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I have a 1958 kit built ranch house with no insulation. It has vertical cedar siding that could stand to be replaced. I would really like to earth berm at least 3/4 up the walls and install a living roof. My question is, would it be possible to put up a concrete wall around the house leaving a gap and then pile dirt against the wall. Would it be worth even considering? The second option is to install concrete log siding with a metal roof. Any thoughts or ideas? Thank you in advance.
27 Aug ’14
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Hi Wayja, welcome to the board!
Do you have any sheathing beneath your siding? I would not recommend building a wall like a fence and then filling the gap between your house and the wall because siding could not support the load and it would rot. Though I'm not sure how or if it's possible, you would likely need to pour a wall against your existing siding, much like a retaining wall, and then build up the soil at an angle no greater than 40degrees.
When you say living roof, are you referring to a green roof with some form of vegetation? While i definitely recommend this, the structure must have been designed for what amounts to a significant load on the roof. Personally i would install exterior insulation between the roof decking and the metal roof to get the best bang for your buck.
15 Feb ’12
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welcome Wayja, I agree with icanreachit, I would go with the second option
27 Aug ’14
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KVR, do you think that you could use your sheathing as half of the form for pouring the concrete? I would be concerned about blow out at a certain height.
Wayja, another thing that i forgot is that you will need to waterproof the concrete before building up the berm.
Any photos?
15 Feb ’12
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yes, you can use sheathing, just need to back brace it enough
my biggest concern with the first option is the house wasn't designed for those kind of loads, especially for an earthen roof. Could it be done? Yes, but the amount of money it would take to strengthen the structure would be so cost prohibitive it would be better and cheaper to just build a new house.
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