In August, I had a chance to sling some mud over at Kindra’s Mountain Cottage.  This beautiful, 1200 square foot, fully permitted cob house is tucked away in the mountains of Black Lake, in northern New Mexico. It’s constructed from locally harvested round wood, straw bale, cob, and adobe.  It’s a passive solar design with radiant ( earthen ) floor heating and a living roof.  The quality is magnificent, like we have come to expect from Kindra’s work.  Though the cottage is a bit of a family art project, with most of the labor provided by Kindra, her family and friends.

When I arrived, the work party was applying the exterior render to the walls.  A mix of 2 red clay, 1 lime, 3 course sand, 3 fine sand and some chopped straw.  Then washed with a color coat while still wet.

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Scraping off cracked lime plaster from a to-smooth earthen wall

Failure: the omission of expected or required action. I think this is what they call “Another F-ing learning experience”. It’s sometimes necessary to make mistakes to learn what not to do. I thought I’d share mine.

A year ago we plastered a wall with a sand and lime mix. The mix wasn’t very precise and a little thin. It was applied to a wall that had little to no key, nothing for the plaster to hold on to. I have always finished the ’scratch’ coat with my hands in the past. I guess that left enough of a key or grip, but this was finished with a pool trowel. And huh… not scratched. Continue Reading…

Adam Weismann and Katy Bryce, of Cob in Cornwall, have announced their new book today. Using Natural Finishes: Lime and earth based plasters, renders and paints. A Step by Step Guide. The book covers all aspects of the preparation and application of wall finishes made from lime and earth.

It can be ordered at usingnaturalfinishes.com »

I want this southern wall to be mostly cob and earthbags to collect the warmth of the sun. Of course, it would be wonderful to have a pure cob wall, but time does not permit. And after all that’s slow! Here’s the thing though - It’s already cold. I’m pushing my luck with light clay infill. The light clay takes a long time to dry. Even in warm weather you should let the light clay infill dry for a couple of months before plastering. Cob too. It won’t dry in time. Basically, I’m after a wind break for the winter so I can work inside.
 

Light Clay Cram

It’s somewhere in between wattle and daub and light clay infill, but it not really either. I’m making use of my post and beam structure by nailing saw mill ‘waste’, known as mill ends, to the posts. This creates a good lattice for what comes next.

I made some light clay and let it sit out in the sun for an afternoon. The earth absorbed the excess moisture and the clay gets pretty tacky. I took a lump of light clay and placed the in between the open space between the mill ends and cram it over to the side. Packing and pushing. The lump of light clay fills the gap and hangs over the mill ends both inside and outside. I just kept doing that until the openings were full. Let dry in the feirce winds…

After a few days of sun and wind it was time to add mud. I tucked earthen plaster in the gaps and covered the light clay. The straw creates a good key. Now when I go back in the spring to add the infill plaster the wall is ready and I have a wind break for the winter.

This has got to be one of the quickest and low cost ways to create a wall. Rather than building up slowly this allows for the wall to go up first and then thicken up later. The wall is up. The materials were cheap. And the amount of human energy was moderate.

Earth Plaster Workshop

May 31-June 4, 2007
Tres Orejas, West of the Gorge - Near Taos, New Mexico

Layers of Plaster to Cover Straw or Earth
How to make an Adobe Floor
Finish Techniques, Alis and Casein
Color on Lime or Clay
Restoration Procedures

Learn Useful Skills That Can Earn You a Living!

All Meals Provided
Camping Space Available
$200 before May 15, $250 After
(or $65 per day)

Carole Crews
seacrews [ at ] taosnet.com
(505)758-7251