Building with Earth
(Page 2 of 6)
April/May 2002
By Dan Chiras
Adobe
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Adobe brick home-building is an ancient technique that originated in the Middle East and later spread to Europe. As the Spanish sought riches in the New World, they brought this method with them. Today it is still practiced in Mexico and to a lesser degree in other parts of North America.
Traditional builders use adobe blocks made from a mix of clay-rich soil, sand, straw and water. The mixture is poured into block forms and baked in the sun. A couple of weeks later, the bricks are ready for use.
Like conventional bricks, adobes are laid in a running bond-an overlapping pattern-then mortared in place with adobe mud. For added protection, adobe walls should be finished with an earthen or mud plaster.
Although traditional adobe block-making still reigns in poorer countries, many contemporary adobe builders in North America are substituting machine-made blocks—called pressed earth blocks—for sun-dried adobes.
Pressed earth blocks are stabilized with a little cement and cranked out in a fraction of the time of a traditional adobe brick. This process generates more uniform blocks and makes adobe home construction feasible in wetter climates. Despite these advantages, pressed earth blocks represent industrial production shunned by some in the natural building movement.
There are still many good reasons to continue this centuries-old adobe tradition, besides the general benefits of earthen building mentioned earlier.
Advantages of adobe
• Adobe mud is a widely available, local resource.
• Construction is approved by most building departments.
• For owner-builders traditional adobe is inexpensive and a fairly low-skill job.
Disadvantages
• Building is time-consuming and labor intensive.
• If labor costs are high, adobe home construction can be quite expensive.
• Traditional adobe block construction requires adequate drying periods, and thus might not be suitable for wetter, colder climates.
English Cob
When I first heard a natural builder mention cob homes, I immediately began to wonder: How in the world do people make homes out of corn cobs?
They don't. Cob is an Old English word meaning a lump or rounded mass. Cob homes are mud-walled buildings, made from rounded masses of clay-rich dirt stacked on foundations by hand, then kneaded and shaped to produce smooth surfaced walls.
Cob builder Becky Bee, author of The Cob Builder's Handbook, likens cob construction to "hand-sculpting a giant pot to live in." Unlike clay pots, though, the walls of cob rooms are thick-4 to 24 inches- strong and durable. When the cob mix dries, it takes on the hardness of sandstones.
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