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GO TO OUR BROCHURE PAGE CLICK HERE 

When starting a project, we always tell our design clients, 

#1 take a deep breath. 

#2 let's begin by you imagining, just what your idea of a home is, from the moment you drive up to the edge of your land right up to the point you get home. Describe everything you see in your mind's eye, from the entrance of your driveway, up to your gatehouse, the landscaping between those two points, then the landscaping around your gatehouse, then the approach road to your home. 

How will the driveway traverse through your dream landscape, are there old large plantings, understory plantings, flowerbeds, riding fields, bridges, fishing ponds and then the house. It will appear from the approach road, only to disappear and be seen again, just as you cross the front lawns gate and then the home is then fixed within your gaze, right in front of you down the driveway. On to the center of the building's main facade, around to the motor pool, park and walk past layers of house, the glass the drapes and the plantings up the sidewalk, containers, in ground & more. On to your door past the artwork that embraces your idea and the homes motto and into your new home. 

See the views from within, the foyer, the plantings within, fish splashing in the fish bowl, into the living hall, gazing into the rooms on the halls either side, through the living room, into the family room, over to your office, your formal dining hall, the family dining room, the kitchen and from each window, all the views that leads your eyes to your landscape, and the lawns in-between, the party areas, the pool, and more. 

Now write down your vision, list those things you have conjured and we will draw a bubble plan of what we understand, work with you to plan it, just to get it right, and all the while - helping you with the details to get all the flows right and then when you are ready, we can if the project is right for both of us , come make all that happen and hand you the keys when we are done. Or, if you wish we will even teach you how to do it all yourself at a Georgia Adobe Ecoitecture™ Building Seminar. ​

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General Information

Consultation Is The Place To Start Your Next Building

Initial Consultation Charge :  $125 for 30 minutes $250. per hour

WE PREFER THE PHONE 706-363-6453 for the 1st so neither of us must travel,  , BUT WILL TRY EMAILS IN SELECT CASES, ( HEARING PROBLEMS ETC )  

Project Site Visits, Training Sessions At Your Location or Speaking Engagement Charges

We want to work from our offices when possible as we have what we need here to work from, therefore charge a minimum of a full 8 hour day is required for "every day"  

out of our GA  office including any travel time or days charged to our clients at the normal Business class airfare cost available in Georgia 
plus all Round trip ground transportation cost to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport ( averages $400.+)
The Host provides us a car and sometimes a driver for our round trip ground transportation, in the host’s city , including our airport pick up's,  plus Local accommodations,  at a pre- agreed to hotel,  shall also be provided by the host.

A 50% deposit, to reserve project visits or speaking engagements is required !

The entire remaining balance is due into our offices at a minimum of 30 days before our departure, to your project or event.

The consultation rate for our answering of any questions, you may have regarding your site, for example:

* As to if (or how) a Georgia Adobe™ structure would or could work, in your situation and in your climate,

*  Just how you get started details,

* For our answers to your code questions,

* For any building plans verbal or drawn and/or

* Any systems recommendations and /or

* The plans for the same, or other facility

* Remodeling and retrofit questions, and

We will tap all our years of experience ( 50 years experience for our Founder ) and our other professional level resources , and our available keyhole data , so as to provide you with our best answers. We have the capability to send full drawings with façades and elevations shown as graphics of your structure by US mail and by email as well as to exchange both voice, text and email conversations with you, and through social media at these same fees. We can also produce a construction model if required for more detailed views.  

We accept CASH Payments, when at our office. Sorry no personal or company checks accepted and Bank transfers have additional charges.

If you decide that you are interested in Georgia Adobe’s™ services for Consultation or Construction Services, including all Commercial, Residential, Industrial Agricultural Structures or Exhibits space creations, all the way to a beautiful and final landscaping of your grounds and even help with your Furniture and Equipment choices, designs and/or custom built Furniture delivered and installed, including an infrastructure to be independent of any utility connections, the best way to make use of our talents, research and skills is to hire us for a 30 minute consultation.

Only $125.00 See link at the top of this page. 

Our work is based upon the common and standard building practices of Rammed Earth And Adobe Construction and per the Georgia Adobe™  building concept, but is not warranted to meet all specific or local codes of any area ( except for the World Model™ Georgia Adobe™  , which are as much as 50% higher than our standard work, due to a lot of additional work to meet those goals ) and further changes, as may be required , to keep the client's project  compliant with, specific government oversight or regulations, will cost more in various work outputs, therefore an additional charge may be required. 

Though we may suggest certain paths to follow , for example any electric, septic, wells, landscaping, setback and general site design plan , it's the responsibility of the Project Engineer, Architect and or General Contractor, ( and not Georgia Adobe™ )  to make sure this project or portion thereof, can work before beginning construction. 

Our Work Provided Will Be For :

A Limited License For 1 specific client to build, 1 specific structure per original plan set,  and all further use of those work products would be fee based and require the purchase of a new Limited License to build another Georgia Adobe™ structure from.
       

Step 1: Presenting the Concept

If your particular location, state or county, has not already approved a Georgia Adobe™  Home concept, ( And, as that the US is a large area, that IS HIGHLY LIKELY ) , we would suggest if you have chosen to build in a location that the government is in your business, and  you must present the concept to the government employee in charge of permitting and approvals,  ( do this only when permitting is required ) Then there are certain things we will suggest in the consultation phase that you should say and things you should not say. As always, we recommend every builder skip building anywhere that government employees approval is required , as that it will just cost you more money & time to explain things they have no business knowing. If you can't do this be prepared for the extra cost involved, as this and other articles herein this website, explain.

 Remember this, Georgia Adobe™ can advise you all the way through any project,  

We have documents that will help this process to become much easier for you, so as to present the Governments employees and planning departments with documents that can help you to get the permits needed,  to build a Georgia Adobe™ Home and we can always help you,  with the redesign of anything to meet and exceed all specific governmental building codes, but you as the DIY building owner and/or General Contractor, may find some of your planning, permitting, and final construction expenses, may be slightly higher than any conventional construction and the chosen materials could become limited, due to government being involved, to much more conventional construction materials than alternative materials, because of any government "over" regulation, and based upon the IBC and what is understood by that government employee, so as to be correct "conventional materials". This is the price "we all pay" to have governments in control of our lives ! ( MORE ON THIS BELOW ! ) 

Never underestimate the corporations influences of the IBC. and the path of least resistance, will always financially benefit you, the DIY builder.

Take A Look At The Georgia Adobe™ Brochure PAGE 

General Info About Plans And Permits

Presented below and on other pages is FREE how-to info, JUST for those that can't hire us to assist their project. Use it for non-commercial use only, to further your education. For those that would like to hire us for assistance, start your new project with a consultation of just 30 minutes on the phone, to see how we can help you for just $125. per half hour. Pay through our PAYPAL account sales@georgiaadobe.com
As soon as we can verify your payment, we will begin your consultation time. 
Contact Georgia Adobe, so we can initiate our services for your new project. Dial 706-363-6453 

​2 NEW ARTICLES: 01-2024 

WHERE TO BUILD ?  http://www.georgiaadobe.com/where-to-build.html

UNDERGROUND OR EARTH SHELTERED ? LEARN MORE HERE >  http://www.georgiaadobe.com/earth-sheltered-or-underground-.html

​​Let us try and break down, what we could do for you just a bit:
Option A:
#1 Design work is but one phase of any project and we do it for our consultation clients even though we are not licensed as architects nor designers by governments anywhere. We can work with those that are if the project warrants it 

#2 Site consideration also takes some study, of which you could do that part (Site Review) .

#3 The actual mental digesting, on our part, of what the client actually wants, then incorporated into a list, that we can review - over and over as we work for you, so we get it right is another phase.

#4 Then a Bubble plan is drawn. This just gives you the homeowner, a loose overview drawing of the basic floor layout, facade views etc.

#5 After this has your approval, then the plans can be drawn to build from, then often a plan review by govt. maybe required if you are building where this is required.

#6 Final plans are drawn & delivered BY ONE OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS, & this person varies depending upon regulations and country we are asked to perform work in. This varies but is an average base of $2,500. for a 2-bedroom 1 bath living room kitchen with a Georgia Adobe™ Wintergarden™ across the front, (per set of original building plans including 4 copies) and up depending on the above steps and as detailed here on our web page, the buildings size, finishing details, any assistance or outside labor required to produce that work, ETC. including Any work drawn upon from outside our company staff, for example Architects in your state, or engineering stamps (as may be required by your local government) or any outside assistance and references required for us to draw the plans and present them to you as complete, is in addition to this base cost of $2500. minimum per plan set and the larger the structure or more unique, the more the plans cost.  IE. Custom Cost More!  Also, It is not odd for construction final plans to cost $5,000. or more because of the works requirements. We will have to discuss all of this with you and come up with the price for your house as another house likely won't cost the same as yours does, unless it's all very much the same, "Standard ".

 Hire Georgia Adobe™ to build for you. We are not licensed general contractors (G/C), We have G/C's available and that adds costs to your project, for some people, the homeowner may need to act, as the G/C, but we can do the work ( and we will hand walk you through it when you have to pull permits etc. ) , and when it's all broken out into separate contracted parts, and this is a perfectly acceptable norm, in the construction business.

The Average cost to build a Georgia Adobe Home™ is projected to be equal to greater than conventional construction cost (all due to cost being partially a local skilled labor issue) and one of extra possible government inspections and government education, about what is being done as masonry construction. If some inspector is skilled in this knowledge, the work will go quicker be and likely less to be more expensively than conventional construction.

Georgia Adobe™ generally does not come out and build small single-family homes any longer, due to manpower issues. Unless the project is a Very Large One, due to the cost of training a crew to build structures as required you the owner may need to take on the role of general contractor and hire local labor to build for you from our plans.   

If we are hired as the builder, we average $250. + and up per square foot for basic Labor and Materials (And All Depending Upon the Finishing) .

Option B

We are seeking other builders to become licensed by us, to build for us, but this is a developing process, and you should inquire as to what is available where you live at by dialing 706-363-6453.

Georgia Adobe Homes™  Are Built From Rammed Earth To Become the Strongest Home Possible. Earthen Homes are the way 70% of the planet's homes are built. We started out making Adobe Bricks which are actually In the International Building Code and are "Traditionally" hand made from 70% Sand and 30% Clay.  Adobe Brick, Cob & Rammed Earth are all are made from the same materials (yet cob varies widely and is less favorable), but of the 3 methods, Rammed Earth Is The Stronger Formula than the others, containing the same sand and clay a slight amount of moisture and compaction making this all natural and a faster better process, by far preferred by most inspectors, that learn what to look for in "Masonry Construction"!  

Georgia Adobe™ Presents Public Information and Our Opinion, For Use by The Owner Builder of Our Brand of Structures 
Our structures are built of Earthen basic materials (Clay & Sand) and become energy systems for the heating and cooling of the structure due to their wall thickness. where we build for our clients final Plans, Building Codes, Construction Permits are a job of the homeowner that we build for, but we can assist with all this quite easily, as we know how.

The International Building Code (IBC) is currently the set of regulations all must conform to 
when regulated by government. This was agreed to and accepted by the US Govt. through treaty 
with the United Nations. We make every attempt to draw plans based upon conforming with these demands when possible.   

Mortgage Company’s kind of control the flow of loans to construction projects, by their choice of what they feel comfortable with visually and in balance with community standards.

If funds are needed, lenders often require all the structures to conform to the same IBC. Therefore, the buildings codes and lending institutions have basically exerted a control upon the type of housing, that is going to be built or perhaps even made available to the world. 

For some projects, building permits and financing often must be obtained prior to the building of any new construction. If, the design must be proven to the building inspector's office (and perhaps to the bankers too) cost can rise.  As that inspectors are employees of the controlling government, charged with upholding the "IBC". they are not, paid to take any risks, on new ideas, as they are just paid to enforce the existing laws, (as they understand them). Consequently, they go by the existing written rules of conventional construction practices, all based upon this IBC. regardless 
of any other issues, that may be obvious to the public, all just to make sure they don't lose their jobs, because of a neglect of code.

Now, anyone understanding the massive amount of chemicals in modern building materials, including (OSB.) oriented strand board , Plywood and particle board composite materials, such as may be used in sub-flooring and imitation hardwood flooring and/or other building materials, would think that these materials would have never been allowed into a home, but the reverse has taken place, but due to government agreements that become laws and a Selection of government employees from people, once employed by the very transnational building and chemical corporations, manufacturing modern building materials has helped put certain building materials into play too.
 
To further complicate these matters, certainly when an alternative construction methodology is chosen, banking institutions do not normally approve loans for alternative construction, as that - what they may perceive as new ideas, are not understood by their appraisers, who rely upon the IBC. Nor is this new form of construction understood by most government employees, as methods approved for new construction. 

This means you might find, that getting a loan difficult for a non-conventional structure,

without at the least some local government re-education and appraiser reeducation too, may prove difficult, before gaining a banker's approval. My opinion? Do It Without Them!

Banks normally have but 1 objective, make a safe profit for the bank and for homes, to be sure that a secure a lien on the property, at a price low enough for their easy resale, so as to cover themselves in the case of your default. Since 2007, lenders have become more difficult to work with and gaining approval for any loans, let alone those not known as resalable by the appraiser or as conforming to IBC will be difficult to finance. 

Additionally, banks almost always stick to things that have a proven track record of resell value, regardless of whether they are appropriate for the clients, or better for the community and/or better the environment in general. They are never your friends, they are just pawn brokers in fine suits, so leave them out of the equation, by building an affordable Georgia Adobe™ structure, in a better location (that has fewer restrictions), yourself,

instead of settling for a conventional building, that may cost you a fortune to operate! 

Simply put, Conventional structures, often cost more financially in total and also environmentally, since they use energy as though you owned a utility company! 

What if you must build, where government controls construction?

Reference your individual personal freedoms as per the 1st and 14th amendments to the US Constitution is one method that may work, if you are willing to back that assertion of freedom up with legal force. A study of that document and all it entails do one some good and the legal self-study course referenced at the top, on joewoodall.com upon the 2023 archives page.

The (IBC) also has a clause that allows local governments to allow for “Alternative Methods” ,

not covered in that document. It essentially states that alternative methods must 
meet the local requirements and the standards of those presented in the IBC. Search Adobe Bricks in that document.

Where government interactions happen, your objective would therefore be, to simply illustrate how the Georgia Adobe™ Home, meets and/or exceeds the standards put forth in the IBC. and this can be done & we can help you with documentation, meeting the IBC's standards. 

Every state and county in the US (and perhaps the world for that matter), has a different policy

on how building approvals are handled and each government regulating the same,  

has the power to interpret alternative methods as they see fit.

This means that if you find a favorable government, you're in luck, but remember, if one government 
agency approves something, it does not necessarily mean that, the next one will. 

No one has rejected a Georgia Adobe™ structure yet, but some locations, have been more difficult

than others to deal with. Thus, your first step should be to find out how your local regulating agency

operates, whether or if they have a permit process and/or building inspections and find out

about those inspections (of what exactly they are) , and then you will know if and to whom you 
should go to present the Georgia Adobe™ Home concept and to and what to bring to that meeting.

The World Model™ Georgia Adobe™ Planned Home, takes all these code factors into account and the plans for the same are drawn with conventional materials chosen where correct, though not chemically laden and fuming materials are chosen, to be a part of a Georgia Adobe™ plan.  Thus, no plywood or, manufactured materials past the inert natural ones, are drawn in which include a use of lesser amounts of concrete than conventional structures will use, and this is drawn into the new home plan.

The use of Portland Cement which is kind of “Green” just because in of its a long-term use,

is used sparingly, but this also allows your compliance in strict areas, with IBC and 

permitting about anywhere where alternative materials won't do, thus the word "Masonry" to describe this form of construction applies. 

When you are in a situation of governmental overreach and controll, the purchase of the

World Model™ Georgia Adobe™ plan, should save the builder from additional common

permitting problems and/or actual building problems, that could extend 
from alternative construction when used in conventional areas, as that the base materials

can all be conventional and allowed by the IBC and these plans come with the added cost of Architectural stamps and engineering stamps too = both of which are expensive.

One factor to also remember is that: A Georgia Adobe™ Home can be designed to be built

about anywhere else that governments don't get in your way; this will save the homeowner thousands of dollars; and also, when built in stages, those additional sections or slices of the total could be crafted, just as you have the funds or needed permissions to do so. 

As the Johnny Cash Song went:

“One piece at a time”, can apply here accurately.  

If you retain within your head all, but required information to be discussed, that you must give out, the possibilities of a Georgia Adobe™ Home being built where govts. are in your way are better. It's a building concept and method long used, but less conversation might not hurt your chance of approvals, and this gives you an advantage, until you are required to

present them every detail, perhaps when you are in a better position, to defend their next objection.

After all, if someone comes into a permitting office,

one that only knows positive things about regular old conventional construction

and they only know negative things about alternatives in construction methods 
and you were to say to them that you want to build your own home, 
(perhaps if you are clearly not a skilled builder)

and were asking to not be required to meet codes or even be required 
to use conventional materials, nor to hook up to the public utilities already in place,

as you are going to make your own (Power, Water Etc.), and that you will collect rainwater

and snowmelt to drink, plus reuse some of that as Greywater, up to 4 additional times, 

well past the initial use in your quest of growing of vegetables, fish and other plants, therefore
you only need the smallest sewage discharge tank & drain line system designed,  

plus, you are building with Earth and Recycled materials like

bottles, soda cans, used, tires and recycled materials - 

Well, the reception initially – may not be a favorable one! 

Purchase 30 minutes of consultation on your project by contacting us.

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