APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

M.BHUVANASUNDAR
SUNDARSUNDARAM ARCHITECTS
MUD ARCHITECTURE
Between twenty and thirty million families in our country do not have anything
like your living accommodation and these 20 odd million families do not have
anything that can even remotely be called a home or a house or even a hut.

Unfortunately these days so many of us think that we can only build “properly”
and “satisfactorily” by using such items as reinforced concrete, cement blocks,
burnt bricks, etc. But equally unfortunately the manufacture of steel and
cement for reinforced concrete is now called “energy intensive”. An enormous
amount of energy that is some sort of fuel-is used to manufacture these so-
called essential materials. Furthermore we do not really have enough cement to
go round and quite large quantities are imported, Although bricks are made of
mud, we burn or bake them to make bricks. In many parts of the country; to do
this, we use firewood to make the bricks hard and strong.
Mud may be old fashioned is a plus point - it has tested and tried over thousands
of years whereas concrete has been in circulation for less than a hundred years,
but it could be successfully used even for the best houses, and, indeed, if all of us
are to go into 21st century with a roof over our 700-800 million heads we will only
be able to do it if we put mud into its rightful status.
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APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

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what is very-very important is to stress the fact that if properly and neatly and
expertly finished, the resulting looks can be -5 star.
Rich or Poor, Lower, Middle or Upper Class, will come to understand and accept
the fact that mud is a reasonable, acceptable, strong, durable, basic building
material that has stood the test of hundreds, if not even thousands of years of
time.

MUD WALLS MUST BE WHAT DOES A MUD HOUSE THIS ALSO IS A MUD AND THIS TOO CAN BE A
PROTECTED FROM HOUSE MUD HOUSE(AND YES IT
LOOK LIKE?
WATER
IS THIS THE SORT OF IS MULTI-STORIED AND
PICTURE THAT COMES TO HAS A CONCRETE ROOF)
YOUR MIND

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APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

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One of the greatest problems to face during the next fifty years is that of Energy-fuel-
Power. The pressure of this problem will be less if we can make use of energy free
materials as much as possible. One of India’s major tasks is to provide homes for at
least 25 million families who have no home. If we are to build with burnt bricks and
concrete and steel etc. we add to this vast energy problem, and to the overall cost of
housing 25 million families. If only we will apply our twentieth century know-how and
techniques to our Age-old mud, we can solve this housing need without adding to this
Energy Problem. So don’t just say, “Mud is old fashioned”. You can make it the latest
fashion-mod mud.
All over the country mud of some sort or other is found. Even if the surface soil is
unsuitable for wall building, there may be suitable mud beneath. Or by adding stabilizers
your mud may be made suitable.
So the ideal is to find mud on your own site. If this is not possible, bring it from as short a
distance as possible, or find the nearest stabilizer available and then you only have to
transport that to your site.
Don’t forget that you may not find your ideal building soil visible on the ground surface.
If you dig pits you will see the various strata of different soils one below another. A
typical hole often shows a top layer of useless building organic soil but below it perhaps
a layer of sand, and below that perhaps a bed of clay.
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4
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So do not decide that your land is useless for mud wall making until you have dug a few
pits and seen what is underneath. A mixture of the soil from two or three of these
submerged strata often results in an ideal wall building Combination mud.
REMOVE THE TOP SOIL
Remove the top soil. Dig a pit and see that there are different layers of soil -
on top is organic soil full of decaying leaves and fiber. Below it is sand and
even below it is clay. You cannot use the top layers of organic soil for wall
building - so remove it in heaps. Excavate the sand and clay for building your
walls. When you have finished the work you can replace the organic soil for
growing plants.

DIFFERENT SORTS OF SOIL

We usually talk of five varieties of soil. Gravel: Small pieces of stone varying from the size of a pea to that of an egg.
If you soak what you think is gravel for 24 hours in a bucket of water, and if it disintegrates, it is not gravel. Sand:
Similar small pieces of stone (usually quartz), which are small than a pea but each grain, are visible to the eye. Silt:
The same as sand except that it has been ground so finely that you cannot see individual grains. Clay: Soils that stick
when wet - but very hard when completely dry. Some of these clays shrink when they dry and expand when wet, but
there are also clays, which do not shrink at all. Organic Soil: Soil mainly composed of rotting, decomposing organic
matters such as leaves, plants add vegetable matter. It is spongy when wet, usually smells of decaying matter, is dark
in colour and usually damp. Mixtures: Usually these various types of soi1 are found mixed together, rather than in
isolation. We describe them as mixtures such as “sandy clay”, “clayey gravel:’ and so on. We must also be particular
in these descriptive mixtures to indicate which variety predominates. For example “Sandy Gravel” means that there
is a larger proportion of gravel in which a smaller amount of sand is mixed. Whereas “Gravely Sand” means that it is
mainly sand with some gravel also mixed in it!
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USABILITY OF DIFFERENT SOILS

Gravel: alone is of no use for mud wall building - the tiny lumps of stone have nothing to bind them together. Sand:
similar to gravel, it is of no use for wall making by itself - but if mixed with clay, i.e. sandy clays or clayey sands, it is the
ideal mud wall building soil. Silt: by itself is also no good for building walls. It will hold together but is not strong.
Furthermore, it will not compact so it is also of no use for pressed blocks or rammed earthwork. Clay: can be rammed
or compressed but in drying out they often shrink. During the monsoon they get damp and expand again and crack
form. Laterite: is also a type of clay, which contains red iron or aluminum material. It is strong and stable and is cut out
of the ground in blocks and hardens further when stacked and exposed to the air. It is of course a first class building
material and we usually think of it as a stone. It is wise to follow local traditional opinions about clays and laterites.
There is some clay which have proved to be unsatisfactory as building material and over many centuries local people
have learned to avoid these particular unsuitable clays. Organic Soils: are mainly useless for wall building. A reliable
rule is that if a soil as good for growing plants in, it is not good for building walls with. Mixtures: Find out which soils
are contained in the mixture and then the usability depends on the proportion of the various types of soil listed above.
Always look at the old buildings in your district and see for yourself the types of soil that have been used, durability, or
shortcomings of these old buildings.
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SIMPLE SOIL TESTS
Of course proper soil testing can be done, but if you yourself want to know the building possibilities
of the soil on your site you can find out quite a lot from simple tests. Better still is to go round your
locality and see and ask about the mud that other people have already used for building their
houses. You may find in many districts homes of mud that are seventy or eighty years old. The results
of their “soil testing” are convincingly there for you to see.

THE CIGAR TEST

Roll a small handful of-soil (to which just enough water has been added to
make it stick together) into a cigar or Sausage shape. Now with the thumb
and forefinger squeeze the end of the cigar until; it is about a quarter of an
inch thick and go on squeezing and pushing it out of your palm to see how
long it is before it breaks off and it falls to the floor.
1. If it just falls to pieces and cannot be shaped and pushed out it is too
sandy and has practically no clay content at all. So it will only-be usable if you
add a stabilizer to it, or get some clay and mix it in with the sandy soil.
2. If you can squeeze about two or three inches before it drops off, it means
that there is sufficient clay in the sand and it will probably make a good
building mud.
3. If you can go on squeezing and pushing it out until it is eight or nine inches
long, it means that it is mainly clay and you will have cracking and shrinking
problems unless sand or the right stabilizers are added.
Naturally gravels will not stick together and you cannot even make a cigar
and, similarly there is no point in testing organic soils as they are no use for
building t’ work even if you can make a cigar with them. But don’t forget the
organic soil may be only a surface layer and good building soil may be
underneath it.

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THE BISCUIT TEST
After moistening your soil, make a small fat “biscuit” shape (about 1/4" thick and
2" in diameter). Put it to dry thoroughly in the sun.
1. If when dry it crumbles to pieces and can hardly be picked up, or if you can
crumble it easily with your fingers, then it will not be a good building material
without stabilizers. 2. If you can break it into pieces without much difficulty, hut it
takes some pressure to crumble it between your fingers - then it will probably be
a good wall building mud. 3. If it is hard and difficult to break, or if it breaks with a
snap like an over baked biscuit, and you cannot powder it, it will be useless
unless with stabilizers or unless a sandy soil is mixed with it.

THE HANDWASHING TEST

Play about with your moistened soil until you are thoroughly dirty and then wash your
hands clean. 1. If you are quickly clean with no effort it means that you were playing with
loose sand, which by itself will not be a good mud wall material. 2. If it takes a little time to
get clean and you feel as though you are getting rid of flour (Atta or Maida) and there is a
powdery feel - it means you are playing with silt. You can use it only if you add stabilizers. 3.
If you feel that you are using soap and your wet hands are slippery and it takes some time to
get clean, you are washing off clay, and again, this will be no use for building without adding
sand. Very often the soils are already mixed - so you can feel the gritty sand as well as the
soapy slippery clay in “sandy clay” or “clayey sand”. This will mean you have a good building
mud.
COLOUR You can get quite a lot of information and indications of good or bad mud
from the color of the mud. Deep yellow, orange and red, ranging to deep rich browns
indicates iron content and almost certainly this will mean you have a good building mud.
Clays often have a grayish or dull fawn color ranging down to dirty white. Dull browns
with a slightly greenish color indicate too much organic matter.

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STABILISERS
When a material is week, or if used on its own it
tends to collapse. We say it is not stable. Some
types of soil like gravel, sand, silt on their own,
are not stable and we cannot build a wall with
them. This does not mean they are useless. We
can remedy their particular defect by adding
something that will make them stable. That is,
strong and capable of holding together when shaped into a block or a wall. These extra
“something” we call stabilizers. In these times, most people think of cement when we say that the
mud needs a stabiliser but you must remember that long living mud walled houses have been used
all over the world for thousand of years, whereas our modern “Portland Cement” was only
“invented” in this twentieth century. Our forefathers, by trial and error, had found many stabilizers
and the better ones have lived on, century after century and we are very foolish if we do not learn
from their inherited knowledge and “know-how”. Cement, as we have just pointed out, is a
modern contemporary stabiliser. It is good in most circumstances but there is always the question
of availability, cost, and the excessive use of energy in its production, etc. More particularly it is
difficult to give precise proportions or quantities. For example, if we write that a proportion of 5%
stabilizers to the soil is needed, that means one part of cement and 19 parts of soil. So if you need
100 cubic meters of mud for your house, you will need five cubic meters of cement. But if you-have
the patience and interest to make preliminary tests on your soil, you may find that all your
particular mud needs to make it stable is 2% of cement and you will only need 2 cubic meters of
cement. This is a difference between 125 bags of cement and only 50 bags
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4
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Anything between 3% and 12% of cement may be needed for very
sandy or very clayey soils. The average needs is usually about 4%
or 5%. However, keep off cement unless there is no other
alternative.
Lime, on the other hand, is made from the same basic material as
cement, but is thousands of years old, can be manufactured
almost anywhere, on the spot, for a fraction the energy and cost of
cement and is a first class stabiliser for mud. Slaked or un-slaked
lime is both acceptable but slaked lime will give less trouble to the
workers hands and feet. Again, the quantity of stabiliser depends
on the quality of your soil mix. A lot of sand or a lot of clay means
a lot of stabiliser. Lime can be used between 2% and 6%. Usually a
3% mixture is sufficient. A special point about lime and cement
stabilizers is that you may need hardly any stabiliser from the
strength and stability point of view, but your mud may easily
absorb any dampness or moisture. So in such cases very often only
a small amount of stabiliser is enough to prevent this damp
absorption. Another point is that often a mixture of Lime and
Cement is good especially where you want to build quickly. Lime
sets slowly but the addition of a little cement speeds up the
settling time. For such mixtures, 2% of lime and 1% of cement is
often adequate.
LIME
Lime probably is the most used stabiliser. It is made by burning
shells and lime stones in a mud kiln.

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RURAL STABILISERS
Traditional building has used many other stabilizers. There is a list of common,
well-tried ones:
Straw: There is no chemical quality about this stabiliser. In clay soils the straw
seems to minimize cracking, and in blocks the presence of straw tends to make
the damp blocks more handalable. Similar to straw, people in different areas
use chaff (bhusa) and various fibers.
Cow Dung often contains a lot of fibrous material and traditionally is often
used in all sorts of mud work.
Urine is also used. Probably this is because of the urea content and the urea
acts as a ‘binder’ - a sort of glue.
Gum Arabic and other gums and resins are used, also as binders and water
proofing agents.
Sugar and molasses is used. The crude waste jaggery is a binder and it often
contains fibrous materials, which is also useful.
Tannic Acid and its wastes, used in other rural industries has proved often to
be a good stabiliser.
Oil is used. In such places as Kerala - coconut oil was used, mainly with the
intention of water proofing the surface of mud walls. Almost any oil is useful in
this way and the modern counterpart is waste engine oil or sump oil. This
works well as a waterproofing in cement concrete as well as in mud walling.
PLANT JUICES Stabilizers from plant juices: sisal, cacti etc.
Many plants have sticky white sap, as from poinsettias, various cactus plants,
sisal, and so on. These seem to act as both binders and water proofers. Many
of the saps from trees are also resinous and are good water proofing but Often
very difficult to use as they will not mix with water and it is not easy to get
then well mixed in with the mud. Local “tricks of the trade” often supply simple
answers.

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COB is good for anything except
height. It is particularly good for
curved or round walls.

PISE OR RAMMED EARTH is

WATTLE & DAUB is elegant and
strong and ideal for solid,
fine for Seismic Zones.
squat, single storey houses.

ADOBE or SUN DRIED BRICKS

can easily cope with
two storey houses.

PRESSED BRICKS smooth and

very strong and can build
three storey's.

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COB is good for anything except height. It is particularly good
for curved or round walls.
The first, simplest and almost certainly the oldest system is
called “COB”. With only a little water to form a very stiff mud, a
large lump of it - as much as you can hold together between
your two hands - is roughly molded into the shape of a huge
elongated egg. The usual size is anything between 12 to 18-
inches, (30 to 40-cm) long and about 6- inches (15-cm) in
diameter. A row of these cobs of mud are laid neatly side-by-
side - preferably somewhat pressed together. Then another
row of cobs is laid on top. This second layer obviously lies in
the depressions between the lower rows of cobs. When three
or four courses have been laid, one above the other, the sides
are smoothed over so that the holes and cracks disappear.
Once you have obtained the feel of the right
consistency of mud, this cob method is a very
simpler straight forwards uncomplicated, way of
building a wall and almost anyone can learn quickly
how to do it. If you wish to build curved- or circular
walls ‘cob’ is the ideal system for doing it.
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The second method has developed from the cob wall so as to standardize or regularize the
thickness of the wall. It is also an attempt to increase the strength of the wall by ramming it.
It is known as the Rammed Earth method.
Basically, two parallel planks are held firmly apart by metal rods and clips or bolts, or by small
crosspieces of wood. Stiff mud is thrown in between these two planks and rammed down
with either a wooden or metal ramrod. When one section is completed and hard, the two
boards are moved along and the process is repeated until the whole plan is completed.
The two planks are then raised up and a second course of rammed earth is repeated over PISE OR
the first - and it goes on until the whole wall is completed. It is best to follow a bonding RAMMED
pattern as used in brickwork, so that the vertical joints between one rammed section and
next are not vertically one above the other. Otherwise, these vertical joints can later turn
EARTH is strong
into a large vertical crack! The two planks can become quite elaborate frames to refine and and ideal for
improve method of - holding, them rigidly part, and then to be able to move them along or solid, squat,
above the already rammed surfaces. single or more
Other refinements are adjustable baffle boards so that wall ends, as at corners, or where
door and window holes occur, can be dealt with more easily, while the cob wall can be done storey houses.
by almost anyone, the rammed earth wall calls for a small measure of expertise - though the
Handy Man can soon master the system. Similarly, as, already
mentioned, an understanding of a large simple type of bonding is also required to avoid
cracks developing in the walls.
However, there is no doubt at all that the life of rammed earth walls is usually very
long and they can carry heavy floors and roofs and be used for two and even three
storey buildings. There are examples in many parts of the world of rammed earth
buildings, which are hundreds of years old.

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APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

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The third system is known all over the world as ‘Adobe’ (pronounced a-doe-
bee). Here in India we know it as sun dried bricks. This is probably the most
popular form of mud walling because the mud blocks or bricks can be made by
anyone and after drying, they can be stored until there are enough of them and
the right time to build has come.
A small box or mould of wood or metal is used and the stiff clay is squeezed into
the mould and then turned out to cure and slowly dry. After that a mason can ADOBE
use them in much the way as he would use burnt bricks or cement blocks. The .
(a-doe-bee)
adobe bricks can be made to any size. They can be the same se an ordinary
burnt brick (about 9" x 4.5" x 3") or they can be bigger (l2" x 6" x 4") if a thicker SUN DRIED
wall is preferred or indicated. (The smaller brick is likely to crack less) If care is BRICK
taken to dry the bricks slowly (about the minimum for a month) the walls are
built in the normal proper way, strong crack free walls are normal and can be
used for 2 or even 3 storey houses. Of course, the usual care must be taken to
protect them from wet and to use standard bonding patterns. There is nothing
new or risky or even ‘rural’ about this system of building mud walls and it is an
obvious answer to the need for millions of small houses for the homeless
without using any fuel or energy for their manufacture.

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The fourth system is similar to the adobe blocks but the
bricks are Machine Made and Compressed in a simple
machine
These Machine Compressed blocks are very strong and
those using a small amount of stabiliser are usually as
strong as the local country made burnt bricks. The same . smooth
PRESSED BRICKS
precautions of slow drying, and protection from
and very strong and can
moisture apply to compressed blocks also. Many people
build
prefer these bricks, because they have a very smooth
three storey's.
neat surface but it must be kept in mind that there is
quite a lot of hard physical work required in making
good compressed blocks. With all due and very great
respect and admiration for the makers of these
compressing machines and the compressed block is a
first class wall building material and can be used for load
bearing walls, three storey's high.

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A fifth system uses mud as a plaster to cover thin panels of
cane, split bamboo or other stalks that are woven together
and held in place by wooden or bamboo posts and beams.
This is called WATTLE AND DAUB. It is very common in
areas like Assam and the North Eastern States, parts of
West Bengal, the Andaman Islands, that is, where bamboo
and cane grow freely and plentifully. Usually the frame .
structure supports the roof. Sometimes when rainfall
excessive of cyclonic winds dash driving rain against the
walls, however, wide the roof overhang is, ordinary solid
mud structures collapse and the mud from Wattle and
Daub structures gets washed off. However, the structure WATTLE & DAUB is
itself and the mesh of cane or split bamboo remains intact elegant and fine for
and after the heavy rain is over the mud is plastered on Seismic Zones.
again.
The same sort of rectifiable damage also occurs when there
are earth tremors. Even the framework of wooden posts
sometimes is thrown out of vertical but does not collapse
and can usually be pushed and pulled back into proper
shape.

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CURING MUD BLOCKS
All forms of mud work are less prone to cracking if dried slowly,
in the shade and not in strong sun.
After mud blocks are made they should be stacked so that air
circulates around the blocks and so that they will not be
disturbed or damaged preferably close to where the building
will be constructed.
.
First cover them with wet sacks or leaves or straw. After one or
two weeks remove these wet coverings and let the blocks dry
out in the shade of a tree or some temporary shelter. Here
they should remain for another two or three weeks.
After a total of 5 or 6 weeks the shade can be removed for the
sun to complete the drying out process.
Some mud workers do not wait for more than a week before
building their walls with the block. There is no harm in doing
this, but the blocks are likely to break from handling and
carrying if they are still wet.

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MORTARS
Use the same soil that was used for the blocks.
Avoid too much clay as this produces shrinkage cracks.
Sieve the soil when dry so that gravel and pebbles are all removed for a
smooth mortar.
If stabilizers such as lime or cement were used in the making of the
blocks, it is also required in the mortar. In fact twice as much stabiliser
must be used in the mortar. So, for example, if you have used a 5% .
cement stabiliser for the blocks use 10% cement for the mortar (i.e. 1:10
mix). Always sieve the soil to remove the gravel.
PLASTER
The finish of adobe, rammed earth and cob walls is often a bit rough and the need for plaster is
felt. The mortar between the blocks should be left rough to act as a key to hold the plaster,
which may be of mud, or mud and any stabiliser such as cow dung, lime or cement etc. Pressed
earth blocks are usually very smooth and it is difficult to apply plaster to them. It is better to
apply two or three coats of whitewash, or thin slurry of sieved earth with lime or cement mixed
in it. Coloring matter may of course be added if required. Where there is driving rain against
the bottom of mud walls causing erosion and if plaster will not stick to the smooth pressed
blocks, a strip of chicken wire may be nailed or stapled to the bottom of the wall and then the
plaster will be held by the wire and not crack or peel off. This need only be done on the walls
facing the driving rain, not all the way round the building. For anchoring plaster to smooth
compressed blocks at ground splash level, use chicken wire mesh.
 
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There are other local systems where some mud is used in one way or another
to assist other materials to stick together. For example, in many parts of the
country small rough stones are found but it is quite difficult to build a wall of
any size or height with such pieces. So the stones are often used as fillers to
either Cob, Rammed earth or adobe walls. In many hill and mountain areas
the stone is deliberately and carefully added at the external base of the wall
and this deals with the splashing of rainwater quite effectively. It can also be
said here that for many single and double storey buildings mud can be used .
as a mortar for ordinary burnt brick walls and for stone random rubble walls.
A lime, or lime and cement, or cement mortar is usually used so that driving
rain will not weaken the wall, but if the wall is protected by sunshades or roof
 
overhangs these pointing is not necessary.
Pressed earth blocks are usually very smooth and it is
difficult to apply plaster to them. It is better to apply two or
three coats of whitewash, or thin slurry of sieved earth with
lime or cement mixed in it. Coloring matter may of course
be added if required. Where there is driving rain against the
bottom of mud walls causing erosion and if plaster will not
stick to the smooth pressed blocks, a strip of chicken wire
may be nailed or stapled to the bottom of the wall and then
the plaster will be held by the wire and not crack or peel off.
This need only be done on the walls facing the driving rain,
not all the way round the building.
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FOUNDATIONS
Often it is feasible to build the walls of a home on mud, but
some more solid material is needed for the foundation and
basement. If stone is locally available it can be used. But in any
case, many builders excavate a wide trench in which they lay
concrete, then build up the foundation and basement wall and
then fill in the remaining empty sides of its trench with the
.
originally excavated soil. This is mainly wasteful and expensive
and unnecessary exercise as far as ordinary house building is
concerned. An 18-inch (45-cm), thick random rubble foundation
 
cum base wall is all that is necessary to carry the load of the
house above, i.e. the walls, floors, slabs, roofs etc. A trench only
the thickness of the basement wall should be dug so that no
infilling is needed. This will prevent much soaking in of water,
Fig. 1. An orthodox foundation of a
which in turn would seep upwards and weaken the mud wall
wide trench, lined with concrete on
above. which stepped stone walls form a
basement.
Fig. 2. But... A 45-cm stone wall in a
45-cm wide trench is normally
adequate.
Fig. 3. The soft infilling often
absorbs falling rain and damp walls
are the result.
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TERMITES
Mud seems to be the natural home of termites so in areas
where they are common the same precautions have to be
taken as in all buildings to prevent their moving up into the
walls and eating wooden frames etc.
1. A one-inch thick layer of mortar (one part of cement to 3-
parts of sand) can be laid all over the top of the basement wall
before building the mud walls above it. This is helpful in .
keeping out both termites and damp.
2. Even better is to construct an apron of burnt brick or stone
(or
  it can be rammed earth) all round the building (to prevent
damage to the walls by splashing, of rain water) and this too
can be plastered over with a rich cement mortar.
3. Any thin sheet metal may be laid over the basement wall
with a 3-inch downward projection before starting to build
the superstructure mud wall above. This is expensive
but very effective.
4. There are various chemicals on the market, which can be
used.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

 MUD ARCHITECTURE
The easiest way of dealing with the splashing rainwater problem is to observe just where
the rain falls and then dig a trench there. Therein falls into the trench, only splashes against
the sides of the trench, and is then carried away so that it also does not soak into the
ground and make the foundations damp.
Window sills are also a place where water (driving rain), can soak down into a wall.
Make sure there is a good over hang of the roof and fix the window frame on the outer
edge of the wall with a slightly projecting windowsill.
Avoid leaky sills.
Damp can also rise up from the ground below into the walls shove and make them unsafe.
Always put in some form of damp proof course to prevent this happening. Bathrooms and
kitchens have special problems in mud walled houses. Even in Burnt Brick, Cement Block, .
or Granite Walls you protect the bathroom- wall by putting glazed tiles or a fine smooth
waterproof cement- plaster. So it is just- as necessary to protect a mud wall in a similar
way. Similarly, the Bathroom floor must have an impervious surface with a skirting of the
same
  material to make sure that water does not soak into the base of the walls.

The fashionable “modern” cubist style of

architecture is not suitable for a mud wall
building. The best way of protecting any wall
from either rain or sun is to have a good big
overhang to your roof. The sloping, or
pitched roof is better because the walls need
not be so high as for a flat roofed house.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

MUD ARCHITECTURE

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

MUD ARCHITECTURE

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4

MUD ARCHITECTURE

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION lecture 4