Building a Roundhouse: Clay Walls with Bare Hands Bushcraft Shelter (PART 6)
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Date: 2020-07-21
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Comments and reviews: 9
Nevets
When I lived in France I helped a guy I knew build a structure not too different to the one you're building, but he mixed river sand with the clay and used actual straw, but then he used a landrover with stubbly tyres to mix it all up (previously oxen were used to trample and mix the daub, so indeed there would be a fair amount of dung in there) and had so much stuff ready he only had to make the daub a single time. He also used much more straw and made the mix wetter so that it worked its way right through the wattle. At night he wet the work down so it wouldn't dry too much overnight, and continued doing that for about a week afterwards with the result that cracking was minimal by the end - when it dries too quickly it cracks. Really enjoying this series and full of admiration for what you're doing. Finally, thanks for the giggle at your almost visible injuries - when I were a lad etc. Loving it, keep up the good work.
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When I lived in France I helped a guy I knew build a structure not too different to the one you're building, but he mixed river sand with the clay and used actual straw, but then he used a landrover with stubbly tyres to mix it all up (previously oxen were used to trample and mix the daub, so indeed there would be a fair amount of dung in there) and had so much stuff ready he only had to make the daub a single time. He also used much more straw and made the mix wetter so that it worked its way right through the wattle. At night he wet the work down so it wouldn't dry too much overnight, and continued doing that for about a week afterwards with the result that cracking was minimal by the end - when it dries too quickly it cracks. Really enjoying this series and full of admiration for what you're doing. Finally, thanks for the giggle at your almost visible injuries - when I were a lad etc. Loving it, keep up the good work.
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Solar
Next time you cut yourself, make sure that you have some rock sea salt in your bag of tricks. You mix it up with a bit of warm to hot water & place on the wound. It will sting like crazy at first because it's cleaning out & killing all the germs, the next benefit it will do is make the wound scab over with puss which is the body's natural way of re skinning an open wound & that also protects from any future infection. Normally infections that happen while you are out in the woods happen because the wound wasn't cleaned 100% & the wound was artificially covered up by material such as a bandage without a scab. A wound should be left open without a bandage & be washed with salt water so that the body can create it's own natural covering that will harden as it dries & become flexible. A bandage will always keep a wound moist not allowing it to self heal.
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Next time you cut yourself, make sure that you have some rock sea salt in your bag of tricks. You mix it up with a bit of warm to hot water & place on the wound. It will sting like crazy at first because it's cleaning out & killing all the germs, the next benefit it will do is make the wound scab over with puss which is the body's natural way of re skinning an open wound & that also protects from any future infection. Normally infections that happen while you are out in the woods happen because the wound wasn't cleaned 100% & the wound was artificially covered up by material such as a bandage without a scab. A wound should be left open without a bandage & be washed with salt water so that the body can create it's own natural covering that will harden as it dries & become flexible. A bandage will always keep a wound moist not allowing it to self heal.
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Finwolven
If you were intending to live in that house over a winter, you might want a second wattle and daub wall on the inside of the beams, and fill the area between them with soil - for insulation.
The idea with ruminant dung is that it has a lot of very short grass fibers in addition to the -ahem- 'adhesive' properties, and that is why it's considered very good for daub. It prevents a lot of the cracking before it gets to being a wide rent in the wall. Grog (ground up fired clay from pottery) could also help with reducing cracking, giving the clay particles something to adhere to while drying.
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If you were intending to live in that house over a winter, you might want a second wattle and daub wall on the inside of the beams, and fill the area between them with soil - for insulation.
The idea with ruminant dung is that it has a lot of very short grass fibers in addition to the -ahem- 'adhesive' properties, and that is why it's considered very good for daub. It prevents a lot of the cracking before it gets to being a wide rent in the wall. Grog (ground up fired clay from pottery) could also help with reducing cracking, giving the clay particles something to adhere to while drying.
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Randall
I learned when working with clay and straw to use a tarp as you do and mix it with the bare feet. it seems to mix in the ingredients more thoroughly. many experts that work with cobb, a similar technique, suggest this.
i like the idea of using wattle to support the clay walls. i can't decide if wattle and daub is better than cobb. i have more experience and trsining with cobb. try building a cobb oven.
i love to wastch Jaxx and Amber at play. it rerminds me of my dog a German Sheperd, Masitff mix. She plays with a neighbors Pit Bull pup. Its fascinating to watch them at play.
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I learned when working with clay and straw to use a tarp as you do and mix it with the bare feet. it seems to mix in the ingredients more thoroughly. many experts that work with cobb, a similar technique, suggest this.
i like the idea of using wattle to support the clay walls. i can't decide if wattle and daub is better than cobb. i have more experience and trsining with cobb. try building a cobb oven.
i love to wastch Jaxx and Amber at play. it rerminds me of my dog a German Sheperd, Masitff mix. She plays with a neighbors Pit Bull pup. Its fascinating to watch them at play.
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Tim
will this house have a chimney or firepit, whereas the other thatched house did not? -- would think a chimney, while a pain to bldg, might make having a fire safer and be more than enough to keep the entire thing warm once the thatch is on. I envision a bottle chimney. that stands on 4 posts about 3'-4 high, and made with the same wattle & daub method as the walls, but with extra clay for the lining to protect the wattle weave from heat damage. doing the 4 (or 6) posts, would allow for all around access, so the heat radiates to all areas inside.
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will this house have a chimney or firepit, whereas the other thatched house did not? -- would think a chimney, while a pain to bldg, might make having a fire safer and be more than enough to keep the entire thing warm once the thatch is on. I envision a bottle chimney. that stands on 4 posts about 3'-4 high, and made with the same wattle & daub method as the walls, but with extra clay for the lining to protect the wattle weave from heat damage. doing the 4 (or 6) posts, would allow for all around access, so the heat radiates to all areas inside.
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NEERAJ
Hi, your videos are so relaxing that anyone can watch for hours.
Get well soon!
Yes, you can add cow dung, mud, and husk to cover the walls. It is the best mixture for strengthing the wall.
In the rural part of India, some villagers are still using this method to build their houses.
And the Life span of somewhere around 10-15years.
And if villagers find some cracks on the walls then they used to fill these gaps with mud and cow dung mixture.
Hope this will helps
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Hi, your videos are so relaxing that anyone can watch for hours.
Get well soon!
Yes, you can add cow dung, mud, and husk to cover the walls. It is the best mixture for strengthing the wall.
In the rural part of India, some villagers are still using this method to build their houses.
And the Life span of somewhere around 10-15years.
And if villagers find some cracks on the walls then they used to fill these gaps with mud and cow dung mixture.
Hope this will helps
reply
Shinsasu
Just some fun facts: Wood ash is basicly lime(the powder kind, not the fruit) and salt. Ash from normal camping/cooking fire wont have been hot enough so only a small part will be quicklime. This will harden when it reacts in water, which is the basic of concrete. The salts are called potash and will slowly wash out of the walls over the next months/years and might even form salt crystals on the walls if a lot was used.
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Just some fun facts: Wood ash is basicly lime(the powder kind, not the fruit) and salt. Ash from normal camping/cooking fire wont have been hot enough so only a small part will be quicklime. This will harden when it reacts in water, which is the basic of concrete. The salts are called potash and will slowly wash out of the walls over the next months/years and might even form salt crystals on the walls if a lot was used.
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sibirty
Great show! Unfortunate news about your head injury and Dustins back injury. Glad you both will recover nicely. Situational vigilance is hard to maintain doing a mundane repetitive task. Keep up the fantastic work, I am looking forward to the rest of the series and future builds! Id love to see you hand make a log cabin one day. Cheers from the States!
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Great show! Unfortunate news about your head injury and Dustins back injury. Glad you both will recover nicely. Situational vigilance is hard to maintain doing a mundane repetitive task. Keep up the fantastic work, I am looking forward to the rest of the series and future builds! Id love to see you hand make a log cabin one day. Cheers from the States!
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Atholl
Tut Tut: Now woodsmen would tell you when mixing ash to anything wear a protective layer over your faces as dust is inclined to find its way into your lungs - then in 6 months when you go to the doctors surgery to find out why you cannot stop coughing at night and a biopsy is done, you find out the reason - silly lads!
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Tut Tut: Now woodsmen would tell you when mixing ash to anything wear a protective layer over your faces as dust is inclined to find its way into your lungs - then in 6 months when you go to the doctors surgery to find out why you cannot stop coughing at night and a biopsy is done, you find out the reason - silly lads!
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