Building With Adobe Bricks
Elizabeth Wolfe • January 30, 2021
An ancient technique that is still super relevant!
Adobe is more than Photoshop and Acrobat. It’s a building material that has been used for thousands of years! Adobe is a mixture of high-clay content dirt, course sand and long straw. It has excellent thermal mass
qualities. The adobe mixture is put into brick forms (standard size is 10”x14”). With the right mixture, the forms will slip right off and the wet bricks are left to dry out in the sun. After the bricks are fully dry, they can be used for construction using typical bricklaying methods. The best mortar to use with adobe bricks is composed of the same materials used to form the bricks- dirt and sand. The mortar mixture is simply a wetter adobe mixture- minus the straw, which is not necessary. In many Southwestern states in the U.S., adobe meets building codes as long as your first two courses of brick are reinforced with a stabilizer (Portland cement or asphalt are commonly used). Adobe works best in dry climates since it does not hold up well against water infiltration. If your building is covered with adobe plaster on the outside, you will, most likely have to re-apply the mud plaster on the exterior of your building every year. One way to not have to re-apply as often is to have large roof overhang to help protect the adobe mud plaster. You could also finish your mud plaster with a lime plaster which is more waterproof, and still allows your building to "breathe". Yet another way to get around this maintenance is to cover the exterior with a cement stucco mixture. Hairline cracks can develop with stucco, so you will need to re-stucco every 5757706203 years, but it will keep the water out, and you will have to reapply much less often than mud plaster. Another downside to stucco is that your bricks won't breathe as well, and your walls may fail or need to be repaired if the bricks are too suffocated. Really, adobe bricks can be finished in a variety of ways! We recommend insulating the exterior of the bricks to take full advantage of their thermal mass
capabilities on the inside -this will help you stabilize your interior temperature and possibly help you heat and cool your home under the right circumstances.
Pros
Adobe is a wonderful code-compliant “green / natural” material that will help keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It is a natural and relatively cheap material. You can make the bricks yourself using dirt, sand, staw, a wheelbarrow, a hoe, some buckets of water, a simple brick form, and either a lot of time or a lot of friends. Another plus is that you can build your adobe bricks completely without grid power! Adobe is also great at deterring rodents (as they can not live inside the dense walls). Adobe walls breathe well, and have a good passage of air which deters mold-causing condensation.
Cons
Adobe doesn’t work well in a wet or humid environment. Adobe walls with mud plaster exterior finish will need yearly maintenance unless you opt for another finish. Adobe can be heavily damaged by water if there is a leak, so it is paramount to make sure your building stays water-tight.
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