Earthen floor
An earthen floor, also called an adobe floor, is a floor made of dirt, raw earth, or other unworked ground materials. It is usually constructed, in modern times, with a mixture of sand, finely chopped straw and clay, mixed to a thickened consistency and spread with a trowel on a sub-surface such as concrete. Once dry, it is then usually saturated with several treatments of a drying oil.
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[edit] Benefits
- Variety of colors, textures, and materials
- Can be installed over nearly any subflooring
- Integrates well with in-floor radiant heat tubing
- One of the cheapest flooring methods, green or otherwise.
[edit] History
Earthen floors were predominant in most houses until the mid 14th century in Europe, and persist to this day in many parts of the world.[1] In medieval times, almost all peasant housing had earthen floors, usually of hardpacked dirt topped off with a thin layer of straw for warmth and comfort. Soil in the southwestern parts of the US contain nearly a perfectly mixed ratio of adobe.
In China, most cottages and smaller houses also had earthen floors, made of rammed earth and sealed with raw linseed.[2]
Earthen floors were discovered in ancient Greece,[3] and in many other early developing civilizations.
[edit] Construction
In modern times, most earthen floors are often laid over the top of a subfloor of tamped gravel and then a mixture of clay, sand and fiber are mixed and leveled onto the tamped subfloor. These layers can be 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick. The thinner layers will dry faster but require a better subfloor for strength or more layers. Earthen floors can be laid over the top of previously installed wood floors but weight can become an issue.
[edit] Finishing
A drying oil like Linseed oil is usually used to seal the floor and protect it from wear and tear. A final coat of perilla oil and a wax sealing finish are also used on high traffic flooring areas.
[edit] References
- ^ Gies, Frances & Gies, Joseph, Life in a Medieval Village
- ^ Mitsu,Ahn , Developments in History: China
- ^ McAllister, Marian Holland; Bradley A. Ault (2005). The Excavations at Ancient Halieis: The Houses: The Organization and Use of Domestic Space. Indiana University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0253347106. http://books.google.com/books?id=nGwIb2uEIbIC&pg=PA103&dq=Earthen+floor&ei=QQ_-SJm7O4uWyATm3cWiDw&client=firefox-a.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Earthen floors |
- http://www.dancingrabbit.org/newsletter/Newsletter0701-floors.php (6 parts sand, 2 parts clay, 1 part finely chopped straw)
- http://www.housealive.org/newsletter-archive/earthen-floors.html (5 in road base + 1 in [70% sand, 30% clay and about 10% straw])
- Gelles, David, "Down and Dirty", The New York Times, February 8, 2007
- http://www.LanderLand.com (step by step how to)
