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Earthen Floor

May 08
Love3

Finished Home with Earthen Floor and Clay Plaster

By Earthen Floor, Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Clay Plaster
clay plaster faswall block home

A white clay plaster finish meets the earthen floor made with site soil

This winter, I had the chance to revisit a home that I worked on last spring. The homeowners have moved in and it was very sweet to see the house in a finished state. It’s a great feeling to contribute work and then see everything tied together in the end. The finished look is great — the earthen floor looks smooth and feels soft on the feet and the clay plastered walls add brightness and texture. Look ahead to see more pictures.

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Aug 27
Love1

(Very Large) Earthen Floor Installation

By Earthen Floor

This week, I traveled to eastern Pennsylvania to work with Gabe Franklin of The Art of Plaster to install a large earthen floor in a straw bale home. We’ve been in talks about collaborating and this project was the perfect opportunity to sling mud together. And here I thought the 900 sq. ft. floor of this spring was big — this floor comes in at 1500 sq. ft. Earthen floors represent a lot of hard labor, so  the good company and our mutual love of clay carried us through to the end.

Read ahead for some more photos of the process!

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Mar 18
Love1
earthen floor

Introduction to Installing Earthen Floors

By Earthen Floor, Resources
installing an earthen floor

Installing the base layer of an earthen floor

Earthen floors are floors composed of compacted clay, sand, and straw. They are made flat and troweled smooth just like a concrete slab. However, the finished product is much softer on your feet… and on the earth itself. You can build an earthen floor with readily available materials. The labor input is quite high, but the material cost should be very low. And of course, the embodied energy is low, too — this is a very resilient, low tech method that can be incorporated in a variety of locales. Here’s a very short introduction and answers to common questions about earthen floors.

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Nov 06
Love0

Earthen Floors Book Due Spring 2014

By Resources, Earthen Floor, Media

Earthen Floors Book

Exciting news on the natural building book front — Earthen Floors, a book all about installing and living with earth-based floor systems, is due out April 1, 2014. Written by two very experienced natural builders, Sukita Reay Crimmel and James Thomson, the book is the first of its kind dedicated solely to the art of making inexpensive, durable, and beautiful floors made mostly of sand, clay, and fiber. There are a host of books that touch upon the topic of floors, but few that delve very deeply into the nitty gritty details. This will be a welcome addition to the natural building library.

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Dec 30
Love0

The Year of Mud Top 10 News and Posts for 2011

By The Year of Mud Book, Natural Building Workshops, Wabi-sabi Kitchen, Moisture, Timber Framing, Lime Plaster, Earthen Floor, Strawtron
Pug Cone

Pug dons a dog cone in 2011... but that's not terribly related to the here and now...

2011 has presented us with a wide mix of events and emotions. It’s been everything from momentous, to extremely challenging, to gratifying, and everything in-between. Just like every other year, I suppose, right? Each year is not so different from the last, but at the same time, each year is full of its own unique experiences.

This was the year we experienced some significant health challenges, decided to build a new home, continued to do major renovations to Gobcobatron to correct some of its moisture and heat issues, made some advancements on our kitchen construction, hosted our first mini building workshop, began organzing two major natural building courses, got some rewarding nods in the media, and ultimately, just like last year, kept incredibly occupied.

Here I present the top 10 news and posts from The Year of Mud in 2011.

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Sep 27
Love2

How To Install Terracotta Tile Floor in Cob House (with Pictures)

By Design, Earthen Floor, Photos
tile-newstyle0

The newly tiled (and styled) cob house

We’re finally back in Gobcobatron! The tile floor is done…. for now. (Yea, we still have to seal it with linseed oil, but April and I are waiting until next spring to be 100% certain the floor is dry… we’re not taking any chances.) The difference in the house is dramatic, especially when you combine the look of the terracotta tile with the newly lime plastered walls. I am really liking it.

In this post I’ll provide a simple explanation of how we laid the tile using clay and sand grout and clay adhesive. Read More

Sep 20
Love2

The Beast That is Laying Floor Tile

By Earthen Floor
tilejob

Laying floor tile in Gobcobatron

I’m never doing this again, I swear.

That was all I could tell myself during the first two days of laying floor tile in Gobcobatron. (Except with a few more expletives thrown in.) What a project! Thankfully, whereas the first two days of laying tile were absolute hell, it did get better over the next three days. It was an utter job, though.

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Aug 11
Love0

Good News Regarding Humidity Levels in Cob House

By Cob Building

I finally have some promising moisture news to report. After removing the original earthen floor in Gobcobatron, we put down a 6 mil poly liner, and our 1.5″ of rigid foam insulation.

The new floor is not yet fully in, but our hygrometer is reading lower than ever humidity levels! Previously, it was rare for the humidity to dip lower than 75-80% (yikes, yes). 65% was welcome when there was a strong breeze through the house.

Well, now that same hygrometer is reading more around 50% humidity, a much more acceptable level of moisture. Wow! I’m trying to not get too-too excited yet, because of course the floor is not yet complete, but I do believe this is an excellent sign for positive change. It suggests that moisture was indeed rising up through the gravel in the floor.

More on that later!

Aug 10
Love0

Earthen Floor Demolition Video

By Resources, Video, Earthen Floor

Here’s yet another video of me destroying something in or around my cob house. This time, I take a pickaxe to the earthen floor inside Gobcobatron. Breaking it up was fairly tough work, but worse is trying to cleanly scoop up the material and carry it out of the house in buckets. Yuck. Well, I’m glad that’s over with, at least! It took a bit more than a day to complete, not without the help of a few hands throughout the process.