Adobe brick house school project

It was great but really needed a couple of gorillas to make it work. Now there are a lot of machines on the market with engines and hydraulics to make compressed earth blocks. I favor the suncured made on the ground bricks. There is nothing on the market right now like the Mold-Master that I know of.

Two people with a loose pile of earth, a wheelbarrow, a source of water and a wood mold that makes four bricks at a time, can make about bricks per day. It's hard work, but it can be done. Or at two hours a day, two people can turn out about bricks once they get the hang of it and the rhythm.

We need to know if the CEB will withstand a Canadian climate western Canada at this point and what mixture is in the block is the main question we are being asked.

A: The real question is can anything, including humans, withstand a Western Canadian climate. We are down here in sunny New Mexico where it was a balmy negative 12 Celsius at dawn this morning. Engine powered hydraulic units made in the USA are a bit more pricey.

There are many variations including silt and a bit of organic matter that can be tolerated in a CEB. It is just a matter of fooling around with perhaps some lab work included to determine the best ratios. If you can get a block out of your soil without having to modify it, then even if it does not give the highest lab test ratings for compressibility or modulus or rupture then it is the best block.

Any sort of wall material in Canada needs to be protected from moisture moving up from the ground, moisture penetrating through the exterior wall covering and moisture coming down from the roof system. I am confident that the Canadians have worked out these systems very well. Otherwise their wood houses would mildew and rot, steel houses would rust and fired brick houses would spall apart. Q: Firstly, my plan is to build a small 10' diameter dome using earth, with an earthbag stemwall filled with pumice on site.

The bricks are cast in a large form and then cut in trapezoids, with bricks getting smaller as I go higher. A: I think your idea of cutting the trapezoidal bricks is great.

We tried to make them in trapezoidal forms and each form locks a person into a narrow range of dome diameter. Cutting them makes more sense and saves building multiple forms. Eventually we settled on rectangular bricks, 7x10x4, and put them together with trapezoidal mud mortar.

Q: My Jr. High grandson chose to make a pyramid out of adobe for a school project. Where can we purchase clay to make adobe bricks. We live in KY and have lots of rocks but little if any clay.

A: I am assuming that this is a model pyramid. Most craft stores that cater to ceramics hobbyists have clay. There must also be several clay suppliers that sell clay to professional potters in Kentucky especially the closer you get to Berea. These make perfect miniature adobes. They do not have to be kiln fired. They will be strong enough air dried just as most pottery is before it is fired.

We are delighted to have heard that an adobe house was discovered in Greensburg, KY this summer. It is on the property of a Presbyterian church there and hopefully has been saved. It was being torn down until the adobe discovery was made. Just think, Kentucky has an adobe heritage! Q I heard of a building method, but am not sure how much of it has been done. I was told its an old Spanish method. Anyway, I was told the walls were built and then wood stacked against them..

Have you heard of this method and can you give me any more information about it? A: This is a new one for me. Nadir Kahlili made himself famous for his system of firing an adobe structure using a special kerosene nozzle to create a lot of heat for a long time on the interior of the structure. Some bright Californians did wrap a structure with the insulation used for a ceramic kiln and they achieved more vitrification but I don't have any details at hand.

The cost of kiln insulation is substantial and would be prohibitive for a single structure. There might be a grand opportunity for an itinerant insulationist who could travel the country thermally wrapping structures to be fired. The system you describe at least deals with the exterior of a structure which is where the rain hits is so it would be a better approach than Kahlili's in my opinion.

It would really be nice if you would give it a try and report back on the results. Certainly no one in this country has done it or I would have sensed the vibrations from the effort. I would caution against having any wood or concrete in the structure. Wood burns; concrete returns to powder. I would love to make contact with your informant to get further information. Q: I am planning to start building with adobe in my country, Panama.

A friend of mine and I are thinking about opening a small business. However, we are looking for an adobe brick making machine. Is there any one in particular you can recommend to us. There are lots of diesel powered Compressed Earth Block machines now being manufactured in various parts of the world, especially in the USA.

Perhaps the best is at www. The owner of the company, Lawrence Jetter is very helpful with information and has developed a nice handbook. Meantime, just get a pile of loose dirt, an old oil drum with water and a liter bucket, a wheelbarrow, a shovel and a wood form that makes four adobes at a time. Try adobes that are 20cm by 40cm by 8 or 10cm. Too little clay makes bricks more susceptible to rain damage and too much clay makes them crack as they dry out so that they are not useable.

Some CEB manufacturers will tell you that their machines can make good bricks with a wider range of soils than sun cured bricks. In most cases that is not true and press machines need a more accurate soil blend. Making adobe bricks and building adobe homes is labor intensive. Their thermal mass stores heat during the day, thus keeping the room cool.

Throughout the evening and night, they slowly release the heat. With adequate protection for exposed areas and simple maintenance, adobe structures can last a long time. It was built in the late s, survived 2 earthquakes and is still being used today as a museum. See more images here …. Facebook Pinterest Instagram. Adobe Bricks Clay, sand and rice husks Humble materials of the earth. Besides various advantages, these houses have lost their charisma in modern era because of higher care and maintenance demanded as structures made up of mud or clay are particularly vulnerable to deterioration.

In addition, another major drawback of these houses the high cost of labor and lack of skilled professionals who deal with building adobe houses.

All in all, though, adobe houses can be very green especially if one starts with a straw bale house for the structure and covers it with clay and mud. This can be a DIY project for those with a little home improvement experience or it can be a family project as well. Adobe House. Adobe houses don't have to be Old School either. The risk of extensive shrinkage and cracking, which would otherwise occur in soils of high clay content in a large monolithic wall, is prevented.

The bricks can be cast from a wider range of soils and can cope with a higher clay content than is suitable for in-situ techniques. Due to the production process and the nature of clay, adobe bricks have good water resistance. Nevertheless it is very important to provide adequate weather protection of the earth walls, especially in exposed situations. This is normally done with the provision of adequate eaves.

The small Adobe units provide great flexibility in the design and construction of earth building s. Adobe bricks can be easily cut for fitting and can be provided with holes for reinforcing and services. We are specialised in this technique and have many years' experience.