[Greenbuilding] Earth-berming an existing home

[Kat]

Earth-berming an existing wood-framed brick veneer wall?  Sounds 
nightmarish.  Sounds like you're trying to rot or collapse the house 
(which I know you are not).

Mainly I agree with Nick - you're trying to make a retaining wall out of 
something that isn't.  You've got this little transition where the CMU 
foundation wall meets the wood wall, which retaining walls never have.  
Retaining walls are continuous from above grade down through to the 
bottom.  I'm guessing that transition is a hinge point, and if you put 
enough pressure on that wall it'll buckle at that point.

I don't even like Nick & Rob's ideas of building a wall next to the 
wall. I just can't believe you wouldn't discover later that at some 
point it got wet, didn't dry fast enough, and rotted everything out.  
And don't you live in a fairly warm and humid climate?  Wouldn't you end 
up with condensation on the inside of the brick from the moisture vapor 
from inside the house combined with the cooling effect of the 
concrete/dirt outside?  Ick.

I would insulate based on whatever they recommend for a brick veneer 
wall assembly in your area at www.buildingscience.com and skip the earth 
berm.

-Kat

RT wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:37:19 -0400, Leslie Moyer <unschooler at lrec.org> 
> wrote:
>
>> Can anyone point me to some information on what would be involved in 
>> berming an existing above-grade home?  We have a typical 70's era 
>> brick ranch home.
>
> Morely;
>
> I'd suggest simply outsulating the existing structure (to get the 
> thermal insulation benefit that berming up against the brick veneer 
> might have provided but without the horrific problems) and build a 
> window sill-height retaining wall just inside of the drip line of the 
> eaves (hoping that you have good,wide eaves... 3 ft or more) to get 
> the "earth berm" aesthetic, if that is a look that you were after.
>
> The ground between the retaining wall and the house should be provided 
> with drainage  in addition to providing a drainage layer/tile on the 
> berm side of the retaining wall.
>
> Then you install a Green Roof to complete the "look" and "Voila!" no 
> more 70's ranch home.