How to Make a Rammed Earth Test Block - 5% Cement
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2015
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A test block is just that, to see how durable the result is with your proportions. Most places have adequate clay beneath the topsoil and the proportions of sand and clay in the soil might be perfect. There are people experimenting with rammed earth using flyash replacing some of the sand as little as 3% Portland cement. Volcanic sand and quicklime was used by the Romans and flyash has similar properties. You can test the proportions of sand/clay in the soil using buckets of water. Put a couple of shovels of soil in a bucket of water and stir it fast. Wait about ten or fifteen seconds for the sand and any rocks to settle, then pour the muddy water into an empty bucket through a cloth to filter out organic material. Let the mud settle out and when the water is clear, slowly pour it off into a third bucket. The first bucket will contain sand and rocks. Second bucket is clay. Now you’ll know what your soil contains and if you need to add sand, add clay or if proportions are good enough.
I stopped using cement at least a year ago. I now substitute wood ash from my fire pit. The ratio is perhaps one part ash, two parts sand and four parts crushed clay. By adding water, you can make anything from a slurry to a sticky mud. In some cases, I use either cut or uncut straw to reinforce. I routinely change up the ratio of the mix because the percentage of clay in the dirt is the biggest variable. I don't screen anything. The range of material that you can make from these simple ingredients is amazing and-except for the labor-is free if you can get them on the building site.
It be very helpful if you can make videos of the mixture (wood ash from my fire pit). I am very interested in it. I want to avoid cements at all costs. Thanks
Is that mix waterproof or at least water resistant? I’ve made wood ash concrete before but it takes too much ash for large structures so I’m wanting to try something different.
Where will you get that much wood ash to build an entire house?
@@kcmuanpuia That much ash will be extremely hard to get I’m sure. Unless a person used volcanic ash which you can find tons of it out in the mesas in the southwest US. I can’t imagine how many things you’d have to burn in order to get enough ash to build a house. I’ve only ever built about 10 wood ash bricks for a tiny garden bed and it took a bunch of ash to do that.
thats a lot of wood burning to get that quantity of ash for that ratio. i dont see it being very practical. why is the sand so important? Clay is super abundant for most people, what is your experience with using a higher content of clay?
This is very nice. The hyperlapse speed and not omitting any detail, gave me a good idea of how this works. Thanks for the video.
great job ...
that's how the ancient people built the legendary wall that remain till today
Great video. Thank you for showing the entire process, albeit a little repetitive. I didn't notice any water added to the soil/concrete mix before ramming the earth. Was the soil already damp enough or was the addition of water just not shown?
In Ecuador it's called tapia. There are houses 500 years old as long as you keep the roof on it. They seem to have rocks mixed in about 2 inches long. They do blocks about 3 feet by 5 like giant bricks, two guys pounding away. It's really thick so it always feels cool in the day and warm at night. But you want to paint it with a kind of colorless glue paint so that you don't get a lot of dust in your house.
I hope you were talking about these as in the link:
ruclips.net/video/v6Iy0hOUBQw/видео.html
Where in Ecuador? I am here until April 2019 and would like to see this material. Thank you.
How they resist earthquakes?
interesting. i wish you coul tell me more
Linseed oil is the best for sealing it.
Good stuff bro.
I have a use for them.
Really appreciate your help.
Be safe.
As an African I'm really interested in ram earth houses. It is low cost and durable.
Look up "tapial" it's name in Spanish, you will see tutorials on how Hispanic people do it.
Martin Rauch architekt look him and his house/ projects up
O cement used !
How to? How did you choose the earth? The 5% cement, by volume or weight? The water content? Your "squeeze test" was incomplete. After making a ball you need to drop it from about a yard and watch the result. If it "splats", too wet. If it explodes into a dozen pieces, too dry. If it breaks into 5-8 pieces, tamp. What other binders could be used? In the 50s I used only emulsified asphalt half diluted with water. It created a waterproof block that still looks good.
I only needed to watch one tamping. It's not brain surgery. But well done.
Excellent work, thank you for your sharing information.
wow- so many experts on here!! you can ignore most of the comments from folks who have done it all/seen it all. my impression- overall a good video. lot of work though!
Thanks.
Yes, I know. So many pretentious idiots on RUclips.
It is a huge work of course, but there is no harm in mentioning points, if you put a video on the internet then it can be watched by an engineer or experts in building and masonry, they can put an opinion or a coment, which is helpful for a guy starting something a new
I can now say that I have watched someone go pound sand.
My basic understanding is that 'test bricks' are almost always done both wet and dry with and without straw. For something like this, I would like to craft 8-10 test bricks around 12x12x6 inches each using slightly different ratios of base composition and moisuture. Compression test after fully drying by building 6 inch ramps to drive a car over and then blast them with a garden hose. If I am gonna depend on the walls for the rest of my life, my life depends on getting them perfect. May the best brick win!
The strength of the cob increases with the weight of the structure and how it is built, becoming massively load-bearing. The test on a brick with a car is NOT the way to test it. I don't know what is, though it isn't by a single brick and a car. Watch more cob videos that describe the details of load-bearing stregth.
I also believe I've seen thicker than 12" walls, with certain walls much thicker than others. Maybe, I am wrong, but I don't think a brick is the test for strength. The wall becomes stronger the more it is built up and supported by the other walls.
Sometimes, too, depending on the design, support beams are added inside. History has proven these houses are the most durable structrues, built right.
I thought this was a variation of forming cob and hadn't listened yet. The principles are similar for strength, but of course with the variable of cement and how it is formed. I too would NOT be comfortable the mix was right and wouldn't attempt it without someone who knows what they are doing to advise or a LOT of research for how to test. Still, I dont' think a brick would be a reliable test!
Take a look at Open Source Ecology's Liberator V4 design. It makes bricks in like... 2 seconds. Costs a couple thousand. It's compressed blocks, but since you're making a block, it's basically the same thing, just formed like a brick.
The slip-form method was great.
watching this thinking... work smarter not harder... You are losing half the dirt out the buckets, make a funnel or something.
I think it was done for demonstrative purposes. The whole process demonstrated is very inefficient, and in the end, despite the jump test at the end, you still see the brick cracking at the seems. It doesn't seem compressed enough to be rammed earth, and i think it would have difficulty drying off if baked in the sun. A brick that size is going to be extremely heavy, especially if they were to bring it to a kiln. There appears to be a dried brick at the end which is noticeable larger which suggest or shows a lack of uniformity. Maybe it still works, i dunno. I have no experience in that stuff. If i were to build something of any height on the cheap, I would probably do compressed earth method using simple machines (hand operated cinva ram) to give a mechanical advantage on smaller hollow bricks. Hollow to use rebar for support, run wires, plumbing, etc.
I have been studying architecture for some time, however this is not professional but let me tell you he has the idea. While you could use expensive tools he is making it with what he has. That is exactly what our teacher now want from us. Using what you already have rather than what you could spend.
@@michaellake4633 The block isnt cracking at all. It is plenty compressed for rammed earth. It will dry just fine. Rammed earth is built in place, you dont move it so weight doesn't matter. You certainly don't bring it to a kiln. The one next to it is taller, you can make them whatever height you like.
t is obvious you have no experience because almost everything you said is silly and irrelevant.
I was thinking the same about the round buckets I mean he mixes the cement in a container that would be better later and ya the kiln thing it isn't clay right just dirt and concrete
Just roll a Wheel Barrow under it to catch it all...
With that much tamping, your arms should gain the bone density of a Shaolin Monk!
😂😂😂😂😂
I'm was gonna do P90X but figured I would just work on my rammed earth project and call it a workout. The digging, transporting and the ramming is a real workout.
His wife should be very happy.
Espetacular, muito obrigado por esta aula 🤜🤛
Wow the worlds fastest tamper! :)
cool its a neat way of doing it.
great job, thank you for the video, what is the thickness of the wall, if that is an 8 inch square tamper then the thickness seems to be about 12 inch ? is that correct. I was wondering if there are any cons to building a very thick walls like 20-24 inch thick walls to increase insulation value and to increase mass to hold more heat during winter days.
Very cool project.
Muy buen trabajo! Felicidades!!!
Cool video man. Thanks
Have you considered using a bonding agent ?
I have a property in central Florida and the soil is a soft white powdery sand. I want to build a 8x8 shed floor using this sand, Portland cement and a bonding agent. I think a 10% Portland mix should be good enough. I think if i just air-rate and agitate it with a drill mixer, add in Portland and watery bonding mix and then tamp it will work. Maybe increase the percent of Portland on the edges and top to 20%.
now I know how they made all those bulldozer sound effects in SimCity 2000
🤣👍
thank you indeed for sharing this stuff what is the amount of moisture content!
fantastic thank you for sharing
bravo, and thank you
According to the technology adopted in my homeland, add straw, without cement.
I will note this for the future
That would be more like cob this is more of a modern rammed earth version which should hold up to the elements much better without the maintenance that cob-like materials and techniques require from exposure to the elements from what my research says so far. Modern rammed earth usually requires a minimum of 10% of Portland cement and soil that contains about 20% clay and plenty of sand and damp not water saturated soil. The modern mixture is very strong and durable compared to the traditional cob which requires a exterior stucco usually lyme based to protect it from the elements especially from rain.
very great!! thanks
Thank you very much.
I am going to be taking a rammed earth course this spring. My main concern is getting the mix right every time I do up another batch.
hi where are you taking it? do you recommend a particular course?
Masterful! That is impressive! Thank you for sharing! Do you think pouring the mix with water would make it somewhat less labor intensive? could the mix be done with stone and water?
If you add water you can´t compact the mix. Natural earth contain water. You can use earth mixed with stones too.
Search "SIRE rammed earth" Structural Insulated Rammed Earth - to meet building codes
xophossophos: Good question. Less labor at that stage, but maybe not overall. 1. Less water allows immediate removal of the form and continued wall building. 2. A poured mix would require many days to dry (cure). So many more forms would need to be made, with a lot of leftover lumber and work.
Rocks would require more cement (the most expensive ingredient). It changes the look. A large interesting rock or object (burrow?) adds an artistic touch without the need for more cement.
Wow!
That's wonderful to see how simplistic technique works and it's durable. I just want to know how many days should I keep the wood paneling to get a consistent block ?
Wow, seems like one of the most labor/time intensive ways to build a home that I could imagine...
It does take some work but with automation, it's not too bad. We use pneumatic rammers for example and motorized conveyors.
It's also the highest insulation rating, is immune to rodents, pests, mold, and lasts for thousands of years.
YA RIGHT I FORGOT RATS DONT LIKE BURROWING IN DIRT
It absorbs heat from the sun and releases it when the sun goes down. Please it's cheap.
"The walls are also rodent-resistant because they don't offer any food sources for insects or other vermin."
A simple google search would have told you why its not attractive to rats. Rammed earth is super compressed. It has to be more difficult to burrow through. Why burrow through tough dirt for no food?
what is the white powder that you add to the mix? and is this mix totally dry or do you add some water? and is it time-consuming?
Hermoso el tapisado ..
!!!
I live in a place with a lot of rain, is there a way to make this work there or should I just make and fire bricks?
Better add some reinforcement to those panels, especially on the sides, to avoid curves. It's not steady enough. Should be a good structure that can take serious abuse and keep everything leveled .
Good job, I like the bricks you put first, but if it is filled with concrete.
We had serious slipforms for the stone hip walls we built. 1 meter tall, 60cm thick. Ended up cutting poles and wedging them against the sides, toenailed to stakes. That house stays perfectly cool!
How long did you wait before you took the forms off and how long before you jumped on it?
THANKSGIVING
what is the advantace of this over cob if any this is lots more labor...thanks
How do you determine what is 5% cement? It looks like either 1/4 or 1/2 of the small white bucket.
what happens with 20% cement? Is there a significant increase in strength or not?
Can you try reinforcing it with fiberglass screen?
What should be the ratio of mud, sand and cement ?
And what will be the ideal thickness of a rammed earth wall ?
There isn't really any ratio, but it must be high in clay. That's why it got squeezed and kept its shape after sifting and before the brick process started. The clay is what holds everything together.
The best mix in your area is what you have in the onsite soil. Clay and silt are preferred soils, but you can offset this with more cement or clay if you have heavier sand based soil. 40% clay 40% sand and 20% silt + a 5% to10% addition of cement can make something almost as hard as granite. Different mixes allow for different soil structures like an addition of aggregate like 3"+ gravel. You can add in soil colorants, lime, chalk... The ideal thickness depends on how tall the building is. A two storey thick wall should be at least 2' thick with a bond beam of concrete at 10'-12' before rising to the second storey.
So you tamp the material down dry? Just curious about how it doesn’t crumble as soon as you take away the forms.
I like. I comment. I subscribe.
Probably a stupid question, but where is the water??? You use it to activate the cement, right? In wich moment you add the water and in wich quantity in relation with the quantity of earth that you use?
You jump over the block, but you have any idea of how much can that (5%) block bear out (for a high wall for example)??
Thanks! Amazing videos.
Can you tell me how long it took you to set up and pound the block, from start to finish per block? Enjoyed your vlog looking for some more.
Maybe just an hour to pound the block together.
Us a hydraulic tamper and you'll be done in 5 minutes.
Please give me details about how to select rammer weights and numbers of blows
For special applications this may be good. What about slip form technique for building walls?
+Paul Larnce I'm sure you could.
Yes, that's what they use for tapia in Ecuador. Slip forms and two guys pounding away.
We hv sand gravel nd cement. Do we need these earth blocks?
Great video! Thank you. I know this was a long time ago, but what was the soil mix (clay, gravel, sand, silt, etc..)? Also you seem to tap the outside edges with the smaller one and then follow up with the bigger one. Is there a reason you do that? Thanks!
I honestly can't remember the ratio. It might have been half soil, half sand.
I use the small tamper around the edges to compress them better and get a cleaner looking face when it comes out of the forms.
@@thiscobhouse Can you do a follow up video on how this one weathered? I saw slight crumbling at the end so wondered how it held up. You used 50/50 so that is big amount of clay but would still like to see how it fared. Can you do a follow up video? This is HUGELY instructive. Thank you
I had an idea instead of messing around hand tamping get an electric demolition hammer with a tamper attachment?
or......you could by a pneumatic tamp.
@@edstimator1 Those take powerful air compressors though
Could you use the rammed earth blocks on the bottom of a cob house then put cob on top of those?
+Bobby Hurst I'm sure you could.
Bobby Hurst use roman cement search youtube
Bobby: Excellent question It would require a stronger block at the foundation (10% cement). Would stones (with adobe mortar) work as the foundation? Would it make a wall? I think so but I like the look (aesthetics)of rammed earth better. But if you have big flat stones and no other use, I would use.
Add calcium oxide instead of cement, it's a natural way of reinforcing the wall.
And I suggest to use a more damped water.
Guillermo Leija can u please tell me rain water does effect it ??
muito demorado a produção de cada bloco.
preferível fazer a parede inteira em taipa.... usando esse processo.
Should use just a little water.. will help the cement to set and will help with compressing the brick
TheAussieGunBunny
Thanks. I'll try that next time.
The soil was moist - your senses can see that.
He showed part of the moisture (squeeze) test. But when he took off the forms and stood on it you could tell he used the correct amount.
Don Duncan Agreed, its 1 : 19 (5% cement) not 1 : 9 (10% cement). Very little water needed. I would however somehow get the forms wet to prevent them from sucking moisture out of the exterior layer of rammed earth. This would ensure good curing on the outside and prevent crumbling surfaces on the finished product.
Cody: Yes, wet forms beforehand and spray mist after removing. One other small tip: Mix all dry ingredients well, then add wet ingredients, mix well, and let sit for 15 minutes when using P.C. I wouldn't use quick set in hot, dry weather. Forms come off immediately with any mix.
Could you make some tests of water resistance? How does it responds to the rain beating on the walls? (from Brazil, here)
I made two of these blocks. One with cement and one without. The one with a bit of cement lasted over 2 years out in the open (lots of rainfall) and it was nearly undamaged. It was taken apart later though, but would have lasted longer.
Thanks! I've seen a study (made in France) with more than 30 walls made out of Rammed Earth with various mixtures and all of them resisted more than 20 years exposed to the weather, without losing more than 5% (about 2 milimiters of erosion) of its constitution. By their calculations it would be expected them to resist over 60 years of exposure. It would be nice to test it and show on RUclips!
Hey guys, if you watched my video 60 years ago when I made these rammed earth blocks.. lol
Well looks like he has some fixing up to that one side.
A clay plaster would fix that right up and make an nice finish.
So if you were to make a wall you would need to create a form for the entire wall? Ie... all four walls or for a round house the entire rounded form? I saw a worm casting separator that is cylindrical and rotates that could be fitted with the screen mesh size you were using. It would speed up the sifting process on the final project. Would the rock/urbanite foundation of the walls become stressed at all from the compression process?
+Cassity ART
I've seen more than a few videos of people using small blocks stacked and stuck together with natural adhesives, if that answers your question.
If motor-ramming of a wall those bigger lumps might break down to smaller under the force. Sifting only necessary for the hand tamping test block.
@@user-jx7fo8qo2l No! Sifting is necessary even with a pneumatic tamper. The binder, e.g., Portland cement, needs to be dispersed evenly.
Cool
cement brings humidity, in the long run that wall will have cracks, it is better to use lime
What is the name of the metal holder which is holding the cardboard in place.
Is the moisture in the dirt enough to cause the cement to cure? Or does it cure slowly over time from atmospheric humidity?
There's enough moisture in the dirt actually.
Can this store water?
I want a more organic alternative to a water tank. I dont like metal or concrete
You should isolate the tank, rammed earth walls are not very efective on humid or watery enviroments.
What does the 5% cement do in the mix? Without added water it's just powder. If it sets does it really make a structural difference? I suppose it does or it wouldn't be added.
Its rammed earth. Soil has moisture in it. Im sure the soil was damp to some degree, though. You can tell when he is tamping. This is soil, clay, sand, and 5% concrete to act as a stabilizer.
is there no water or cement mixed in here?
Is there any reason using the small wood planks to ram the earth since you already have one of steel?
You really want to tamp using a tool with a smaller tamper head. It concentrated the tamping force more.
How do these blocks hold up in rain?
Lots of work to test the dirt lol rammed earth is awesome tho
How long does it take to make single block? How many can you make in a 12 hour day? The materials may be free, but is it really worth the effort? Might be efficient in an undeveloped country where the whole village can help out, but this would never work in the US.
We use machinery and air compressors to tamp for large projects. This is only a DIY test project in someone's backyard so I did it the old fashioned/slow way here. You can build a whole wall in a day easily with new technology.
Lets do this🎉
I think this method was use to create structures such as the great pyramids.
No liquid added ??
Can i have measurement for your framework
Is this clay soil or regular soil???
Cement is water activated, so how did adding dry cement help?
it was activated by the moisture in the moist dirt. You can see it is moist by the color and also prior to using it he compressed it into a ball in his hand. You can't do that with dry dirt.
is the cement necessary do you think, seeing alot of contrasting opinions on that
Without cement it's called unstabalized, and not waterproof. You could keep it protected or plaster it.
@@dario2rnr or a good hat over top. Many ancient buildings still standing used this method and I cement. The better your hat and boots the less maintainence is required.
4:49 What's the dirt / cement ratio?
Top super
How much water should be added??
why not put the bucket higher so more soil goes in?
3:33 What's happening up top?
Agree with Mr Duncan, you kinda left out a lot of information, and honestly you really shouldn't go lower than 10 % cement by volume, or you will have brittle wall. and if you stamp from middle outward it reduces the voids and inclusions you see on your sides. oh and you should only have enough water so the soil when squeezed in your hands stays together but doesn't squeeze out. just shy or damp.
If someone is going to build anything bigger than a doghouse, for a mild investment you can get a pneumatic tamper for about $170.00 and compressors are not that expensive, this will save your shoulders and a lot of time.
Forms should be 18-24" for thickness of wall and you will need to put a 2x4 on the middle ends so when pulled it out it leaves an area for your next wall section to interlock. almost forgot you should seal it with concrete sealer after also, this helps to keep the exposed side dust down
If you seal it you will lose a lot of the benefits including the breathability of it all. Really don't need any cement, at least they didn't thousands of years ago when whole societies built like this
@@lisagoodspeed2301 your right they didnt use concrete , they used many other things like blood and bitumen etc, but they used something that bonded it, today its called concrete. And sealers keep moisture out not air molecules air molecules are much smaller so it still breathes. moisture is the enemy and why so many of your Ancient rammed earth places dont exist unless it arid climate.
you know if you threw some straw in and applied some heat you'd have these magical things called BRICKS.
What are the dimensions of the block?
So, how does it hold up if you put a hose on it?
-jcr
How long is the hose? It depends.
can rammed earth be used to build a basement in Kansas
It depends. In what state the ground floor would be?
no water added?
So much soil that youre sifting not even falling in bucket. Lol
No water, no misting, no moisture? I am baffled. I thought I had chemistry figured out ...
Put some fiber sheet as reinforcement!!!
Do we need to add water before ramming ?
Not usually. The soil should already be moist. If its too dry, add some water though to make it slightly moist.
@@thiscobhouse thanks
What type of soil is that?
Dirt
Qual as medidas do block
I would not recommend to remove the stones because those are what make these wals what they are, also here in southern Africa we have the perfect earth for the job, we call it tailings, it is the waste of diamond earth that has been washed so there is no mud or any sort of organic matter left.