THE MUD HOME
  • Home
  • Building
    • Earthbag >
      • Rubble Trench Foundations
      • Earthbag in Extreme Weather
      • Earthquakes and earthbag
    • Earth Plaster
    • Using Lime
    • Cob
    • Straw Bale
    • Wattle and Daub
    • Inspiration
    • Off-Grid Living >
      • Off-Grid Prep Course
    • Mud Building Blog
  • Books
    • Dirt Witch
    • Mud Ball
    • Mud Mountain The Book
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
  • About
    • Contact
    • Mud Home Facebook Group
  • COURSES
    • ATULYA's In Person Workshops 2025
    • Perfect Earth Plaster Online Course
    • Lime for Beginners Online Course
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
    • The Off-Grid Roadmap
    • Consultation
  • Blogs
    • Mud Home Turkey
    • Barn Life in Spain
  • My Projects
    • The Earthbag Home in Turkey
    • The Barn in Spain

Want to learn the Beautiful art of clay plaster?

Creating gorgeous clay plaster isn't quite as easy as just slapping a bunch of mud on a wall. It's an ancient art and science. If you're serious about earthen plaster work, you might want to have a look at my popular online course.
Take a look at the course

The Beginners' Guide to Roofs for Earthbag

27/3/2018

12 Comments

 
The type of roof you choose for an earthbag house is important. No matter whether you construct a circular house or a rectangular one, you want to take into account your roof before you build (or be prepared to alter your roof style at the end).

I won’t deny it. When it came to my earthbag roof, as is so often the case with me, I skidded to success by the seat of my pants. It was sheer luck I chose the right type.

Roofing structures exert a lot of pressure onto earthbag walls. This is fine if the pressure is in the right direction because earthbag walls are strong. What you want is the pressure exerted downwards. What you don’t want is it pushing outwards.
PictureThe easiest and safest roof for a beginner is a flat one with horizontal joists.



The safest roof type for earthbag
If you are a beginner, the safest, most foolproof roof to stick on your earthbag house is a flat or skillion (pitched) roof, utilising horizontal joists running the length of the building. The joists act as a type of grid that pulls the structure together and prevents the walls falling outwards. What’s more, if you’ve built a smallish round house, you won’t even need a bond beam! You could top the joists with a number of materials: Corrugated iron, ply/strand board with a membrane. Any weight on the roof will be distributed by the joists and easily supported by the earthbag walls. The pressure exerted by such a roof is downward.
Picture
The joists form a grid which locks the entire structure together
Angled roofs
Steep A-frame roofs will probably need trusses and a bond beam. The trusses pull the roof structure back inwards, so your earthbag walls are not bearing the brunt of the outward pressure.
Picture
Roof trusses by Johann Jaritz - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid=16356071
Here’s nice example of an open gable roof on an earthbag house without trusses, with a wooden bond beam.
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/printedition/news/2017-11-05/earthbag-building-techniques-may-be-the-best-way-to-ensure-disaster-resistant-homes-in-rural-nepal.html

The Independent Roof
Another safe roofing option is to create a roof that stands independently of the earthbag structure, as Gautam and Kim did with theirs in India. You might still want to run a few joists across the top of your earthbag house here to lock it together though.
Picture
So you want a reciprocal roof?
I don’t blame you, reciprocal roofs are beautiful. But…depending on how they are designed, reciprocal roofs can exert outward pressure on your walls, especially if you're using hefty posts. This doesn’t mean you can never put a reciprocal roof on a round earthbag house, however you need to be (or have access to) a reasonably decent carpenter to do it. If you are adding such a roof to a roundhouse, you will need a decent bond beam, and possibly even some buttresses (depending on the size of your roundhouse). Mustafa the carpenter made this gorgeous one in our workshop in Olympos, but there was some very precise measuring and angling of the beams to ensure the roof wasn’t pushing the walls out.
Picture
Mustafa's alternative reciprocal roof.
The link below shows another example of an alternative reciprocal roof on an earthbag house. Notice how this team combined two styles here. While the main structure is reciprocal, a web of rafters has been inserted into each facet of the roof. Those rafters then form the all-important grid through the top of the earthbag wall which locks the whole structure together.
http://mylittlehomestead.com/ep12-undergound-earth-bag-construction-reciprocal-roof-facia-frame-complete.html

Why you don’t want a compression roof
Compression roofs are typically used for yurts. The design of a compression roof means the strength of the roof structure is derived from the compression between an outer ring or wall, and an inner ring. Such a roof is exerting a lot of outward pressure on your earthbag walls.

If you know what you’re doing, there are of course a whole gamut of other wacky and exciting options for earthbag house roofs, and you'll be able to customize many to work for earthbag. But
presumably, if you know all about roof construction, you're not reading this post.
Picture
Compression roof on a yurt. Not a good idea for earthbag.
Do you enjoy The Mud Home?
If you find these articles inspiring or useful please consider joining us on Patreon. Your support pays for the running of this website, my virtual help, and my sustenance. A big thank you to all The Mud Sustainers, and everyone chipping in and keeping these posts and articles coming.
Join us on Patreon
12 Comments
Elzi
29/3/2018 03:32:28 pm

What about a shed roof? This design is also useful for passive solar.

Reply
Atulya
2/4/2018 11:37:03 pm

By shed roof, do you mean a pitched roof or an A-frame roof? Normally shed roofs are A-frame (see the section on angled roofs).

Reply
Liene link
26/9/2018 06:16:32 pm

Looks really cool!

Reply
Randy Chorvack link
16/9/2019 07:53:06 pm

Thank you for saying that you want the pressure going downwards instead of outwards because that'll be the most stable way to build a roof. I'm practicing making earthbag homes so that I can build better ones later, so I think the flat roof is a good place to start. I'll make sure the pressure is going in the right direction.

Reply
Paul Gwilym
4/7/2020 11:31:16 pm

Hi. Thanks for the expert tips. Really useful. On your simple, flat roof (as photographed) where you are not using a bond beam, how are you tying down the roof to the structure? I am building my first earth bag structure and now stuck on how to fix the roof. I would like it to be earth covered, so as long as there is only downward pressure and plenty of support through steel girders, it may not be an issue; however, I have plans for a more substantial construction next. Thanks in advance,

Paul

Reply
Atulya
2/3/2021 11:05:39 pm

Sorry, just saw this Paul. You need pillows or anchors to attach the beams to. These are then nailed into the earthbags. Download my free earthbag PDF for a better illustrated description.

Reply
Bob link
29/12/2020 02:23:34 am

I like your roofing tips. I need new shingles. My shingles are broken.

Reply
Adam Golightly link
2/3/2021 10:44:27 pm

My aunt has been thinking about getting a better roof with some trusses in order to be a lot safer. Making sure that they can get some help from a professional in order to install it could be really useful. It was interesting to learn about how they can have better measuring of the rood in order to make sure that it doesn't push the walls out to add a roof to the area in order to be a lot safer.

Reply
Atulya
2/3/2021 11:07:33 pm

Yes the roof is the most important part of the building, so if in doubt that's the bit to outsource to a pro.

Reply
Johnny Marks link
9/8/2023 11:43:55 am

I'm amazed at the wide range of roof options available for earthbag constructions! This guide has done an excellent job of explaining the various choices and factors to consider. Thank you for shedding light on this essential aspect of earthbag building.

Reply
Rachel T
23/11/2023 07:31:45 pm

Hi, I want to build a flat roofed earthbag house. Can I put a concrete slab roof?

Reply
Shawn
21/12/2023 05:17:15 am

It's possible, but it will slow you down. You could pour a cement floor inside the bags. Because of the weight, I wouldn't extend it under the bags as the foundation. You would have to lay the foundation bags and at least the first above ground layer of bags. You would also want to to allow the layer to cure before you pour the floor.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Many thanks to the Mud Sustainers supporting this site!

    List of Sustainers
    Picture
    Do you find The Mud Home valuable? Please consider supporting the blog on Patreon. For as little as $5 a month you will have access to my exclusive Mud Home Podcast where I give personal updates and answer your questions.
    BENEFITS FOR PATRONS INCLUDE:
    Email priority, exclusive videos, review copies of my books, sneak previews of courses and books, Q and As, priority for courses and more.

    Author

    Atulya K Bingham
    Natural builder and author of Mud Ball.


    Picture
    "Beautifully written and inspiring." The Owner Builder Magazine

    The Mud Building PDFs

    Want the entire Mud Home in PDF format?
    Picture
    See The Mud Building PDFs

    Categories

    All
    Adobe
    Building Codes
    Building With Wood
    Cob
    Composting Toilets
    Earthbag
    Earthbag Mistakes
    Earth Plaster
    Foraging
    Hobbit House
    House Renovation
    Insulating Plaster
    Insulation
    Laying Earthbags Faster
    Limecrete Floor
    Lime Plaster Issues
    Natural Floors
    Natural Roof
    Off Grid
    Permaculture
    Roofing Options
    Stone Houses
    Straw Bale
    Sustainable Building
    Using Lime
    Wattle And Daub
    Yurt

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Join the free Mud Home earth plaster mini course.

    Picture
    All the Mud Home How-to posts have been compiled into a PDF package with 75 articles and over 200 photos. You can still buy it now, and enjoy lifetime access to all the updates.
    PDF Contents

    My latest book is now out!
    Picture
    “Entranced! Be inspired by one who’s lived and breathed dirt.”
    Kim Fraser, Get Rugged
Disclaimer: All the content in The Mud Home website is provided for informational purposes only. The author undertakes no responsibility for any person or entity who chooses to use the information on this website. It is not intended to be a standard and should not substitute for the exercise of good engineering judgment by engineers. It is the user’s obligation to make sure that he/she uses the appropriate practices and consults the appropriate experts when building. It is the user's obligation to make sure they are following health and safety guidelines. The author is not responsible for any accidents, injuries or damages to persons or property incurred while using the information presented in this website.

Some blog articles refer to the use of lime. Please note, lime is caustic and can cause burns. Read The Mud Home guide to using lime safely here.

EARTHBAG BUILDING PDF
EARTH PLASTER GUIDE
BOOKS
Newsletter
About Atulya
Privacy Policy

SUPPORT

Picture
Picture
The Mud Home takes many hours a week to run, and costs a lot to sustain. If you find this site useful or inspiring, please consider supporting it so that it can continue.
Picture

Many thanks to all those who've already become Mud Sustainers.

The Mud Home  Copyright © 2013  Atulya Kerry Bingham
  • Home
  • Building
    • Earthbag >
      • Rubble Trench Foundations
      • Earthbag in Extreme Weather
      • Earthquakes and earthbag
    • Earth Plaster
    • Using Lime
    • Cob
    • Straw Bale
    • Wattle and Daub
    • Inspiration
    • Off-Grid Living >
      • Off-Grid Prep Course
    • Mud Building Blog
  • Books
    • Dirt Witch
    • Mud Ball
    • Mud Mountain The Book
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
  • About
    • Contact
    • Mud Home Facebook Group
  • COURSES
    • ATULYA's In Person Workshops 2025
    • Perfect Earth Plaster Online Course
    • Lime for Beginners Online Course
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
    • The Off-Grid Roadmap
    • Consultation
  • Blogs
    • Mud Home Turkey
    • Barn Life in Spain
  • My Projects
    • The Earthbag Home in Turkey
    • The Barn in Spain