Earthen Touch Builders

12/25/2023

A quick greeting for the holiday season, enjoy!

11/18/2022

We recently were able to design and execute a small bathroom renovation, complete with infrared sauna installation. The goal was to keep the tile budget small but make the room look as elegant as possible. Only one case of large designer tiles were used (7) in the shower, left over cuts worked into the design as much as we were able. We especially like the Italian floor tiles which are a dark blue with a metallic mottled design. The end result exceeded expectations.

04/20/2022

We wrapped this project April 1st south of Santa Fe. An open floor plan with mostly partial interior walls and minimalist touches throughout. The entire house was built using solar panels we luckily have to power our builds, as it took the electric company 15 months (with many gaffes on their end) to hook us up. Covid delays, cost increases and shifts in the building world made this a very challenging build. Our client is happy with the ex*****on of his vision, so all in all - success!

12/23/2021

We hope your holiday season is full of warmth and fun with family and friends. Cheers!

03/30/2021

On our current job we are laying the radiant-in-floor tubing and will be ready to pour the slab in a few days - not the most interesting thing to feature. Instead we will show some photos of a custom curved bathroom cabinet and rustic chic poured cement counter top - designed by the two of us and mostly executed by Norbert. The entire room is curved, so kept as a theme with the detailing. The bathroom is one of our favorites (and happens to be our own). Enjoy.

02/08/2021

As promised, more posts in 2021. Here are some images of a highly insulated stick framed, 200 sq. ft. addition we created last year. The goal was to create a walk-in sun room from the small adobe home which has a cramped and dark living/kitchen area. Favorite parts for us - the turquoise acid stained cement floor, bright lime plasters and installing our custom thick pine wood planks for the window sills and rustic entry shelf for storing gear and shoes. Enjoy!

12/22/2020

Sending out warm wishes to everyone during what remains of the holiday season. We have sadly neglected this page a bit given our busy schedule and promise to post more often in the coming months. Meanwhile, everyone stay safe, remember to be kind to each other and take time to enjoy the holidays as best you can during these freakish times. We look forward to 2021 and imagine we are not the only ones, by far. Cheers!

08/12/2019

We've finally been able to add a new page to our website - giving tips to those considering buying and homesteading on raw land in our area. Over the years we have learned a few things we hope will remove hurdles and help families get through the process as informed as possible. If you are shopping for raw land in New Mexico to call home, you might consider taking a peek. Enjoy!

Suggestions for buying raw land in New Mexico. We get inquiries – sometimes a few each week – from families who see the reasonable raw land prices in New Mexico and are looking to move into our area and build a sustainable dream home from scratch. So much so that we have developed this page …

04/02/2019

We just last week broke ground on a completely off-grid home, with another happening later this year. That makes 3 homes in a row where folks are opting to live as sustainably as they can (2 of them will rely upon water catchment only). The cost of solar has shifted downward very dramatically in the past decade while the popularity continues to rise. Here is an easy 13 pg. PDF - clean energy, mostly solar based primer from the Climate Reality Project which was just issued. A good read for those who are new to solar and want the basics. Enjoy!

03/12/2019

We were updating our website and found some of our favorite plaster images from a few years ago. Featured here are photos of some of our custom plasters and earthen floors. The foundation soil was used for the floor, and we found a delicate green for the walls (which required no extra sand) in an arroyo on the land. It was really fun to contribute to this project as the owners wanted a very unique space, and got it due to allowing all of the contractors (we were subs - the earthen people) to be creative on site.

01/02/2019

Happy 2019 everyone! We are in the process of updating our website with projects completed last year, but in the meantime found the interesting news bit below.

An article about cost comparisons to create Zero Energy homes (and more) in a variety of cities across the U.S. - the study created by the Rocky Mountain Institute. Check the chart, your city might be among them.

…” ZE homes produce or procure as much renewable energy as they consume over the course of a year. ZER homes are designed to achieve ZE levels of efficiency but don’t yet have photovoltaics. We found that the cost increase to build a ZE or ZER home is modest in all four zones, with incremental costs averaging 7.3% for ZE homes and 1.8% for ZER homes — far less than consumers, builders, and policymakers may realize.”

A new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute finds cost parity is nearly a reality in some locations in the U.S.

12/17/2018

As we all enter these busiest days of the holidays, and wrap up this year - we want to pass along Many Thanks - and send out Best Wishes to all. Enjoy!