Tim Krahn - Essential Rammed Earth Construction

Tim joins me to share his thoughts and experiences with rammed earth as a natural building method. This includes the distinction between raw and stabilized rammed earth and how rammed earth can reduce the amount of cement required for a long-lasting wall. Tim also gives an estimate of the price difference between stick-built walls and professionally installed rammed earth, while acknowledges that natural building is a growing but still niche field. We close with a discussion of the importance of valuing our time when considering the cost of erecting a building or other project to come to the real price for any of our work.

You can find his book, Essential Rammed Earth Construction at NewSociety.com.

Below you'll also find links to the earlier interviews from the Essential series and natural building, including the conversations with Bob Theis who we mentioned in this episode.

As Tim works full-time as a professional engineer, the best place to find his thoughts and knowledge about Rammed Earth are in this interview and his book. If you do have any questions for him, please forward those to me here at the show, and I can send them to Tim for a follow-up interview.

What I love about natural building, which Tim reinforces in this interview, is the flexibility and forgiveness of the materials and techniques compared to stick-built homes. Whether stacking earthbags for a dome, filling tires for an Earthship, or ramming earth for a wall, at many steps along the way we can put things up and tear them down again, trying different ideas and learning as we go. Though the costs may be more expensive when we account for our time, we can learn a lot along the way about what satisfies our physical or aesthetic needs. By being involved in the process, we become connected to the spaces we build and what it means to inhabit a place.

What do you think of natural building? What techniques and materials have you used where you are? I’d love to hear more about your projects and accomplishments. Get in touch my leaving a comment below.

Essential Rammed Earth Construction - Tim's Book

Related Interviews
Bob Theis - Natural Building and Design
Bob Theis - More Natural Building
Rob Avis - Essential Rainwater Harvesting
Kelly Hart - Essential Earthbag Construction
The Mudgirls Natural Building Collective
Clare Kenny of The Mudgirls - Natural Building, Community, and Opportunity
Eric Puro - Natural Building and ThePoosh.org
Cliff Davis - Natural Building with Cliff Davis
Eddy Garcia - Natural Swimming Pools