We Are Going to Build a House

By “Awake!” correspondent in Mexico

HOUSING is one of man’s most pressing problems. Millions of persons do not have a house in which to live. Millions of others live in overcrowded quarters. So it can be a real advantage to know how to build a house.

It has long been common for humans to build their houses from materials immediately available. Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians built their homes with adobe, which is a material made from clay. In some places today this material is still used. For instance, in Mexico and the southwestern United States adobe houses are common. In fact, adobe is the building material most often used in rural Mexico.

Houses built with adobe can be long-lasting. Some have endured for centuries. They are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Although methods of constructing adobe houses will vary from place to place, let us consider the method generally used in Mexico.

Preparing the Adobe Bricks

First, a good clay is selected. It should be free of stones and have the least possible amount of sand. If the clay has much sand, the adobe will be very brittle.

An excavation then is made in the ground. Here the clay is kneaded, and sufficient water is added to make a firm clay mud. Then hay, straw, pine needles or the hair of animals is mixed in. This serves as a bond to tie the mixture together. Care is exercised so that the material added to the clay mud does not exceed 20 percent of the final product.

Wooden molds are used to form the adobe bricks. These molds are called garrillas. The size mold that is most commonly used in Mexico is 15-3/4 inches long, 12 inches wide and about three inches thick.

To prevent the adobe bricks from sticking to them, the molds are moistened. Then the prepared mixture is poured into the molds. The mixture is soft and easy to manage. It is pressed and manipulated with the hands to fill out the corners of the mold.

The brick is not left in the mold to dry. Rather, as soon as the brick is firm enough, the mold is taken off and the brick is left to lie on the ground. Until they harden sufficiently the bricks are allowed to lie flat on the ground. Then they are placed on edge so that their drying is more rapid and complete. The drying takes from two to three weeks. These dried adobe bricks are now ready for use in building a house.

Building an Adobe House

First, we gather the things we will need for the construction work. These include a tape measure and plumb bob. We will also need a spool of thread as a guide, so that the rows of bricks will be straight. Necessary, too, is a trowel and a rough wooden box or trough in which to put the mortar.

An important factor in building a long-lasting adobe house is the foundation. It ought to be made of stone. A stone foundation will prevent the moisture in the ground from rising in the wall and weakening the adobe bricks. Stone is good for use in the corners of the house. The stone strengthens the structure and protects it from hard knocks and wear.

After the stone foundation is laid, we waterproof the top layer of stones with asphalt. This will prevent the penetration of water up into the adobe bricks. Moisture can cause the wall to disintegrate. This is why adobe is not a suitable building material in cold or damp regions.

Once the foundation of the wall is completed, we begin to lay the adobe bricks. They are laid in much the same way as ordinary bricks are. We make sure that the bricks are laid never more than one and a quarter inches apart. We also make sure that the bricks overlap, so that they are never in line vertically one above the other.

The mortar that we use to hold the bricks together is adobe. It is the same material as the bricks themselves, only it is fresh adobe that is soft and easy to manage. We mix small stones into the mortar. These help to strengthen and preserve the wall.

As the bricks are laid in the wall, we keep checking to see that the wall is straight vertically. We also make sure that it is level horizontally. We have prepared a simple wooden framework with strings attached to serve as a guide so that we do not build a crooked wall.

Once the walls are up, we plaster them inside and out with the adobe mortar. This gives the walls the appearance of being one solid piece.

Thus, in a short time, our house nears completion. It has a remarkable solidity that you may not have thought possible. Later we will improve the house’s appearance by whitewashing the walls with a coat of lime or white plaster.

Of course, we also need a roof. The one that we will put on will match our house’s typical rustic construction. We will make the roof with a framework of wood, and with roof tile of baked clay. A straw roof could also be used. In many places it is the custom to make the roof with wide overhanging eaves. These protect the adobe walls from the rain, which would damage them.

So there it is! We have finished our house. It has a simple, romantic aspect that characterizes houses constructed of adobe.

Someday you may want to build a house. You may be able to do the work yourself, and at a very low cost for materials, if you build it with adobe.