Many people probably dream of building country house, where you could come for the weekend. But not everyone can afford such an expensive pleasure. What to do?

Let's say you save on labor and do all the work yourself, from the foundation to the roof. One problem has been solved, but what about expensive material and its transportation to the construction site? In this case, it doesn’t hurt you to think about how to make a house out of adobe.

In terms of quality of living, houses made from this material are not inferior to those built from modern materials, and everything you need for work is at your fingertips, and you don’t have to spend money on delivery.

This technology dates back to ancient times. But don’t be afraid, because unlike the old way construction adobe houses, a modern method allows you to build aesthetic and original buildings. In particular, today the method of preparing adobe blocks is used.

How adobe blocks are made

The material is based on clay. Additional components are fine straw, liquid glass, fibrous plants and even manure. All this is mixed into a homogeneous mass, and then blocks of the required size are formed. If you have the opportunity or have a little extra money, you can purchase expanded clay; its addition will reduce the shrinkage of drying blocks.

If you add lime or cement, the prepared blocks will be more resistant to external factors.

To begin with, molds are made from boards or iron. To make it easier to remove forms from frozen material, it is better to equip them with handles, and inner side Before each filling, lubricate with machine oil or moisten with water. Unlike preparing blocks from other materials, the adobe version does not require equipment for internal voids, because they will retain heat well anyway.

The prepared straw must be chopped into pieces (no more than 3 cm), and mixed in a prepared container with sand and clay, adding to the mixture warm water. After you have kneaded everything until it becomes a homogeneous mass, you need to cover it with polyethylene and leave it for a day.

Fill the prepared forms with the mixture, carefully tamping down. You need to remove the finished blocks while they are still “raw”, but not so wet that they crumble, but wait 4-5 hours. Place them on a well-ventilated area and begin mixing the next portion of the mixture.

It will be very convenient if you prepare molds for several dozen blocks. In this case, while you are laying the first prepared batch, the second one will form and dry out.

Construction process

Before you build an adobe house with your own hands, you need to take care of the foundation. All types of lightweight foundations are suitable for this: pipe, pile, columnar and masonry. Of course, you can make more in-depth options, but the light weight of the material allows you to limit yourself to such types.

The laying of blocks is carried out according to all the rules for working with ordinary bricks. Don’t forget about waterproofing and installing plumb lines to accurately set corners, and pull control ropes for even laying of rows.

For window openings or doorways, you can use a wide planed board of a suitable size. Please note that when building a house from other blocks, special lintels or iron channels are used. But since adobe is a lightweight material, a board will do just fine. This is also one of the saving options.

The roof is made of straw or other roofing materials. Today it is practiced to use almost all types of roofing materials. Such a roof will give the adobe house a more aesthetic appearance.

When arranging the roof, the slope of the slope should be about 35 - 40 degrees. And the overhang over the walls should be at least 80–90 cm. This will avoid increased pressure on the walls of the building and protect them from rain.

Building a house from adobe is not very fast, but the idea is worth it. Straw mixed with clay makes the blocks stronger and at the same time increases the thermal insulation properties of the building. And not so long ago, scientists found a rare mineral in clay - radium, which has healing properties for humans.

Important Details

In the process of building an adobe house, it is important to take into account some features.

Ceiling. The height of the walls under the ceiling must be made with a margin, namely 25-30 cm more. Because, unlike other materials, a house made of adobe shrinks a little more. And if this is not provided for, then staying in the room will be uncomfortable.

Basement. The base of the building must be protected from getting wet. To do this, in addition to the roof plumbs, it can be equipped with a blind area.

Walls. Rodents can easily penetrate the walls of such houses. To protect the lower part from them, before exterior finishing you need to strengthen it with a fine metal mesh and cover it with special acrylic plaster. There are also special mixtures that repel rodents.

Wood protection. All building structures that are made of wood must be treated with antiseptics and compounds to prevent rotting.

Exterior finishing. All work on finishing the external facade of the building can be carried out only after a year of construction, when it has completed its final shrinkage.

Strengths and weaknesses of clay

Like all materials, adobe has its positive aspects and small negative aspects.

Maximum environmental friendliness

For the preparation of adobe blocks, as well as (if desired) for subsequent wall finishing, only natural ingredients are used. Therefore, staying in a house built from adobe will be not only pleasant, but also useful.

Wide architectural possibilities

According to its structure, clay is a plastic material; according to these characteristics, it can be compared with monolithic concrete, only unlike the second material, it is warm and pleasant to the touch. In addition, such characteristics make it possible to create custom-shaped walls of buildings (rounded arches, corners) that are characteristic of the Art Nouveau style.

100 years is not age

Houses built from adobe can last more than 100 years, but for this to happen, it is necessary to take into account weaknesses clay (low resistance to moisture) in order to protect your structure during the construction process.

Just a note. Despite all the advantages of an adobe house and fairly low costs, in some cases there is simply no point in building a house from it. This applies to damp and shaded places, and areas where the problem of spring floods is most acute. It is also inadvisable to build an adobe house on a site where there is no clay, because the main savings lie in its presence.

Video

This video shows the process of building a house from monolithic adobe.

We invite you to learn about another technology for constructing a home from adobe.

When you mention the name adobe house, many will ask what it is, or shrug their shoulders skeptically, because they have a vague idea of ​​it or associate it with a rural hut-mazanka that has grown into the ground. However, today it is possible to build modern, beautiful and comfortable housing from the building materials that our ancestors have used for thousands of years. And most importantly - environmentally friendly, warm, energy efficient and inexpensive. It is these factors that become especially important when energy prices creep up and synthetic materials are everywhere. Therefore, it is worth taking a closer look at the technology of building a house from adobe and considering its positive aspects.

And first, let's figure out what this building material is, what properties and characteristics it has, and how durable it is.

Saman: what is this?

Adobe consists of components that are available to every developer and cost almost a penny. Its base is clay, the filler is chopped straw, fibrous plants, and manure. To give the clay the necessary viscosity, water is added to the mixture. Clay is chosen with medium fat content (low-fat clay gives poor adhesion and does not provide strength) and, if desired, various additives are added:

• sand, crushed stone or crushed expanded clay can reduce the shrinkage of the structure;
• adhesive compositions: casein or liquid glass provide the building material with good ductility;
• cement and lime increase the resistance of adobe to moisture and promote its hardening;
• cellulose fibers increase the elongation coefficient of the material;
• shavings and sawdust increase heat-shielding properties.

Since adobe is valued for its environmental friendliness, chemical components are extremely rarely added to its composition, but sometimes, wanting to speed up the hardening process, developers resort to appropriate additives.

Two types of adobe are used in construction:

1. Lightweight, containing just over 10% clay. This mixture is not used to form bricks or blocks, but is used in frame technology, filling the external and internal cladding of walls.
2. Heavy. Blocks are made from it. Having thoroughly mixed the ingredients, the mixture is laid out in molds and left to dry outdoors. The density indicator of a raw adobe block is almost no different from that of brick and is characterized by a value in the range of 1500 - 1900 kg per cubic meter. But the thermal conductivity of adobe is almost twice as low. Moreover, this indicator depends on the straw content in it: the more straw is added as a filler, the warmer the future house will be.

Any building material cannot be considered ideal, since it has, along with positive qualities, disadvantages. Saman is no exception, therefore, when talking about him, it is logical to dwell on this point, finding out all his advantages and weaknesses.

Adobe house: pros and cons

So, what is good about a house built from adobe with your own hands? Its obvious and undeniable advantages for both builders and residents include:

• Microclimate favorable for human health. Due to its high hygroscopicity, the material is an excellent regulator of indoor humidity.
• Low thermal conductivity. The house perfectly retains precious heat in the cold and coolness in the hot summer season.
• High sound insulation ability.
• Low cost compared to other building materials.
• Environmental friendliness and fire safety.

Adobe is comparable in plasticity to concrete, so it is easy to give building structures interesting shapes: curved walls, rounded corners and openings, unusual arches. And unlike walls made of monolithic concrete, which are cold to the touch, adobe is warm.

And one last thing. If anyone doubts the strength of houses for which adobe is used, it does not hurt to get acquainted with significant facts that testify to the longevity and solidity of such buildings. On the territory of our planet, thousands of houses made of adobe have been built, the age of which is estimated to be centuries, and our contemporaries still live comfortably in them.

As for the disadvantages of adobe buildings, there are few of them:

• The need to protect adobe walls from moisture, since the material does not have good moisture resistance. For this purpose, the surface of the walls is carefully plastered.
• In areas with a temperate climate, built adobe houses dry and gain strength for a long time.
• Limited construction time, because winter period They don’t build adobe houses.

Another serious drawback is the possibility of fungus and other harmful microorganisms. Such unpleasant moments can be prevented with modern antiseptic and disinfectant additives or by treating walls with special compounds. It is not recommended to build adobe houses in damp and shaded areas, as the walls will be damp.

Do-it-yourself eco-adobe house

The construction of an adobe house will appeal to people who are far from being experts in the construction business, but who have the time and desire to build and experiment. The technology is quite simple and does not require special skills.

Any construction is divided into stages, and in the case of an adobe house, the process will consist of the following types of work:

A ready-made and dry adobe brick will not break if dropped from a height of 2 meters, and will not get wet if it is in water for 24 hours. It is recommended to carry out such a quality assessment before putting the material into use.

Floors in an adobe house built with your own hands are wooden beams, supported on the wall structures by at least 15 cm, wooden panels wrapped in waterproofing material.

An adobe building requires mandatory finishing of the walls, otherwise they will crumble. Usually the base surface is plastered or covered with various finishing materials. Cannot be used only cement plasters, since the material has poor adhesion to clay.

As you have seen, building a house from adobe with your own hands is a feasible task for many developers, both in terms of insignificant financial costs and ease of construction. But technology does not allow building housing very quickly and carrying out work at any time of the year.

Since ancient times, people have built adobe houses. In general, adobe is a natural material based on clay soil, dried in the sun. Used for building houses and fences (in dry climates). Wet adobe is a clay cake, and dry adobe is a regular-shaped parallelepiped. It is widely used for construction in treeless areas since 5-4 tbsp. BC

Adobe was very popular in Europe until the 15th century, when more affordable bricks appeared. Adobe houses were not only the privilege of poor peasants. The houses of wealthy townspeople were also built from this material, which have survived to this day. Adobe was no less popular in Russia. The most famous building on its territory is the Priory Palace in Gatchina. During the Great Patriotic War, fierce battles were fought near it and, nevertheless, it still exists.

Technology for preparing adobe

Make adobe better in spring so that the building can dry well during the summer. Adobe is used to prepare clay soil. It is diluted with water, thoroughly mixed with various additives: straw, wood shavings, cement, sand, gravel, molasses, starch. Forms for drying adobe are made from single or double boards, without a bottom. The walls of the box are moistened with water and chaff (waste after threshing grain crops) so that clay does not stick to them. Next, take a lump of clay that approximately corresponds to the volume of the mold, lay it down or throw it with force for better compaction, then level it. Excess material is removed and transferred to another box. The bricks are left in the mold for 3 days. If the area on which they are dried is arranged correctly and there is a good outflow of water, then light rain is not dangerous for adobe. Otherwise, the forms must be placed under a canopy. After 3 days, the bricks are removed and placed on edge. They remain in this position for 3 to 7 days. High-quality adobe should not break when dropped from a height of 2 m, and soak in water for 1-2 days.

Houses made of adobe have a number of undeniable advantages:

1. High level of thermal insulation. Buildings made of this material do not require additional heating in winter and retain coolness in summer. So, a practical method is to allow heat or cold to leak through massive walls at a rate of 2.5 cm per hour. Therefore, on hot days, the walls of the building accumulate heat, and at night they return it back. It is beneficial to use adobe for houses with solar collectors. In areas with aggressive cold winds, streamlined houses are built. Thanks to this design, it is possible to reduce the level of heat transfer and the entry of cold air.
2. The walls of the adobe house practically do not allow noise from roads, railways, and runways to pass through.
3. The fire resistance of adobe makes it possible to use it in construction in fire-hazardous areas. The authorities of such regions require that clay or earth be used when constructing the roof. In this way, the entire structure can be protected from fire.
4. The hygroscopicity of clay ensures stable air humidity in the room.
5. Environmental friendliness. All materials used for the construction of adobe houses are only of natural origin.
6. Cheap and accessible. Adobe does not require fuel for firing, and its source material is found almost everywhere.
7. The high strength of houses has been proven by centuries-old and even thousand-year-old buildings.
8. Adobe is safe for novice builders. During work, you do not need to use special tools, equipment and chemicals; all materials are familiar and cannot be damaged.
9. This material allows you to build any house, even with the most daring modern design.

Stages of building an adobe house

1. Dimensions of the house.

Nowadays, huge apartments with many additional rooms are very popular. But it’s better when there are fewer of them and they are multifunctional. This will reduce their number and thereby increase the area of ​​the entire building. For example, the bedroom, children's room, living room, kitchen and bathroom combined with toilet are vital. Optimal height walls is within 2.5-2.7 m.

2. Roof type.

There are 2 types of them: classic and attic. The classic roof has a cold, uninhabited attic with an insulated floor. It is easy to repair and maintain. The mansard roof is an invention of the twentieth century. It is insulated and a living space is equipped underneath it. Repairs require additional effort and money, but this way you can expand your living space.

3. Number of floors.

Definitely, the most convenient building consists of one floor. In such a house there is no need to install a large staircase. A two-story house is more economical since the most expensive item in construction is the roof. Using a 2nd floor you can save area. However, such a house requires additional efforts during construction.

4. Garage, cellar and basement.

Experts say that instead of a basement, it is better to build an additional above-ground room, which can then be converted, if necessary, into an office or bedroom. But it is better to place the cellar and garage separately from the house. When building a cellar, you need to take into account the terrain and dig it down a slope. In addition, the cellar must be equipped with good ventilation. It is more convenient and economical to attach a garage to one of the walls of the house. You can make a door directly from the garage and a gate directly to the street if the car is often used.

5. Foundation.

IN modern construction use tape and slab foundations made of reinforced concrete. The latter are best done for buildings with basements and a first floor that is below ground level. At the beginning of the work, they dig a large pit and fill it with a reinforced slab. More affordable and simpler - strip foundations are used in buildings that do not require premises below ground level. All load-bearing floors must rest on a level foundation.

The initial stage of construction involves digging trenches 10 cm greater than the depth of soil freezing along the perimeter of the walls of the future house. You can check it with local builders. Next, you need to get rid of the fertile layer of soil, replacing it with soil from the trench. In places where communications will pass through the foundation, it is necessary to first insert pipes. The trenches themselves are filled with moisture-resistant materials - stone, coarse sand, and, if necessary, filled with concrete. Bearers interior walls must also rest on the foundation, so trenches are dug under them, but to a lesser depth.

6. Base.

Base – bottom part the outside of the wall, which prevents the adobe from coming into contact with surface water, snow and ice. It is made slightly higher than the possible level of water rise, but not lower than 30 cm from ground level. The floor in the building itself is made 15 cm below the base level. The ideal material for its construction is rubble stone; concrete and brick can also be used. Reinforcement must be inserted between the wall and the plinth for better adhesion. The stones are laid on a cement mortar, choosing a stable position. Upper part the base is isolated from the walls using a mastic made from solvent and resin.

7. Walls of an adobe house.

There are 2 types of adobe: light and heavy. Light adobe is made from straw soaked in clay, while heavy adobe is made from sand, straw and clay. There is an opinion that the light type of adobe is the most acceptable, since it is cheaper. However, it accumulates heat worse than heavy ones.

Since ancient times, there have been 3 methods of building walls.

The first method is very similar to brick construction. First, adobe blocks of the same size are formed, and then regular masonry is used.

The second method involves driving clay material into the formwork. It's simple and fairly familiar, but limits your imagination and requires construction smooth walls and right angles. You can use any formwork for concrete and reinforced concrete, but it must be removed immediately after laying. The voids formed after formwork are filled with insulation or a supporting frame is installed.

And the last, third method of building walls is monolithic masonry from adobe lumps. This technique allows you to avoid right angles and expands the scope for home design. This method is quite simple and straightforward, but it is better to practice on less critical buildings - for example, a garage or barn. In this case, the surface of the wall does not need to be smoothed, so as not to close the pores that allow the adobe to dry. Even scientific research supports this method of building walls. They confirm the fact that being in rooms with right angles undermines not only physical health, but also affects the psychological and emotional state. But a house with streamlined shapes, due to its similarity with natural forms, on the contrary, promotes relaxation.

8. Windows and doors.

9. Laying adobe flooring.

Monolithic solid adobe floor retains heat better and saves energy costs. Well laid material does not require special effort in maintaining cleanliness, there are no scratches or stains on it. Before building it, it is necessary to get rid of the fertile soil, put crushed stones and stones in its place, and sprinkle gravel and expanded clay on top. There are 2 types of floors - cast and rammed. Their laying methods are quite similar, but a cast floor takes longer to dry than a compacted one.

10. Exterior finishing.

For exterior finishing Lime-based plaster is suitable for walls. The most the best option there will be a mixture of straw, sand and lime. Before applying the solution, the wall should be slightly moistened with a spray bottle or brush. Traditionally, this plaster is applied in 2 layers of 1 cm thickness.

11. Interior decoration.

For interior decoration It is not recommended to use cement and drywall on the walls of an adobe house. It is best to cover the walls with a light layer of adobe and paint with mineral dye or lime. You can also glue wallpaper and attach ceramic tiles.

Ecology of consumption. Estate: The successful construction of a house from adobe, perhaps to a greater extent than a house from other materials, depends on the enthusiasm of its owner. You have to delve into all the details of the technology, experiment, and correct mistakes. If you combine imagination and knowledge, the house will turn out unique and comfortable.

The successful construction of a house made of adobe, perhaps more than a house made of other materials, depends on the enthusiasm of its owner. You have to delve into all the details of the technology, experiment, and correct mistakes. If you combine imagination and knowledge, the house will turn out unique and comfortable.

Choice for building a house adobe technology usually associated with the desire to live in the most environmentally friendly environment, the reluctance (or impossibility) to invest significant funds in a house, the principled position that one must build a home with one’s own hands, embodying one’s ideas about comfort in it.

Such ideas are feasible: from adobe, a material based on natural components, you can get an architecturally unique, environmentally friendly, comfortable, durable house. Saving on independent production of material and construction of walls is a significant attractive characteristic of adobe (after all, brick and ceramic blocks also consist of clay, like adobe, they are environmentally friendly, but walls made from them will cost much more).

But building is more difficult than some amateur developers imagine. Therefore, in order to make your dream come true, you should thoroughly study the features of the material and construction technology, consult with experts, imagine the real costs associated with creating comfortable housing and reasonably determine its size.

Risks can be overcome

First of all, the risk of adobe construction is associated with a lack of information. There are no state standards or professional literature on adobe construction; the qualities of the material have not been studied by professionals. Clay building enthusiasts learn primarily through their own experiences and share them in online forums and workshops. The main guiding and inspiring document for them is the book “Construction from Adobe. Philosophy and Practice" by Ianto Evans, Michael J. Smith and Linda Smiley.

Meanwhile, in Russia it is quite possible to find professionals who will give comprehensive recommendations on adobe construction. In addition, the help of any experienced architect or designer will always be useful. So it is absolutely possible to build a reliable house from adobe according to a carefully calculated design.

Another risk is related to the fact that the properties of adobe are uncertain and depend on the characteristics of production and construction. This material behaves differently in different climatic conditions. All its technical characteristics - from compressive and bending strength to thermal conductivity - are approximate. And the ability to load the walls (frequency of laying floor beams, construction of a second floor, etc.), the thickness of the structure, the need for insulation, the size of windows, depends on them. required power heating equipment. The quality of adobe can be determined by examining manufactured brick samples in a construction laboratory (this is possible for an industrially manufactured product). Developers often test the manufactured material themselves, placing heavy loads on the blocks to see if they crack on impact.

Risks are significantly reduced if you build one-story house, using planning techniques that increase, and also provide for the possibility of insulation in the future.

How much does the house cost?

Declarations that a house can be built from adobe almost free of charge are often the main reason that persuades people to use adobe technology. Savings come from self-construction and practically free material for walls, including their decoration.

But as construction progresses, you can make sure that this is only a small part of the investment that a full-fledged house requires - everything else will have to be purchased for work.

Typically, the cost of a box with a roof is 40-50% of the cost of the house, and another 50-60% is spent on finishing and engineering equipment. The price of wall material is only 20-25% of the cost of the box, and of its total cost - 10-15%.

Adobe houses are not built large; the most popular size is 60-80 m2. The cost of such a fully finished brick building during professional construction will be 35-65 thousand. e., with self-building with the purchase and delivery of materials - 20-40 thousand. e The cost of the walls is 2-4 thousand. e. When self-production wall material this amount can be reduced to the cost of shipping the material. If there is clay on the site, and the construction of the walls does not include wood, they will be completely free.

Saving on walls is important, since one of the aspects of the attractiveness of an adobe house is the opportunity to get a roof over your head for free, and then settle down. But the walls must stand on a foundation, which will cost about 1 thousand. e. A roof is also necessary, which means purchasing at least wood for the rafter system and roofing material. Economical material, such as metal tiles, will cost about 5-0.6 thousand. e. Wood, insulation, films usually make up double the cost of inexpensive roofing material. The total cost of the roof kit is 1.5-1.8 thousand. That is, and these expenses cannot be avoided. We also need to install windows and doors - another 0.5 thousand. e. A stove is often used for heating in adobe houses. You can fold it with your own hands, but you will need about 1000 pieces of brick (including about 150 pieces of refractory brick) total cost 0.2 thousand. e. Installing a boiler with wiring will cost at least 0.5 thousand. e.

As a result, to move into an adobe house (without decoration and amenities), you need 3-4 thousand. e. and a couple of years of hard work. To completely bring the building to a habitable state, it will take twice as much time and money.

The cost of building an adobe house by a specialized company will be no less than from other materials, but its quality will be ensured by specialists.

Construction Features

Books that promote adobe construction emphasize the simplicity and accessibility of this technology. However, in an adobe house, the only special material is the wall material - adobe. The remaining structures (foundation, floors, roof) do not differ from those used with other technologies. Therefore, when building a house from adobe, knowledge and adherence to modern construction processes are necessary.

There is a whole range, and within each of them there are options for recipes for preparing the material and methods for laying it. But some general features need to be taken into account.

First of all, it is required individual approach to the production of material. The proportions of its components and the quality of the resulting adobe largely depend on the properties of the clay (usually it is taken from the site or nearby). Various components are used, of which water, clay and straw are constant, sand is also used. Depending on the composition, thermal conductivity, load-bearing capacity, and wall shrinkage vary. The more sand in the adobe composition, the less shrinkage and cracking of the material; the more straw, the warmer the material; clay provides compressive strength. Having made and dried several samples with different compositions, they look at which one will provide strength, absence of cracks during drying, and the least shrinkage.

Depending on the volumetric ratio of straw to clay in adobe, it can be heavy or light. Heavy material (clay and sand 40% or more) is used for construction load-bearing walls in one-story and two-story houses, and lightweight (in which 70-90% straw) is used for walls that are not supported by ceilings, partitions, and also for filling frame walls.

A house made of heavy adobe can be made monolithic (with or without formwork) or built from blocks. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. A building with monolithic walls is built faster than with blocks - with hard work it can be erected in spring, summer and autumn. Monolithic walls They will dry and shrink within a year, and only after that it will be possible to install windows and doors in them (they are temporarily boarded up for the winter) and plastered (although the adobe will dry completely three years after construction). The house can be one-story or attic.

When building from adobe blocks, it will take more than a year to manufacture and dry the material, and at least a year to lay the walls. The blocks are prepared directly on the site, dried and stored under a canopy. The walls are laid similarly to brick walls, using a clay-sand mortar with a joint thickness of no more than 1.2 cm. The wall of a house made of blocks no longer shrinks significantly. The building can be made two-story, but you should first check the strength of the blocks in the laboratory. Typically, the load-bearing capacity of blocks made of heavy adobe is the same as that of low-grade brick (maximum M50). To be sure of the strength of the material, you can buy adobe blocks (for a one-story house you will need 1.5-2 thousand bricks).

When building a house from lightweight material The wall will require a frame with double posts on spacers, standing on strapping beams around the perimeter of the house. Formwork from boards is installed on the outside or on both sides, and the adobe is pressed tightly into the wall between the posts. Thanks to the frame, general shrinkage of the wall is eliminated, but cracks may form between the frame and the filling. After the mixture has dried, the wall is plastered with clay-sand or lime mortar. Using a frame in a wall - additional costs. However, when light wall You can save on the foundation. In addition, a frame house made of light adobe can be erected quickly, within a few months, it can be two-story.

The speed of adobe construction depends significantly on the weather. It is absolutely forbidden to build in the rain. But in hot weather, the solution dries quickly, and a larger layer of material can be laid in a day.

Internal walls are made of frames filled with light adobe, reeds, straw, or simply adobe of less thickness and density.

The foundation under the walls of heavy material is made of a strip, laying it below the depth of soil freezing (if the depth of laying is insufficient, uneven shrinkage of the foundation is possible, which is especially dangerous for fragile adobe). A more economical columnar foundation can be laid under walls made of lightweight material.

Energy efficiency issues

How warm a particular adobe house is can only be found out after spending the winter in it. Heat loss will depend on the thickness and composition of the wall, the compactness of the building, the size and orientation of the openings, and the insulation of the roof and floor.

Those living in adobe buildings note that due to the high massiveness and thermal inertia of the walls made of heavy adobe, they are cool in summer, and in winter, fluctuations in outside temperature have little effect on the temperature in the house. However, walls made of heavy material are not always energy efficient enough, and they have to be insulated.

A wall made of heavy adobe, dense and without voids (density -1200-1600 kg/m3), is close in its thermal conductivity to effective (hollow) brick or foam concrete (depending on the ratio of clay and straw in the material) and has a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0. 3-0.6 W/(m x °C). The higher the straw content it contains, the warmer it will be. In Russian conditions, the thickness of a wall with such thermal conductivity of the material should be about a meter, which is difficult to implement and unprofitable in terms of labor costs. Therefore, a wall of heavy adobe is usually made 40-50 cm thick, and then insulated and plastered.

Adobe requires the use of vapor-permeable insulation. Expanded polystyrene is excluded, mineral wool Enthusiasts of adobe construction consider it unecological. Experts recommend using reeds (reeds), which do not absorb moisture, do not rot, and have a tubular structure with air inside the stems. It is used in the form of mats, laid in a layer of at least 10 cm and firmly fixed to the wall with dowels. Apply 2-3 cm of clay or lime plaster(the latter is more durable).

The coldest places in any home are the corners. The advantage of adobe technology is the ability to avoid problem areas by making the corners of the external walls rounded, slightly increasing the thickness of the walls in these places.

Walls made of lightweight material do not have high inertia, but have high energy-saving ability (at a density of 500 kg/m3 and below, the material can be used as a heat insulator). As a rule, the walls are made 30-40 cm thick (with a smaller thickness there is a danger that they will be blown through like shell rock). The denser the adobe is compacted, the warmer the structure.

Due to the fact that the wall structure has a frame, the density of light adobe can be significantly reduced, achieving high level thermal insulation with a thin wall. However, it is important to prevent the formation of cracks to avoid through blowing.

Gaps can occur when the material is loosely laid and shrinks around the window frames, in places where the adobe comes into contact with the frame, or when the plaster cracks. However, they are easy to cover up and renew the plaster (an adobe house is easy to repair).

To insulate the floor in a house, expanded clay or light adobe is usually used.

Consult with professionals

Turning to specialists and designing a house correctly from the very beginning is much smarter and even cheaper than making mistakes out of ignorance and then trying to correct them.

A poorly built house, even from such an environmentally friendly pure material like adobe, it won't be better for healthy life than a city high-rise building, and sometimes even more dangerous. Among possible problems - high humidity and lack of fresh air in the house, fungus and mold on cold walls and wooden structures, threats to the stability of the house - foundation subsidence, dampening of walls, through cracks. Disadvantages may not appear immediately, and housing will bring more and more worries every year.

The source of many problems is the lack or improper ventilation. Air exchange is necessary in the house - the supply of fresh air to the premises (windows should be provided with vents or slatted openings) and the removal of exhaust air and moisture (ventilation ducts should be installed in the kitchen and bathroom). If a stove is installed in the house, but there is no inflow, then you cannot use it - backdraft may occur (the flow of combustion products into the house). If the hood is weak, increased humidity occurs in the home, and if there is insufficient heating, condensation forms on the walls.

From the experience of adobe construction

We love our home very much and are proud that we build it ourselves using natural and safe materials. Saman is a wonderful living material; in such a house you feel a special natural comfort and breathe easily. But there is a lot of talk about this. But there is little information about the complexities. Meanwhile, building a house from any material is fraught with difficulties. I want to tell you what problems we faced and how we overcame them.

About the cost

Our two-story building is not yet completely ready - the walls and roof have been erected, windows and doors are in place, insulation and exterior plaster have been done, and a Kuznetsov stove has been built. The interior is not yet finished; we still need to install plumbing and sewerage, without which the house is not yet completely habitable.

Housing was built as money became available over five years. We did not calculate its total cost, since conditions and the market changed significantly during this time. But we made sure that the box at home is only 30% of the total costs. I don't think that adobe building much cheaper than other materials. You can only save on the walls and what we do ourselves. Wood for the roof, floors, partitions is expensive, no less than the walls (we paid about 2000 USD for 10 m3). Foundation and ground floor at the end of 2005 they cost 1000 USD. e. (we built it ourselves, my father helped), material for the doors - 50 USD. e. A wooden floor on the second floor, as we calculated, it will cost about 700 USD. i.e. without the cost of installation and coating with varnish or paint.

About the construction

It is important to think about where to get materials for construction. You need much more clay than it seems - it is loose and in adobe decreases in volume by 3 times. We used all the clay extracted when leveling the site for a house on a slope, when digging a trench for the foundation and cellar, to make bricks. We had to make another quarry on the site. Straw was prepared in advance during harvesting, since finding it in the spring is problematic. The entire house (85 m2 area) required 3,000 bricks, which we made for 3 years (in our free time). The house must be carefully protected from moisture, so the issue of durable and strong external plaster is one of the main ones. By chance, we discovered that if a clay-sand mortar for plaster is mixed and left for a couple of weeks, the plaster is as strong as stone. Now we mix it (clay and sand in a 1:1 ratio, a little straw) in two pits and use one while the solution matures in the other. It took all of last summer to plaster the facades.

About energy efficiency

Heavy adobe is not as warm as is commonly said - better than brick, but not warm enough to make it comfortable to live in in winter without insulation. The low energy efficiency of walls is not so noticeable if the house is small and the heating power of the stove is sufficient. Previously, small houses were built and this is how, apparently, the myth about warm adobe was born.

In our big two-story house the thickness of the adobe is 40 cm, with plaster the thickness of the wall is 45-47 cm. To achieve the required thermal insulation values, we insulated it with reed mats. After covering the house with reeds it became noticeably warmer, the temperature inner surface the walls do not fall below 18 °C. To reduce heat loss through windows, we use curtains made of thick material. The lower part of the wall adjacent to the base remains cold for now, so we plan to insulate the base and blind area.

Comfort and aesthetics

Construction of an adobe house -component implementation of the philosophy of an environmentally friendly and economical lifestyle, in which comfort is ensured by proximity to nature and the use of its gifts. Natural materials (clay, lime or gypsum plaster on the walls, wood and ceramics on the floor), stoves are often used for heating and cooking (the simple and economical Kuznetsov stove is especially popular). But there are no obstacles to equipping an adobe house with modern engineering equipment, installing gas into it, or connecting an electric or gas boiler. An effective solution, given the massiveness of heavy adobe and its ability to accumulate heat, there will be a “warm floor” system. Utility lines can be easily hidden in the floor and walls. To finish the latter, you can use completely environmentally friendly plasterboard sheets, acrylic plaster and paint, treat wooden structures modern protective impregnations. Combination ancient methods adobe construction with modern technologies increases comfort in the home.

The owners are proud of the originality of their homes, the expressiveness and originality of their interiors. And this is, perhaps, the main attractiveness of adobe construction. From plastic material you can make rounded walls, arches, benches and couches, make shelves right in the walls, window openings of various shapes, for example with rounded corners, and window glass can be embedded directly into the wall, without a frame. Even children can take part in creating the interior - all you need is time and imagination. Creativity is exciting, and, having mastered the technology, some do not stop at the construction of one building: they plan to build a workshop, a garage, a house for guests or parents from adobe. published

Adobe, as a building material, has been used throughout the history of civilization, from the creation of the first adobe settlements to the present day. And although in an era of rapid development construction industry it was not very popular these days, those who want to build themselves a house from environmentally friendly, natural material– adobe, getting bigger.

What is adobe made from?

Adobe is prepared from components that can be found in abundance in any region - clay and straw. Among the Turkic peoples, the word “saman” just means “straw”. In our country, this word is associated with a building material from which clay blocks can be made, suitable for the construction of housing. In addition to straw, other organic and inorganic additives can be added to clay to increase strength, ductility and improve other qualities.

Environmental friendliness and safety

Houses made of adobe have not become widespread in Russia, except in the steppe regions, where there is a constant shortage of wood and other alternative building materials, and the influence of neighboring peoples who have extensive experience in the construction of adobe houses is also felt. But the very idea of ​​building environmentally safe home, on the wave of the struggle for natural purity, captivates and inspires. Especially young people. In addition, building an adobe house does not require huge investments, because clay and water are available in abundance in any region and building materials can be located on the site right under your feet. But before you start building a house from, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the features of preparing the material and the difficulties that you may encounter.

Adobe

Over the centuries, the recipe for adobe remained unchanged and consisted of clay, sand, straw, manure (dung) and water. Nowadays, cement, lime, expanded clay, shavings, liquid glass and other organic and inorganic components are added to the basic composition.

Some people are confused and surprised by the presence of livestock manure in the composition of adobe, however, this component was suggested by life itself. Even in ancient times, animals were used to knead large quantities of clay. Oxen, horses or donkeys sadly walked around in a circle, kneading clay with water, straw and the products of their vital activity. It's like a horse-drawn clay mixer. As it turned out, livestock excrement improved the quality of adobe, made it stronger and more flexible, and the dried blocks did not contain any foreign odor. But if you don’t like the fact that there is dung in a recipe, you don’t have to worry about it. Straw alone is enough to significantly increase the fracture and tear strength of clay blocks. In addition, there are other organic additives that improve the quality of the mixture.

Nowadays, adobe is kneaded with concrete mixers, but you can do it like our ancestors, with your whole family trampling on the clay with your bare feet, adding water and adding straw. It's even fun, especially for children. When the clay is well mixed and brought to a paste-like state, it should be allowed to sit for a day, and then it can be used for its intended purpose.

The raw clay mass is filled into standard molds for blocks or formwork, compacted thoroughly and left to dry under open air. The blocks must be standard sizes: 39x19x9 cm; 39x19x19 cm; 33x19x19 cm.

To prepare adobe, it is recommended to select clay of medium fat content. To determine this, you may need the help of an expert in adobe construction, but correctly selected clay is the key to the quality of adobe blocks. Dried adobe is not inferior in strength to low grade baked brick.

Samana recipe

There is no one set and standard recipe for adobe. The ratio of the amount of clay and fillers is determined experimentally, depending on the characteristics of the material. Heavy adobe, which contains less straw, has a density of approximately 1500-1600 kg/m3 and a compressive strength of 10-15 kg/cm2. The thermal conductivity coefficient of such adobe is approximately 0.3 W/mxC 0 .

Light adobe has more straw, its density is 500 kg/m3, and its thermal conductivity is 0.05-0.1 W/mxC o. The thermal conductivity of adobe is half that of ceramic bricks, which provides reliable protection housing from winter frosts and summer heat.

Subtleties of construction

The height of clay walls should be 30-40 cm higher than the design height, since they shrink more over time. The excessive content of organic fillers in adobe attracts various insects and rodents that can make passages in the walls. To protect against such uninvited “guests,” the plaster on the lower part of the wall (about 1.5 m) must be applied to a fine metal mesh. You can also apply chemicals protection, but it is better to do this as a last resort. You can begin exterior finishing of the house no earlier than the next season, when the house is completely dry and shrinks.

Construction of a house

The construction of an adobe house is a troublesome and time-consuming task. It will not be possible to do the entire amount of work in one season, and it’s all about technology. After all, the wall of the house can be built up no higher than 30 cm per day, lifting the formwork daily and preparing the adobe for the next day. Using this method, it takes half a month or more to build a house box, provided that the weather is warm without precipitation and the strip foundation is made in advance. The method of forming walls in formwork significantly reduces the construction time of the box, since there is no need to make a large number of blocks. The finished walls must be immediately covered with a roof, the overhangs of which must be at least 60 cm so that rain does not wash away the clay. This can be the end of the construction season, since the house must be allowed to completely dry, settle, and shrink, so that work can continue the next season. It is not advisable to use heat fans, heat guns, or air heaters to speed up the drying of walls. The adobe should dry slowly, naturally. After a year, you can install carpentry, lay floors, plaster, lay communications and carry out other engineering and finishing work.

Features of building a house from ready-made clay blocks

The construction of a house from ready-made clay blocks has its own characteristics. The whole season will have to be spent on making required quantity bricks or blocks, give them time to dry and gain sufficient strength. Laying walls from ready-made blocks is easier and faster and they do not require long-term drying and shrinkage.

The technique of constructing an adobe house using formwork allows the construction of exclusively one-story buildings. Method brickwork You can build houses with two or more floors. This is a long-established practice passed the test time and is widely used today. There are no uniform rules and regulations for construction, just as there are no reference books or scientific research that prescribe the number of floors and methods of adobe construction. Different regions have their own local peculiarities in the construction of such housing, depending on the availability of raw materials for adobe, established local building traditions, seismic activity and weather conditions in the region.

For housing construction, two main types of adobe are used - heavy (40-80% clay) and light (10-40% clay). The remaining mass consists of straw or various organic additives.

Heavy adobe. Typically, such a clay mixture is used to construct walls in formwork. Formwork is made from sheet metal or wooden shields, covered with roofing iron. Raw clay does not dry to the metal and does not come off when rearranged. The formwork installed on the foundation is filled with adobe, and a layer 30 cm thick is carefully compacted. Every day the formwork is moved higher and layer by layer is built up, repeating this operation until the walls grow to the desired height. The frame of the house turns out to be monolithic and capable of withstanding considerable loads. Openings for windows and doors are formed in external walls and internal partitions. When constructing a house using formwork, it is very difficult to maintain the dimensions of the walls vertically and horizontally, and moreover, large shrinkage can increase inaccuracies.

Laying walls from adobe blocks is carried out in the traditional way, except that, instead of cement mortar, they use clay paste, half and half with sand with the addition of straw for better communication. To ensure a tight fit, the seam should be approximately 1 cm. No more than two rows can be laid per day, this is 40 cm in height.

U this method construction has a significant drawback. It is necessary to make a large number of blocks in advance and for a long time store them in a dry, ventilated area or under a canopy.

Light adobe. The structure of the building is made of lightweight adobe and consists of wooden posts sheathed on both sides with boards or OSB. The prepared clay, with a high straw content, is placed in the space between the outer and inner cladding of the racks and compacted.

Such a structure is more like a frame or panel house, not adobe. Its construction will require a large amount of wood and fasteners. In addition, the architectural attractiveness and originality of adobe architecture is lost, because lightweight adobe in this design plays the role of filler or insulation.

Elements of adobe house

It is recommended to build the frame of an adobe house on a strip foundation made of concrete or stone. To protect the clay from splashing water and serve as a base for thick exterior finishing, it should rise above the ground level by no less than 20 cm. Its width should be 10-20 cm greater than the thickness of the wall. It is also necessary to ensure reliable waterproofing foundation, because adobe is quite hygroscopic and quickly absorbs moisture.

• Walls

The thickness of the load-bearing wall made of heavy adobe is 50-60 cm, and the internal partition is 30 cm. To give the frame of the house additional strength, it is reinforced with non-rotting plants in height every 50 cm. This is done in the corners of the load-bearing walls, below the level of the windows, in jumper installation locations. Dry stems of reeds, reeds, hemp, etc. are used as reinforcement. The thickness of the wall made of light adobe is no more than 25-30 cm.

• Ceiling coverings

Wooden beams are used as ceilings, the ends of which must lie on the walls at least 15 cm on each side. In places where the beams come into contact with the wall, they are wrapped in waterproofing material and walled up. It is recommended to reinforce the walls on which the beams rest with stainless mesh or reed.

Used as lintels over openings wooden blocks 50 mm thick. They also need to be isolated where they come into contact with clay.

• Windows and doors

Wooden frames of windows and doors must be covered with waterproofing.

The structure is covered with a tent-shaped roof (double-sloped, hipped, etc.) and a rafter system. The angle of inclination of the rafters must be at least 30-45 0 to reduce the thrust load on the walls. In order to minimize the ingress of rainwater onto the walls, the roof overhangs are made at least 70 cm. In dry and hot regions, the roof is often made flat.

• Facade finishing

To save adobe walls from erosion, facade finishing must be produced. The walls are plastered with lime, acrylic, silicate mortar or lined with brick. The brick must be laid, leaving air gap between the walls. In some cases, adobe houses are decorated with wood. You can use cement mortar for plastering clay walls only on a grid.

Inside the house, the walls are usually plastered with a clay solution, with the addition of dung in a ratio of 10:1. But today on the market building materials There is a wide selection of environmentally friendly finishing mixtures, so there is no need for exotic organics.