Building with Mud: A Continuum

Thanks for watching.
There are many ways to do all these building methods and people who specialize in them. This is just to show the difference between some of the methods and how little difference there is in the mix.

Thanks goes to my great video team, my brother Kalin Steen - videographer and graphic designer, and my mom Athena Steen - graphic designer, and text editor.

Music
State of mind by Julian Avila, extended for video.

Recipe ratios will vary greatly depending on your soil, but here they are as general reference.
Many of these mixes can also be used for things other than what's shown in the video.

Mix 1
1 clay, 1 sand, ¼ water
Uses: rammed earth, earthen-floor subfloor, earth-bag fill, earthship tire fill

Mix 2
1 clay, 1 sand, ½ straw, ½ water
Uses: cob

Mix 3
1 clay, 1 sand, ½ straw, ¾ water
Uses: adobe, plaster, mortar, earthen-floor finish layer

Mix 4
2 clay, 1 sand, 1½ straw, 1 water
Uses: wattle & daub, base-coat plaster

Mix 5
2 clay, 1 sand, 2½ straw, 1¼ water
Uses: straw-clay block, base-coat plaster

Mix 6
2 clay, 1 sand, 3½ straw, 1½ water
Uses: straw-clay infill, lighter straw-clay blocks

Clay mortar:
1 clay, 1½ sand, ¾ water

[JC_RMEOW]

This was possibly the most concise, informative, and watchable video on these techniques that I've seen to date. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[livinginthenow]

Wow. Very cool demonstration. For those who would prefer not to work with fractions, the following are the mix ratios converted into whole numbers:

Mix 1
4 clay, 4 sand, 1 water
Uses: rammed earth, earthen-floor subfloor, earth-bag fill, earthship tire fill

Mix 2
2 clay, 2 sand, 1 straw, 1 water
Uses: cob

Mix 3
4 clay, 4 sand, 2 straw, 3 water
Uses: adobe, plaster, mortar, earthen-floor finish layer

Mix 4
4 clay, 2 sand, 3 straw, 2 water
Uses: wattle & daub, base-coat plaster

Mix 5
8 clay, 4 sand, 10 straw, 5 water
Uses: straw-clay block, base-coat plaster

Mix 6
4 clay, 2 sand, 7 straw, 3 water
Uses: straw-clay infill, lighter straw-clay blocks

Clay mortar:
4 clay, 6 sand, 3 water

[Shura]

You just answered all my questions about earth building in one 5-minute video!! Awesome!!! Best earth building video I've seen in a time!!! Thanks so much!!!

[Elcobong]

The real dirt! Hats off to the clarity and creativity! Loved the muddy hands celebrating at the end! Clay makes me feel that way!

[lemonyarch]

Holy shit this is the first video that needs to pop up when searching for info about earth building

[alxmetro]

Thank for the video! It is very interesting to see. I'm born at Kazakhstan and we have house which was build same Technic by my grands after World war II. We still use this house just my parents had build extra room and joint this together with my grands house.
Nito please pay your attention for one important things, it is critical to maintain the house by white Lime paint. It will keep wall waterproof and weatherproof. I know what i say, my family living part of this house still now. So we have real live experience over 70 years.

[evelinefoneswilliams]

In Africa they add in fresh cow dung to the mixture.The digestive juices plus the cud make it extra strong and less likely to crack. It also is added to the smooth plastering and hair from goats or cows added instead of straw.

[rage]

Great video. might need the skill considering today’s real estate prices

[beblissnow]

Short FANTASTIC concise teaching presentation & fun music.
Thank you !

[Barbaralee]

Benito! Oso! Kalen! Bill! Athena! Wow, your artistry has soared! So beautiful.

[mainata]

That was the best video i have seen on Youtube for the last 5 years. Great presentation and answered all my questions. Good job!

[marcoreale]

Many thanks for your video. You have shown ancient building techniques with some modern help. Interesting to notice that wattle and dub buildings in Lavenham, Suffolk, England are still standing today from Tudor times. You also demonstrated how mud-brick with hay is made and that shows how hard must have been for the Israelites in ancient Egypt as described in the book of Exodus to produce the quota of bricks and go and find hay. You have illustrated not only techniques, but historical techniques which would help us to understand (with the removal of few modern tools you used) how walls were built and why some many people would have been engaged in the massive building projects of ancient civilizations. Strange how some of their buildings have survived and how some modern buildings are pulled down after 20-30years...Again thanks and hope these more enviromental techniques would be rediscovered to build buildings for various kind of use.

[SunnyDMolish]

This is one of the best clay educational videos! I will use these recipes when we build our first natural building. Thank you! <3

[theotherwhitesage]

My absolute new favorite YouTube channel! Amazing seeing new creators make such quality content!

[GardeningWithDoug]

Well done. You show us how to do this quickly in less than 6 minutes. I look forward to trying this to make garden walls when the weather improves.

[littlebrookreader]

They’re all so beautiful! No child ever had, ore fun with mudpies!

[YoannSs]

As I know, what you did is unique over the internet !
I personnaly build my house with mud in Brittany (France). I practiced almost all the techniques you described and I'm yet to find a website that would explain mud building techniques like you did. I immediately watched all your videos and that's an Amazing Job !! Please continue if you know other techniques that you can share.
For example :
How do you do, on very large walls (2 story house facade...), to keep an even look once finished ? One part will be dry when you come back with more mud and that will let a visible junction ! Specially when you are all by yourself to do all tasks (preparing and applying mud).
Witch tool do you use for rounded corners ? Outer corners are simple with trowel but it's not convenient in inner corners !
I personnaly use semi rigid plastic (cutted in ice cream pot) to tighten the small cracs while mud is drying because trovel will let iron marks on dry mud. You dont seem to have this problem ? And before plastic technology, what was used ?
Thank you for your amazing job !

[yawjunior]

As someone seeking a broad overview of how the different methods are approached, I appreciate this so much! Thank you!

[physiomalik]

u the first to bring top quality to them mud videos

[kjw]

Thank you, for helping me truly appreciate the beautiful and diverse application. You inspired me in many ways… thank you!