DIY adobe house repair

Hello Semyonitch! It so happened that I and my two children bought an adobe house in the Adygea and moved. The house is in dire need of repairs, help and even advice, there is no one to expect from here, and even strained with finances. I decided with my sons (13 and 14 years old) to repair it myself, but, of course, there is no necessary knowledge. Please help us, Semyonitch! We removed the floor, decided to cover it with gravel, make a screed on top, then a warm water floor and tiles. I would like to make the ceilings a little higher, so we cover the foundation with gravel, and we want to remove the logs on which the floorboards lay, but I cannot understand if they still perform some function in this house.

Regards, Irina, x. Tikhonov.

You are a risky woman, but risk is a noble cause.

If your sons help you, you can do it and they can make great men.

The construction of an adobe house is an exotic affair, albeit labor-intensive. But the ecology will be at its best. Don't just add organic matter to adobe. The British, unlike our southern neighbors, do not do this either. Clay, straw, sand, water, casting molds and your work, that's enough.

Since you have access to the Internet, in the relevant sections on the construction of adobe houses, you may well find answers to most of your questions.

Therefore, I see no point in expanding on this topic in detail.

As for the genital lags, they most likely served as the basis of the floor. Clear space around one of them to make sure how they were secured and what they supported. Most often, logs are walled up (embedded) into the walls of the house and rest on posts made of stone (brick, concrete, rubble, etc.).

Accordingly, the logs are treated with bioprotective compounds against rot and all kinds of bugs. And they also have waterproofing, that is, roofing material (or rubemast, stekloizol or their analogs) is placed on the posts under the logs. And in the places of the bookmarks in the walls, they are also wrapped in a couple of layers with them.

Just take out the logs and put a layer of gravel instead of the floor? In the old days, they did it. And not only gravel was used. And just ordinary land was well rammed and lived like that.

If everything is done correctly, according to appropriate construction technologies, then the floor should rest on a reliable foundation. That is, on the mentioned support posts. Otherwise, the floor may move, especially the tiled one. With a possible violation of the pipes used for the installation of warm water floors.

Therefore, it is necessary to find these supports, if any. Make them if they are not there. As a last resort, make sure that your gravel layer will not move anywhere and will not sink. Then make a concrete screed with a thickness of at least 50 millimeters with reinforcement with reinforcement or welded mesh.

Try to bring the ends of the welded mesh cards into the walls of the house by heels of centimeters. The mesh should cover the entire floor surface. Individual mesh cards must be tied together with knitting wire. It is enough to take its diameter of 1 or 1.5 millimeters. It is sold in bays.

/ A welded mesh map is a rectangle made of wire with a diameter of one and a half, two millimeters, up to 4 - 5, superimposed on each other in the form of rectangles or squares and welded together. /

The sequence of operations is pouring a 2.5 centimeters layer of concrete, then laying the mesh, then pouring another 2.5 centimeters of concrete again.

Then you will have a solid base both for laying floor tiles and for laying water pipes when installing a warm floor. And also the installation of furniture and everything else.No risk of breaking the floor.

This is roughly the shortest answer to your question.

Yes, don't forget to make sure there is no basement under your house! So that, God forbid, the whole screed does not fall into it with all your labors.

Other questions about adobe houses:

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If you own an old adobe house, do not despair, because, in principle, there is nothing wrong with the restoration. Knowing how to put everything in order, you can repair an old adobe house on your own and without problems. In fact, an adobe house is a building made of clay, that is, unbaked raw bricks, which, if possible, were lined with ordinary bricks around the perimeter.

Like any repair, it all starts with an inspection of the building, drawing up a work plan, an estimate and the purchase of the necessary materials. If you are not sure that you can carry out all the work on your own, then it is better, of course, to turn to qualified workers. The main elements of any residential building are the foundation, walls and roof, so let's look at everything in order.

In adobe buildings, the classical foundation was rarely used, that is, the walls of the house were erected on a compacted clay pillow. Or, in the version of an adobe structure, wooden pillars were driven into the ground, which were subsequently coated with clay. When inspecting the building, if you see the presence of cracks on the walls, the difference at the level of the window openings, then with a 100% guarantee we can say that the house has shrunk and the foundation needs to be repaired under the walls.

Option to strengthen the foundation of an adobe house

To do this, trenches are dug along the walls, but not in a continuous strip, but in increments of approximately one meter and a depth of about 0.6 m. Waterproofing is done along the lower edge of the adobe blocks. Sections of the foundation are laid in problem areas (the simplest option is reinforced concrete or sand-cement blocks). After that, it is imperative that waterproofing is done around the entire perimeter and a blind area is constructed.

One of the main problems of adobe walls is that a "belly" appears after a long time: irregularities and bulges appear on their surface. If such irregularities are up to two centimeters in size, you can try to clean them up, and when there are more, it is better not to take risks, but to think over a way to cover them (in the case of a facade, you can use siding, inside drywall).

Plastering adobe walls inside the house

During the construction of adobe houses, all floors were mainly made of wood. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the condition of the floor beams and if they are in a deplorable state, they need to be completely changed. Of course, this is a large amount of work, since you will have to disassemble the roof, replace the entire piping and make new wooden floors.

The roofs of such houses used to be covered with what was at hand: from reeds to ceramic tiles. When restoring an old roof, the first thing to start with is to inspect the entire wooden structure. If necessary, replace the worn-out elements and treat the entire crate, for example, with mastic.

Before starting roof repairs, it is necessary to carefully examine all its elements.

If the old roof is covered with tiles, it is advisable to replace it with a lighter material, since, having a lot of weight, it creates an undesirably large load on the entire structure of the house.

When deciding to carry out a complete renovation of a building in the first place, never neglect the advice of experts.Since, unknowingly, you can cause irreparable damage to the entire building, which ultimately affects your budget.

At the dacha we have an adobe house, it is warm, but the foundation is crumbling. How to properly repair an old foundation?

Any work on strengthening or repairing the foundation begins with its inspection, inspection can be carried out only when the foundation is “opened”, pits are dug out

It is also important at the initial stage to understand why your foundation is being destroyed.

Perhaps a repair of the blind area is needed, or a new blind area.

Perhaps your foundation is "tormented" by groundwater, you need drainage.

Only after these works (by the way, only specialists can do such work) can one begin to repair the foundation (if the relevance has not yet disappeared, sometimes the above measures are enough, it's not about the foundation).

In general, research work is needed "by eye" to repair the foundation is useless.

If the reason for the destruction of the foundation is that it is not correctly filled (above the freezing point), then the foundation can be insulated, perhaps this will help stop the destruction.

A trench is dug along the perimeter, but no deeper than the “bottom” of the foundation, then waterproofing (after cleaning the foundation from the ground), backfilling of insulation (expanded clay, for example), although it is possible with coarse sand, so the blind area with insulation is cheaper.

There are other methods of repair, with more severe destruction, the foundation is a very serious matter, it is rather difficult to describe all the methods (we do not even know what type of foundation we are talking about), one thing I can say is that without research (preliminary) without looking for the reasons that led it is highly undesirable to start repairing the foundation to destroy the foundation, this is a wasted time and money.

And finally, pouring a new one next to the old foundation, driving the reinforcement into the old one and “tying” it into one whole by pouring concrete, this is a useless task, you will get another foundation next to the old one and that's it.

Strengthening is carried out in sections, the old foundation is undermined, a solution is poured under it, in your case (adobe), these individual sections should be shortened, adobe is not a very durable material.

As you already understood, any of the above works cannot be done on your own (if the result is important).

In order to protect from the rain, houses made of wood or adobe (clay with chopped straw) are often sheathed with boards that rot intensively. And plastering a wall containing organic matter is not only useless, but also harmful. The coating cracks, the wall stops "breathing" and a fungus appears.

A more reliable solution is the use of modern plastic lining (PV), plus competent wall ventilation. You can even lay insulation.

Here is a diagram of such a design (Fig. 1). Air through the ventilation hatch penetrates into the space between the cladding and the wall (or insulation), rises up and exits near the roof. In this case, it is important that the ventilation gap is at least 1-2 cm.

The part adjacent to the ground (or blind areas) can be made of flat slate, depicting granite or tiled cladding with oil paint diluted with linseed oil (Fig. 2).

Why is PV best suited for these “dynamic” homes? Because it is not attached directly to the wall, but is installed using special brackets that allow the plastic to move, compensating for temperature changes and changes in the geometry of the building.

We cut slate sheets with a grinder. At the end adjacent to the lining, we form a chamfer so that the water flowing from the roof does not fall under the slate. We cut out the holes for the hatches, which should be located approximately in the middle between the installation beams.

As blanks, we use a neck with a lid d 33 mm from a plastic bottle (more, but not less).

We fix the hatch (fig. 3). On the inside, along the perimeter, apply a strip of silicone sealant. As a last resort - wrap with tow soaked in oil paint.We attach the slate sheets to the installation bar with hex head screws.

The easiest way is to install a plastic lining without insulation: we remove the boards, dissolve the highest quality boards on slats with the help of a circular. We fill them with a step of 50-60 cm. Next, we assemble the cladding using standard technology.

Of the insulation materials, rolled glass wool 120 × 5 cm is best suited.We cut the roll lengthwise into two equal parts.

Thus, the distance between the installation beams with a section of 7 × 7 cm will be 60 cm. We fasten the glass wool very carefully (Fig. 4) to avoid slipping, sagging and crumbling, which can lead to blocking of the ventilation duct.

Cover it from above with fiberglass facade plaster mesh and nail it down with plastic washers (cut from 4 × 4 cm baklashki). We put a copper wire under the washers, tying the canvas.

We nail plaster shingles in the center. Maintenance of the wall is very simple: in the spring we open the hatches so that it dries properly, and we close it for the winter.

It is impossible to use foam, pressed glass wool plates and mineral wool on aluminum foil for insulation - these are airtight coatings.

Hello.
I got an adobe house lined with bricks, now I will reconstruct and repair. This will be my first experience in repair and, accordingly, a lot of questions for experts.
House 1961-64
Rubble foundation 60 cm thick, deepening up to about 150 cm.
Load-bearing walls are 37-40 cm thick, excluding bricks.

The first question is, from the outside there is a crack over the window opening, how to fix it? My assumptions are to weld the frame from the corner and, when replacing the window frame, simply insert it from the inside, thereby expanding and raising the upper joint of the bricks.

Secondly, there was a crack at the junction of the extension to the house, the foundation of the extension was also but, but according to a visual inspection from the inside of the basement (basement under the house), it is shittyly complicated, at least not like that of the house, and from the outside it is clear that the corner has subsided.
The crack thickness at the base is 5-8 mm.
What to do with this case? How to fix it correctly and for a long time?
Of course, there is an idea to demolish this extension to hell and rebuild it, but for now this is a last resort.

There is also a small crack in one upper corner of the house.

And the most important question, there is a desire to remove the roof and put a frame attic floor from some relatively light material. It is clear that this question cannot be answered so simply, but at least advise which specialists to start with. Who can calculate all this?

Quite often we are asked about our house plaster and wall covering (inside and outside). I will try to tell you a little more about plastering an adobe house in this article.

Let's remember the spring of 2014. The house is finally finished, the adobe walls are dry, the wheat sprouts on the walls are withered - you can start finishing.

I must say that the walls, erected using the technology of light adobe, are quite breathable. This is especially felt during strong winds)) The first winter, while the walls were drying, we felt it in full. And in the spring, as soon as it got warmer, they started plastering the walls. We already had experience in using clay plaster, and clay is at hand, so we did not think long about choosing a plaster mixture.

Raindrops on the wall. At first, the walls staunchly resisted the weather.

ADVANTAGES OF CLAY PLASTER: availability and low cost - the material, one might say, lies right under your feet, environmental friendliness, hypoallergenicity, fire safety. Absorbs unpleasant odors, allows walls to "breathe". Can be used as a finishing material.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE MIXTURE is simple - it is clay, sand and water. I also added some plaster. It allows you to adjust the shade of the plaster mixture - making it lighter. And with it the solution dries faster.

Applying a rough plaster layer. Clay sticks to death.You can then tear it off only with a piece of the wall.

The proportions of sand and clay are selected depending on the "fat content" of the clay, and its composition may differ even in two adjacent areas. If plastering with oily clay, i.e. with a small admixture of sand - the plaster will crack when it dries. If the solution is "skinny", i.e. too much sand - the plaster will turn out to be loose and loose.
A lot has been written on the Internet how to determine the fat content of clay - by rolling balls or sausages, but there are no clear recommendations on how much sand to add in the end, so I immediately experimented on the wall. The result is a 1x2.5 ratio (one bucket of clay and two and a half sand). Before that, in an old house in the city, we used a 1x4 mix for plaster. We add quite a bit of gypsum to the solution, somewhere - 1/8 of a bucket (the more, the lighter the solution). The clay can be pre-soaked in a container in which the solution is mixed, and diluted with water until a homogeneous consistency, without lumps. And then add sand.

Correct consistency. )) The mortar is not too thick, but it also does not run off the trowel.

If the clay is dry and crumbly, you can, by removing or crushing large lumps, immediately mix with sand and gypsum, and then add water. Then, after preparation, the solution should be allowed to stand for a while so that all clay particles are soaked.

The mixture is diluted with water to the consistency of "thick sour cream". We applied the rough layer directly to the adobe wall, i.e., to put it mildly, on a non-smooth surface, and made the solution thinner - this way it better penetrates into all cavities, cracks and, when dry, adheres very firmly to the wall, and for the finishing layer it is more convenient make a thicker solution.

Smoothing the unevenness of the plaster walls. In a simple way - with a wet sponge. )) Only a sponge is needed dense, tough.

To prevent the finished wall from crumbling, crumbling or eroding when water gets in, we fixed it with a primer. They managed to try different primers from different manufacturers - acrylic, latex, concentrate, and ready-made solutions. In my opinion, there is no difference. Not a single crack has formed on the walls during the operation, it does not crumble anywhere, does not exfoliate. When water hits the walls, it rolls down and is not absorbed. By the way, the stones with which we faced the walls in the kitchen were attached to the same mortar of clay and sand. So far none have bounced)))

Kitchen decoration - clay and stones.

This is with regard to interior decoration.

Outside walls are more difficult. We also plastered them with clay and covered them with a water-repellent primer. We used a more concentrated primer, tried to moisten the walls deeper and better saturate the walls with it. The finishing layer of plaster was applied to the plaster mesh.

At the end of August 2014, our house began to transform ... Light adobe covers the beauty of clay.

At first we were pleased with the result. And in appearance and stability. The walls withstood the rains and temperature drops. But one of the walls was less fortunate than the others. The primer could not resist the lingering slanting rain for a long time, gradually the plaster began to get soaked. At night there was a frost, and in the morning in the sun the plaster began to fall off in flakes. True, only the topmost layer and not over the entire area of ​​the wall, in small specks. It seems okay, but the view turned out to be unsightly. So the house stood until spring. The other three walls were not affected by the weather at all.

With the onset of heat, all the remaining plaster had to be stripped off on the south wall. Re-fixed the plaster mesh and plastered with a standard cement-based mortar as a finishing layer. He fixed it with a primer and covered it with two layers of facade acrylic paint on top. The rest of the walls are also painted. So our house became a cheerful peach color.

Andrey is painting the last piece of the wall.
True, then they covered it with another layer of paint. ))

In general, for my taste, clay plaster is ideal for indoor use.And the outer walls, either need to be protected from slanting rains - make houses one-story and with large roof slopes in the directions of the prevailing winds, or use other materials.

You can, of course, experiment with the old "old-fashioned" methods. For example, covering the walls with lime. But it is painfully smeared - it is better not to lean against such a wall, and requires constant renovation (we had the experience of "communication" with whitewashed walls, here we did not want to repeat it). And you can mix the solution with horse manure - the manure reinforces the plaster mixture well, prevents it from cracking and, it seems, makes it more moisture resistant. But we have not yet had time to test this technology. We went the easier way - we used a special plaster mesh to reinforce the finishing layer.

P.S. More photos of our house and the construction process here (we will replenish the album)

We wish you, friends, to build your own beautiful, cozy and eco-friendly home in the Family Estate!

The article was prepared by Sergey Rudenko, the owner of the Agudariya estate (PRP Fairy Tale).

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Decorating the walls of a house made of adobe is an unlimited scope for creativity and the implementation of creative ideas, as well as the opportunity to create environmentally friendly housing to your taste. The main thing when choosing finishing options is to maintain a favorable microclimate of an eco-house, take into account the recommendations of specialists in the choice of materials and strictly observe the installation technology.

Adobe construction is the best solution for those who value energy efficient and healthy technologies. And although adobe is not an innovation in construction, the quality and performance of the material has turned the ancient technique of constructing cheap housing into a technology of the 21st century. The main advantages of an adobe house - a mixture of sand, clay, water and straw: heat capacity, reliability, positive effect on the human body, medicinal properties, durability (hundreds of years), natural moisture exchange. An additional "plus" is the unique exoticism of the adobe house and the opportunity to realize any design passages in the interior.

Saman is a 100% healthy material that creates a favorable microclimate in the room. Radium is especially useful in adobe, which helps to remove from the human body everything that decomposes, rots and leads to cellular disorganization. In addition, radium has a positive effect on the nervous system, which is why the ancestors living in clay houses did not complain about their health. Therefore, the main thing when choosing materials is to preserve a healthy, unique and curative microclimate of an eco-home.

1. The decoration of the walls from the inside of the adobe house performs only decorative functions - the enclosing structures DO NOT NEED to be protected! Therefore, when choosing materials, it is enough to pay attention to environmental friendliness, vapor permeability and aesthetic characteristics.
2. The best finishing option is leveling the walls with a small layer of adobe and painting limewith natural dye... When choosing dyes, it is recommended to give preference to mineral based on metal oxides - resistant compositions that preserve the brightness of paints well throughout the entire service life.

Important! It is not allowed to use for interior decoration of an adobe house. cement, modern latex and water dispersion paints! The latter are undesirable for two reasons: 1) insufficient vapor permeability; 2) the presence of polluting processes that are used in production.

Modern manufacturers offer a wide palette of shades of mineral dyes, which provides talented designers with unlimited scope for the implementation of original ideas. A good solution for interior decoration is a combination of wall painting and natural stone cladding.

1. The simplest finishing option is wallpapering: prime the walls with highly diluted glue, let dry and glue the material canvases.
2. All types of plasters, including gypsum, are suitable for decorating an adobe house. Textured "antique" plaster looks fascinating, which emphasizes the effect of adobe walls - this is not only an opportunity to please the eye with a rough texture and give yourself pleasant tactile sensations, but also a proven way to recreate the cozy atmosphere of a rural house with excellent sound-absorbing properties.

From the point of view of preserving the unique microclimate of an adobe house, it is undesirable to use drywall, since the gypsum board sheets create an insulating air gap that prevents the walls from accumulating heat and warming up from the inside. Therefore, due to the loose adhesion of drywall to curved enclosing structures made of adobe, freezing of the walls is possible.

When decorating the walls of an adobe house, special attention should be paid to lovers of ceramic tiles. The easiest way is to stick the cladding on a clay mortar - a short-lived option, since the tiles will fall off over time. Therefore, experts recommend using this type of decoration in rooms where it is difficult to do without cladding (bathroom, toilet, kitchen).

If the cladding with ceramic tiles fits well into the interior and is considered as the main type of decoration, then the use of drywall would be the best solution. First, you need to screw the gypsum board sheets directly to the walls using long self-tapping screws, or pre-make a frame from galvanized profiles, and then fix drywall to it. After that, prepare the surface, perform the cladding with ceramic tiles - and the beautiful wall will delight the eye with a spectacular view of the stylish finish.

A house built in the 50s and 60s, adobe, lined with bricks. On one side there is a small brick extension that has already cracked in the bundle. The total area of ​​the house is 68 m2, of which 14 is an extension. The thickness of the front wall made of adobe is 45 cm, and from the side of the yard it is 25 cm, judging by the depth of the window sills, because the windows are embedded in the brickwork. Today the floors in the extension were torn down and a small tunnel was made to look at the foundation; it turned out that it was not there at all. They dug inside from the front of the house, i.e. where the adobe wall is 45 centimeters. I took the photos as you asked, only I did not take pictures inside the house, the walls there are still without cracks.

How can an adobe house be strengthened? Does it make sense to start a repair in it or is it cheaper to demolish it?

Now we are going to replace the roof, lay a septic tank with concrete rings at a distance of 1.5 meters from the brick extension (nowhere else!) And make repairs.

I would be very grateful for your help and good advice!

The fact that there is no foundation is alarming. If there is a foundation and a tolerable condition of adobe walls, then it is possible and worth reconstructing. The problem is that, in principle, no one knows the bearing capacity of the walls. How to strengthen an adobe house? I would have made a good foundation, covered it with bricks, but you already have it overlaid. Armopoyas - I think it's not worth it, again, we don’t know the bearing capacity of the adobe walls, and the brick lining too.The conclusion is this: if the outer brick lining is strong and has a foundation (which most likely does not exist), then we change the roof, and the load of the rafters must be distributed between the adobe and the brick wall. But my opinion is - to demolish an old adobe house without a foundation.

Like any other houses and buildings, adobe houses can be repaired, reconstructed, redeveloped, etc. Before starting work, you should determine what exactly you want to do, make an estimate of costs, and determine a budget. Not many are currently engaged in such work on their own, more often they resort to the services of professional construction and repair teams. In order for the work to be performed efficiently, reliably and on time, you need to look for trusted, responsible employees.

The walls of an adobe house were built from adobe blocks, bricks or adobe mortar in tiers. They were connected to each other either with the same mortar or cement, and then plastered. The main damage to the walls consists in the sprinkling of plaster and cracks at the joints of the bricks. The reasons for such destruction are soil subsidence and wall shrinkage, the impact of factors of natural origin, precipitation and the influence of people from inside the room. Repair or reconstruction of an adobe house simply cannot do without wall repair. When performing these works, it is important to choose the right material. In our case, this is an adobe solution that will fit or rub into the damaged area of ​​the old one. Then the walls will be plastered again. For plaster, experts recommend using a clay mixture, as it adheres better to the walls and provides the best protection against wear and moisture. It is also best not to use drywall, as the natural insulation of adobe can be destroyed underneath.

If you decide to make an extension to an adobe house or add several rooms, then you need to do this from the same material from which the house was originally built, that is, from adobe.

It is advisable to do this not only from a technological point of view, but also for aesthetic reasons. If in other composite materials you can find options for their best connection, then in the case of adobe, only adobe is best combined with it. This is due to the fact that adobe is a living material, quite malleable, not rigid, unlike other materials. That is why, when choosing for an extension not from adobe, there is a danger that it will not withstand such a structure and will collapse.

In order to start expanding the area of ​​an adobe house, you first need to find such adobe bricks and plaster, which will be as close as possible in composition and quality to the one from which the house was built. If you cannot do this yourself, then contact a contractor or a company that produces a similar material.

Usually, problems arise with adobe houses that were built a long time ago. If your home is relatively new, then there shouldn't be any special problems finding material. In the case of a building that is of historical, architectural value, then you may encounter some features that require compliance with the rules and regulations aimed at preserving the historical heritage. As a rule, the approval of local authorities or specialized organizations will be required. You will be obliged to preserve the appropriate appearance of the building, and leave the facade in its original form, only after restoring it. From the point of view of preserving the historical appearance of the building, the architectural value, this approach is justified. The person who will carry out the work will have to turn to professionals who can not only perform construction work, but also have artistic skills. All of the above fully applies to the interior decoration of such a house, its furnishings, etc.

Use of modern features and design

Working with such a rather ancient material as adobe does not oblige you to use only old materials in construction or decoration. You can easily wield all the achievements of technology and art, novelties in the field of construction and design. The determining factor in the choice of materials and technology is environmental safety and purity of materials. After all, adobe is used in most cases precisely because it is safe, natural and environmentally friendly.

Along with adobe, you can use new energy-efficient windows, doors, insulation materials.

Designers actively use wood and ceramic tiles to make the house brighter, because these materials can be of any color.

A wise person will never neglect the opinion of a specialist in a matter, even if he himself is a professional in this field. Chatting with other builders can be very helpful, and you will learn subtleties and features that you did not know about before.

Quite often we are asked about our house plaster and wall covering (inside and outside). I will try to tell you a little more about plastering an adobe house in this article.

Let's remember the spring of 2014. The house is finally finished, the adobe walls are dry, the wheat sprouts on the walls are withered - you can start finishing.

I must say that the walls, erected using the technology of light adobe, are quite breathable. This is especially felt during strong winds)) The first winter, while the walls were drying, we felt it in full. And in the spring, as soon as it got warmer, they started plastering the walls. We already had experience in using clay plaster, and clay is at hand, so we did not think long about choosing a plaster mixture.

Raindrops on the wall. At first, the walls staunchly resisted the weather.

ADVANTAGES OF CLAY PLASTER: availability and low cost - the material, one might say, lies right under your feet, environmental friendliness, hypoallergenicity, fire safety. Absorbs unpleasant odors, allows walls to "breathe". Can be used as a finishing material.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE MIXTURE is simple - it is clay, sand and water. I also added some plaster. It allows you to adjust the shade of the plaster mixture - making it lighter. And with it the solution dries faster.

Applying a rough plaster layer. Clay sticks to death. You can then tear it off only with a piece of the wall.

The proportions of sand and clay are selected depending on the "fat content" of the clay, and its composition may differ even in two adjacent areas. If plastering with oily clay, i.e. with a small admixture of sand - the plaster will crack when it dries. If the solution is "skinny", i.e. too much sand - the plaster will turn out to be loose and loose.
A lot has been written on the Internet how to determine the fat content of clay - by rolling balls or sausages, but there are no clear recommendations on how much sand to add in the end, so I immediately experimented on the wall. The result is a 1x2.5 ratio (one bucket of clay and two and a half sand). Before that, in an old house in the city, we used a 1x4 mix for plaster. We add quite a bit of gypsum to the solution, somewhere - 1/8 of a bucket (the more, the lighter the solution). The clay can be pre-soaked in a container in which the solution is mixed, and diluted with water until a homogeneous consistency, without lumps. And then add sand.

Correct consistency. )) The mortar is not too thick, but it also does not run off the trowel.

If the clay is dry and crumbly, you can, by removing or crushing large lumps, immediately mix with sand and gypsum, and then add water. Then, after preparation, the solution should be allowed to stand for a while so that all clay particles are soaked.

The mixture is diluted with water to the consistency of "thick sour cream".We applied the rough layer directly to the adobe wall, i.e., to put it mildly, on a non-smooth surface, and made the solution thinner - this way it better penetrates into all cavities, cracks and, when dry, adheres very firmly to the wall, and for the finishing layer it is more convenient make a thicker solution.

Smoothing the unevenness of the plaster walls. In a simple way - with a wet sponge. )) Only a sponge is needed dense, tough.

To prevent the finished wall from crumbling, crumbling or eroding when water gets in, we fixed it with a primer. They managed to try different primers from different manufacturers - acrylic, latex, concentrate, and ready-made solutions. In my opinion, there is no difference. Not a single crack has formed on the walls during the operation, it does not crumble anywhere, does not exfoliate. When water hits the walls, it rolls down and is not absorbed. By the way, the stones with which we faced the walls in the kitchen were attached to the same mortar of clay and sand. So far none have bounced)))

Kitchen decoration - clay and stones.

This is with regard to interior decoration.

Outside walls are more difficult. We also plastered them with clay and covered them with a water-repellent primer. We used a more concentrated primer, tried to moisten the walls deeper and better saturate the walls with it. The finishing layer of plaster was applied to the plaster mesh.

At the end of August 2014, our house began to transform ... Light adobe covers the beauty of clay.

At first we were pleased with the result. And in appearance and stability. The walls withstood the rains and temperature drops. But one of the walls was less fortunate than the others. The primer could not resist the lingering slanting rain for a long time, gradually the plaster began to get soaked. At night there was a frost, and in the morning in the sun the plaster began to fall off in flakes. True, only the topmost layer and not over the entire area of ​​the wall, in small specks. It seems okay, but the view turned out to be unsightly. So the house stood until spring. The other three walls were not affected by the bad weather at all.

With the onset of heat, all the remaining plaster had to be stripped off on the south wall. Re-fixed the plaster mesh and plastered with a standard cement-based mortar as a finishing layer. He fixed it with a primer and covered it with two layers of facade acrylic paint on top. The rest of the walls are also painted. So our house became a cheerful peach color.

Andrey is painting the last piece of the wall.
True, then they covered it with another layer of paint. ))

In general, for my taste, clay plaster is ideal for indoor use. And the outer walls, either need to be protected from slanting rains - make houses one-story and with large roof slopes in the directions of the prevailing winds, or use other materials.

You can, of course, experiment with the old "old-fashioned" methods. For example, covering the walls with lime. But it is painfully smeared - it is better not to lean against such a wall, and requires constant renovation (we had an experience of "communication" with whitewashed walls, here we did not want to repeat it). And you can mix the solution with horse manure - the manure reinforces the plaster mixture well, prevents it from cracking and, it seems, makes it more moisture resistant. But we have not yet had time to test this technology. We went the easier way - we used a special plaster mesh to reinforce the finishing layer.

P.S. More photos of our house and the construction process here (we will replenish the album)

We wish you, friends, to build your own beautiful, cozy and eco-friendly home in the Family Estate!

The article was prepared by Sergey Rudenko, the owner of the Agudariya estate (PRP Fairy Tale).

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