Rammed Earth is a redicovered ancient technique of building. Walls are formed by pounding a mixture of soil, cement, and water into reusable forms using pneumatic tampers. The resulting house is extremely efficient, owner friendly (basically no maintenance) and a house unlike any other in terms of beauty and stability. It is this mixture which Rammed Earth building uses, along with the pounding, compacting work done by men and pneumatic tampers that makes incredibly strong, efficient, beautiful to look at homes. Earth & Sun Construction can offer Frame/Stucco, Adobe, and any Custom Alterations your heart desires. Earth & Sun Construction has been building here in New Mexico since 1980 and we have the experience and know how to handle any job in the state. We take pride in each home built with our technique and expect every home to be a new and exciting event for both us and you the owner. Each home is tweaked and fine tuned until everything is just the way you want it.
While building you the highest quality home available, these are some of the features included in all our homes, and of course as mentioned before, you can add just about any custom idea you have as well.
Men at work constructing walls of a Rammed Earth Home.
Building a Rammed Earth Home takes skill and ensures a quality house that will be around longer than imaginable, and will survive any elements mother nature throws it's way.
What Rammed Earth Houses Offer You
- 18-36", Rammed Earth walls Virtually Maintenance free Termite proof Fire proof (lower homeowners insurance) Energy efficient, healthy living area solar oriented designs Environmentally friendly
- Custom interior and exterior texture
What is the longest you would expect a house to last,
in liveable condition?
Rammed Earth Homes last as long as 600 years!!!
Below is a comparison between Rammed Earth, Adobe, 2x6 Construction and Strawbale. Please look over this information carefully and you will see for yourself the advantages of building with Rammed Earth Construction.
| 2x6 Frame |
Adobe |
Strawbale |
Rammed Earth |
| Wall Thickness |
6 in. |
6 in. |
22-28 in. |
18-36 in. |
| Maintenance |
High |
Low |
Moderate |
Low |
| Fire Resistance |
Fair |
High |
Fair |
Very High |
Pest/Bug
Resistence |
Very Low |
Moderate |
Low |
Very High |
| Energy Efficiency |
Fair |
High |
Moderate |
Very High |
| Thermal Mass |
Very Low |
Moderate |
Low |
Very High |
| Building Style |
Very Versatile |
Southwest |
Versatile-thick look |
Versatile-thick look |
State Building
Type |
Standard |
Standard |
Alternative |
Standard |
| Durability |
75-125 yrs. |
75-200 yrs. |
Unknown |
200-600 yrs. |
| Acoustic Ability |
Very Low |
High |
Moderate |
Very High |
Ability to Stop
High Velocity Projectile |
Very Low |
High |
Moderate |
Very High |
| Temp. Variance Floor to Ceiling Fahrenheit |
8-12 |
2-3 |
8-12 |
2-3 |
|
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