Are wattle and daub primitive shelters suitable for the Adirondacks?
Sometimes natural building techniques just aren't suited for a certain environment. For example, an exposed cob oven in vermont vs. a stone oven would turn out very differently, the cob falling apart in VT's heavy rain.
With that in mind, is wattle and daub suited for the Adirondacks? Similar to in this video though I envision it a little thicker in the ADKs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sah-T9bWStA The video shows an Australian bushcrafter building a small shack with small diameter hardwood woven with wattle and then an inch or two of daub.
I've also seen European primitive structures crafted with wattle and daub in some cases, but usually only in certain parts or for relatively open structures. Part of it may depend on my question about soil suitability, but other factors could be due to weather, precipitation, temperatures, wind.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21883. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1 answer
Take a closer look at european construction techniques up to the invention of asphalt and steel roofing.
In general, if you can keep the water off of the building, you can use a water soluble medium.
Technologies used:
Thatched roofs with large eaves. Thatch has to be quite thick, and quite steep to be effective. Material is usually heavy reeds. Typically you will use 3-4 times the thickness that is opaque. This translates into 1 to 2 feet thick.
Ceramic tile sections. Often used in Mediterranean areas. Red (usually) tile roofs with one layer of tiles open up, and a second set over them opening downward. This is a very heavy roof.
The other technique is to surface the walls with something less ready to try to run away when it gets wet. Lime plaster works well for this. To make it more water proof it was mixed with pig blood. This was often used for chimney caps, but in parts of England you still see pink cottages echoing this tradition.
Surfaces can be sealed with milk paint or with linseed oil.
Doing this:
A building is a lot of work. When trying a new technique do 4 projects:
- Doghouse.
- Garden shed.
- Garage
- House.
This will make your mistakes a lot cheaper both in time and money.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22012. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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