the type of home I would have and could afford to pay someone to build it.
I will be doing this. I'm disable due to Parkinson. I started living not completely of the grid but cut my expenses from $1,000 down to $300.00 per month. I grow 80% of my own food. I will like to build 2 of these one for a underground green house another for a 2nd bug out location on my farm. It will take me a while but I thank that I can do it.
I'm thinking about building my first home. I just to tell you thank you for showing us how to get this done. Please keep it up. Please post as many videos as you can to help those less fortunate who want to do it themselves. Thanks, really appreciated.
Thanks! I got them all from local tire shoes in Taos, NM. Pretty much any tire shop is happy to give away tires because it saves them the money to dispose of them.
Just beginning my tire wall extension to my off grid house went to the local garbage tip and they said they have to pay to have them shredded so I could have as many as I wanted,am using dirt from my opal mine good texture and adding a few handfuls of cement into a dry dirt mix with just a little water,find it easier to completely fill the tire walls when pounding.Three walls one back over 54ft and two side walls 15ft each and nine feet high.Rafters and joists will be from cyprus pine which grows around this area and costs only my time and a chainsaw to get,then corrugated iron roof guttered to collect rainwater to two 20gallon catchment tanks.Job started one month ago completion date 6 months.Cost in total only the corrugated iron roofing, guttering and downpipes approx $500.Using only my own labor so the project though labor intensive is more than affordable and when the project is finished I can look at it and know it was worth the hours I will put in.
Ya if you really wanted to do it and make a couple bucks you could ask some local tire shops what they pay to have them hauled off and beat it it's a win for everyone they spend less and you make a little because you are going to be working your ass off
2words also ..zero money lol. these guys inspired me to get of my backside and get going. im 50 yr old one woman army doing a wall so I can get my horses on my land before I build a house. I have no electric, water on site, but i'll get there..eventually.(moaning about time, coz I'm not getting younger)
Hi, that video was awesome! Thank heaps. We are literally 2 weeks away from having our own Earthship build approved and your videos have been really helpful, I can't wait to get starred on it all.
Excellent step by step video. First one I've seen showing that level of detailed information. Thanks for sharing every tip one needs to know about building the tire wall.
True it takes more time but you are building a solid structure, a wall over two feet thick with free materials that are also helping to reduce landfill waste. That looks like a couple tons of tires; imagine how many tires would be put to good use building just 100 of these homes.
Tires do not end up on landfills they all go to recycling centers You get fined trying to throw them away and the landfills and dumps get fined if they are caught with them during inspections.
The upside is these tires are very cheap. Once you get your concrete estimate you're going to reconsider something cheaper. The pro to earthships that I see is , no excuse to be homeless if you can afford a small piece of land. Just start piling tires.
+zander cross go to any automotive tire replacement company such as les schwabb or tire discounters and ask them for their old tires.They will give them up gladly for free. Companies like that usually have to pay for disposal and if you are willing to take them off their hands...im sure you can figure the rest out
The important thing is that after they are pounded, they all are level with each other. You can get away with using similar sized tires next to each other but that usually means more work with either pounding or leveling, so it's best to keep them the same size. I also used different sized tires, sometimes drastically to fill spaces in the tirewall without having to pour a concrete block.
Got some great tips on pounding tires from this video. Hadn't thought of using the pick axe and kicking method before. Hopefully this will help our project in Kyrgyzstan go quicker when we start our build. Thanks!
Geez, that's very labor and time intensive. Sounds like a great idea, but not many people have months to build just the tire wall for a project like this.
why don't you use water to compact the dirt naturally, instead of pounding dry dirt into the tire? i know once it's dry the mud will shrink, but just add more dirt afterwards. then continue the next layer. seems like it would be a lot less work. more time, but less labor. ???
A pro construction person recommends using some water, too. (In some comments above this.) He probably just hadn't heard of it. Now I want a video on how to do it! Idk how much water is too much or too little.
Thank you so much. I got this idea ( I thought bc I was creative and smart😂) after the 2016 Louisiana flood. Knowing I was going to need to eventually build some kind of retaining wall. Everywhere we drove after getting back in our house there were tires. Guess what? 7 years later they are still there. We’ve picked up 25 just that we see on the way to and from school everyday. We are going to need hundreds if not a thousand or more. At least we helped clean up some of our city. Your video is the best I’ve seen on an in detail explanation of what to do when and why. One question. Tires will supposedly rise though the earth after 10 years if buried 5 feet. We are going way higher than that total, our will be terraced off, but the area does flood periodically when the river rises which is a couple times of year. Our creek is directly connected to the river. About a mile as the crow flies. How do we make sure they won’t float up?
Fantastic explaination! The idea of pounding tires scared me with my slieght physical limitaions, (back & wrist). But this video was super inspiring! Lol, Tire pounding deosn't look so scary anymore. Some other video's make it look brutal.
I think you can have a reference tire on each end if 2 people are pounding tires, and both working towards the middle, and then you can squeeze a filler tire into a small space to complete a level. I like the idea of using 4 screws to hold tire in place before packing.
It is a lot of work per tire, but goes quicker than you might expect if you're working with other people. Add a pneumatic tamper or two into the mix (requires a beefy compressor), and you can cut it down from 20-30 minutes per tire to 5-10. Quite the back saver.
I have seen some others do that pounding with a air powered tamper b/4 too! More money for equipment rental/fuel I know, but quite a bit faster and maybe a little less tiring. Just a thought, thanks for the informative video.
Trying to uber green and all that is great but seriously, could this. Be done with straight cinder blocks or cement 2ton block? Straight pour mortar in them tires or something.
Hi OGB, thanks very much for sharing. I was wondering if the aspect ratio of the tires is important. I can see you are using 75% on the cicenatti project. Could 65, 55% or less be acceptable? My project is to put up 7 courses of tires and than a ferrocement dome on top. If you have any advise on the size of tires, please let me know! Keep calm, and pound a tire!
good vid man,and thanks for the screaws idea,i am sure my friend got it of your vid, saved a wooping lot of time:Dand sweat:Dalso my hat off to you for doing it with loose 'dirt' :D we have lovley dark brown mixed with clay, thick and pasty earth:D If you over did it with the more clay type earth it would become too pasty and when you hit it with the sledge, it go in like into butter and not really fill up.By the end of second day we knew by texture and colour where to dig for the 'good' earth:D
GREAT JOB GUYS AND THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND EXPLANATION ON EACH STEP. I do have one question concerning screwing the tires together with the 1" screws and I apologize if I missed it if you mentioned this but besides just screwing the current tires down to the previous rows as you mentioned, wouldn't it also help some to also use a couple of this same 1" screws and screw the side (which in this case would be through the tread) to the tire on each side to also help hold it in place while all of the filling and packing is taking place? Just a thought! Thanks again and keep up the great job. looking forward to seeing it all finished as this is the same type structure my girlfriend and I are planning to use!
I think a much better idea is a sod house, plastered on the inside and out. See Roger Welsch's book on soddies for ideas--some of the houses he pictures are extraordinary. They'd be less work than tire-packing (but still take a lot of labor) and a lot faster to put up. Their insulative capacity (two-foot thick walls) would also be excellent.
I have never worked in Canada, but Earthship Biotecture has done a couple builds there. There is also an Earthship being built in Manitoba right now by some friends of mine. Search for it, they have a website.
I would like to know when u get started. Will you video tape your progress? Yeah, i have 8 grown children, but they have all moved out and don't get as excited about building their own abode, as i do. Look forward to hearing from u again. Take Care.
I've begun doing research on off-gird/alternative building methods and I haven't really found an answer to a couple questions: Why use the tire method when the earth bag method seems to be less labor intensive and has the same thermal advantages? Are there any examples of the 'earthship' style (self-contained) house using the bags instead of the tires?
Wouldn't you need to build a retaining wall with earthbags ? With tyres, you just arrange them in a U shape and that is enough to support the surrounding earth
I have a very high water table here! So need to create soak away pits. Following the previous owners ideas! DIg (what feels like) an enormous hole big enough for at least 3 for tyres laid flat, stick in tyres. dont bother with back filling or infill. At present a bit of old door over the top. Will probably cast a slab over the top...time and inclination permitting! I have actually pumped water for the garden out of the existing (previous owners) one! Possibly creating underground cisterns? Comments, please. Climate here is up to 40deg C summer , minus 15deg C winter.
I want to build a retaining wall before I install my above ground pool do I need to add a french drain to take the water away from the bottom where the first run of tires are
I just want to build the 1 "U" for myself, and then I can add later if I want to. I have access to 500 tires or so and they are willing to pay me $2 per tire including delivery. Many of the tires are larger truck tires (18", 17"), and there are mostly 16 " truck tires which I think are almost as good as 15" tires. They have phased out 15" tires for some reason, and they don't make many 14" tires anymore either. Are these other sizes just as good to use? I know that they are bigger so they will require more dirt.
I used to think tires would pack better if I added moisture to dry dirt. Actually, last summer I packed about 20 tires for a small project, and I added quite a bit of water like with concrete. Maybe sandy soil doesn't need moisture added so much as mineral rich dirt. Spraying with a garden hose also keeps the dust down.
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?
Cement comes from the Earth and it's production is pretty unfriendly to Mother Earth, whereas recycling old tyres and making solid bricks out of them, which are also a part of the heat retaining wall. It is just one of many solutions, I happen to love the finished houses that I have seen, and that they are made out of love too, thoughtful house, that's what it is! HUGS
wow 8!! Thats amazing :) I know what you mean about enthusiasm lol mine scatter at the thought! The weather is not so good here at the mo so It may not be for a while as the soil is so wet
a lot of people talking about moisture how about adobe> or cooking down your own limestone into slake and mixing with the native soils>>>wood ash cement is easy enough and sodium silicate could be cooked up with the same fire...once production started this primitive concrete a perfect shot rigid and layer little at a time...disposing of the junk skids and salvaging the good wood for interior doors and trim as well as manufacturing cupboards etc. burn the rest kilning the limestone and making the sodium silicate...set up a brick drying station for pavers and interior floors in green house ...if wood abundant a couple of home made barrel charcoalers would also be nice...many benefits for slaking lime stone and harvesting the native soils ...might be considered not green though [the carbon footprint] but some bodies going burn it might as well be you... and with toping off the tire walls with a concrete pour is leveling every tire that essential close is good enough yes cover inconsistencies with the pour yes...then the roof harvesting native stone also a great idea dig hole for septic a few feet farther away and set septic on native stone base save on gravel...pour primitive mortar for stability and enough native stone you could slip form the tank easy enough and save 4 to 5 grand....do the same for the planters if ply wood not cut it may be reused on the roof deck and the utility behind thermal mass why bury would it not be better to enclose leave tire walls unfinished and set tanks and all pumps etc in the very large utility room few conduits and drainage in case of leakage maximize your square footage and build garage beyond using the utility room as a connector to the house another gable over tanks could not hurt for water collection and small drains could be installed in cooling tubes to evacuate moisture from condensate in wetter climates keeping those dry is the key legionaires and water borne bugs no joke...drainage before pipe hit the house is wiser as well and drains installed in utility room where tanks are just wise every thing leaks in time ...the tanks could also help with cooling the area with their mass as well passive heat and cool with water contained always a good idea and tanks may be inspected and chlorinated from inside as well.
If you use a water level it will be more accurate than a 4' level and will eliminate accumulative error. I have used a water level to set a 100' block retaining wall and it is accurate within 1/8 inch end to end.
Awesome video! We are so doing this, but I really want to try completely recycled, non-biodegradable materials.. Other than cardboard, could you use something less biodegradable? Like plastic bags or bottles before packing them, you think that would work??
I'm assuming your using standardized matching size tires? I know there's quite a few different sizes. Also, after fine tuning your technique, how many were you able to complete in a typical workday?
Is there any advantage to adding portland cement to the earth fill material in order to make the final effect more rigid? Great video, very clear, very sequential presentation. MingDiaz
05.30 "i'm going to need another batch Max" thats because you kicked it all out! you should make up a cone shaped item made out of iron that you could hit with the sledge hammer, with every hit it will go further down pushing the dirt out to the side compacting the tyre, that would work perfectly and would save you on energy by cutting at least one more trip for Max for more dirt, any metal fabricator could make one up for next to nothing and you could keep it for future builds!
This might explain why so many of the cars in my neighborhood are found on cinder blocks in the morning - someone must be building one of these "walls."
moofushu most auto repair shops actually have to pay money to have old tires taken from their shop and disposed of. Go to any auto shop and they will happily give you their old tires if you’re doing something like this. I’m currently building a tire wall for a gun range and this is how I get my tires.
If you are using tires, all you have to do is tamp down the dirt under them. Check out our Cincinnati House videos. It may be a lot closer to what you're looking for in your cabin.
ok on the 1inch and a half you talked about do u go 1 1/2 out on top of the first set of tires then an 1 1/2 (in) on the third set of tires all the way up or are you just going in 1 1/2 out all the way up the wall cause that don't sound right
