Building a Earthship berm PART II

This is the second part of the "building a Earthship berm" footage of Thomas and Debra's Earthship. In this video Matt is able to work his excavator to get the berm dialed in and the dirt even higher up that the skid-steer couldn't. Enjoy the footage and hope this helps everyone!
Thanks Thomas and Debra! Here's a link to the first part in case you missed it...
• Building a Earthship berm

[@SirBobbyDuncan]

You made a good point about rodents burrowing in the berm.
It would be so easy to just create another wall of tires and dirt and sandwich the berm therefore controlling the rodents because they can't eat through the tires... Plus it redirects any rain run-off

[@OwnerBuildersUnite]

Thanks for the comment... pounding tires isn't easy... it's actually one of the most time consuming and physical things of the build. Sometimes it takes people years just to get them all done... I think just a good cement pack out on the bermed side and really good vapor barrier would be the best you can do... and watching out for all little gaps and cracks from your sill plate and framing/rafters. That's just my thoughts on it at least... -Pete

[@LennyCanam-it2bs]

Good job Matt

[@OwnerBuildersUnite]

Thanks!

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

I have never liked the berm idea for my area. Considering I have up to 7 foot frost depth. The amount of work for the insulation value never seemed worth it. That paying for the insulation would save more heat and money in the long run. Berms do make sense the closer to the equator. If you have 60-65 degree ground temps I would build in ground. Little solar gain and almost perfect all year. Ground temps 4 foot down are 48*F where I am at in summer. I had to look at amount of man hours for my build. It's why I went with cmu block and not tires. Even if I have to work to buy the block the amount of time still is less than pounding tires. Takes me and another mason about a month to complete a 30x60 block basement. I like the earth ship designs. Swapping the tires for cmu or poured walls means they can be built almost anywhere. I had to change the framing too. Going with post and beam because cheaper and uses less wood. Things to think about when building. I also have a 70 psf snow loads. No permit needed but am going with permits. Really only issue would of been tires to build true earth ship. But with my frost depths tires aren't good option. Code changed here to allow boat and r.v. smoke detectors for d.c. electric off grid builds. Not a fan of icf either. Masonry loves to wick moisture and needs 18 inches of air contact to dry out. Or it gets water logged. Dam people reads the directions on the icf package. I still am not sure about moisture ventilation. Plan on venting it out somehow at top of my 24 foot south wall. Doing 3 columns of 16 feet 4x8 horizontal windows. Only a 24x24 but plan to add on later. Once I move on site. I am doing it all with hand tools off grid in central U.P. of MI. Do have gas chainsaw, gas cement mixer, truck, and winch/chain fall to raise bents. Offgrid youtubers in my area like Surviving Ringworm, Bush Radical, and Shawn James/My Self Reliance build more rustic type places. One of the reasons I choose Schoolcraft county MI was there Master Plan and being able to find the information I needed to know to build with or without permits. Plus one of only 20 remote counties east of the Mississippi with less than 20k people. We all need water, food, shelter, medications/first aid, means of defense, and a plan. An earth ship full fills many of those needs. The Ontario and Alberta earthships are what got me thinking I could. Goldies & Matt's is design I like best as far as skillion shape. I like the above ground planter. Less digging.

[@OwnerBuildersUnite]

7 feet frost depth is wild!

[@nicholaspennmusic]

I'm gonna berm one down.

[@lisabodey6441]

❤ OB Unite!

[@OwnerBuildersUnite]

Thanks Lisa! Hope all is well back in Indiana