I saw an article in which experimental archaeologists compared the man-hours required to build a log cabin vs a watt;e and daub house. They concluded that the log house was a more efficient use of time but, of course, in the old days these were built by families rather than grad students and kids can handle the wattles just fine but would have to leave the logs for adults.
Log cabins can be built faster but are extremely wasteful due to how many trees it takes to build. Log cabins were very popular in the American colonies due to the incredible surplus of trees and the quickness of construction. In Europe there was heavy deforestation for thousands of years for firewood, charcoal, shipbuilding etc.
I love this. I can see how the fence could be give colors and extra strength and beauty with powdered color concentrate, glass, marbles, gem stones, and more. Brilliant. And great if left in rustic beauty. LOVE your channel!
Going to build a home soon using timber framing and wattle and daub. It’s going to be styled after a wattle and daub creole cottage a lot like my ancestors would have done in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana during colonial France.
@@matthewstec3026 Good game. I sold stone knives until I could figure out, and affored, to grow flax. Flax seed is basically growing my own coins. I kinda don't like how you have to level up to build new things. Maybe it would be funner to me if you had to buy the lisence or something IDK. The leveling aspect makes starting a new save not appealing.
Doing so on KAUAI with lots of haole Koa saplings. Made a wattle lawnmower rack with 5 aluminum lengths that fit atop bumper and under back door on my suv. Then tie ends to roof rack k. Aloha
This is great info. Love what you have done. Inspires me more to venture in this kind of project for my dream rural home. Thanks for your tips! Straightforward and simple.
When I was young, in our villages in Ukraine there were wattle fences everywhere. And in Chernihiv there was a wicker factory. What beautiful furniture the craftsmen wove. 🇨🇦🇺🇦✌️🪖
With the wattles make ten around 5 10 feet and 5 8.84 and then every other one switch and then you have a perfect base walls for the geo dome makes a lovely greenhouse . Try the technique you have for the walls would look nice paint them up even when it dries .
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am going to make a fence for my poultry come warm weather. Im curious about a few things. #1 - the clay, Do you filter out the mud or jut use plain mud? I have soil that is vey heavy in clay but I have been unsuccessful in separating it. #2 is the clay needed? I was considering just using the branches for this project and foregoing the clay all together
Thanks for this upload, Stefan. I'm wanting to add a wattle and daub porch to my little cob roundhouse I built 4 years ago so have a question. I used the clay from the area I cleared to do my built but added sand to the clay and straw. It dried like concrete and is grand so if I don't add sand to the mix will it crack and be less resistant to the weather? I'm 750 m above sea level in Portugal and hope to use coppiced mimosa. Would really appreciate your opinion. ❤
@@maggietaylor9713 I'm hearing a lot about sand in the mix and must try it for myself! If it's working for you then I say do it! I have only researched building methods from Ireland and have started looking at Britain. It seems to me that you use what is around you, wherever you are. That's what I do.
@@craggyholeThanks for feedback Stefen, unfortunately I had to buy in the sand to built my wee house. The cob man said unless my clay ratio in the soil was about 25% to loam and stones I'd need to add sand or it would crack. Have you started on your wee house and what mix are you doing? Taking your feedback I think the external daub will be cob and I'll do the inside with your mix plus goat poo from my gals. Much appreciated and greetings from Portugal 😊
Very clear demo. One question, does it have to be clay, or is this in the vaguest sense, ie any old mud will do. Where i live i have to dig down about a metre to get to (orange) clay. - bit too much work for my liking :)
I used what could be called mud with some soft clay content - mixing it with straw is the key. Sometimes with the harder and deeper clay, small stones would be mixed in for extra strength and no straw used!
It's half a days work harvesting and prepping the willow & stakes for this example. Yes - it does takes time. The daubing is the most rewarding for me.
@@craggyhole My question is: How did they historically tie in wattle and daub to a timber-framed house? I know that the mud would sort of tie it in, but I would think that they'd have a more secure method of attaching the stakes to the wooden beams.
@@tyree9055 there are different methods, but in the case of building a house, the beams would be fixed to larger stakes at the top using dowling and rope to fix it onto upright stakes (approx. 4"/5" diameter). Another method is to simply place beams onto finished wall which will not be as strong or as durable.
WELL EXPLAINED ESPECIALLY FITTING THICK WATTLE TO THIN WATTLE ENDS TO MAKE THEM LEVEL , I WOULD HAVE MOVED THE BUCKET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FENCE THO TO CATCH ALL THE FALLING DAUB LOL
Usually a wall like this is protected by a thatched overhang - however, this demonstration patch I made has sustained winter and hardly suffered at all. The straw seems to help with keeping the structure intact.
It will erode in the rain. How fast? Depends on your environment and what type of clay. I used common garden clay, but I think the straw helped - again - from the garden. This type of wall would ordinarily be part of architecture, so it would have a roof over it. This demo is only to show how to build a wattle and daub wall.
Stefan, you are of Polish descent, that is a wonderful Polish name! Did your parents immigrate to Ireland or just your father? I would love to hear your story! I am 2nd and 3rd generation US born, but 95% Polish, 5% German..(a great great grandfather).
I wonder if he used black locust. Does honey locust also not rot the way black locust generally won't rot? Does cedar work as well, but it's very flammable and dangerous? Who do I ask these things to? Librarians?
No black locusts involved! Try cedar if you like - we don't have many around where I am. As long as it is bendy and straight enough, it should work. I do not know about the dangers of cedar - although wood in general is flammable. Librarians can be very helpful.
A wall built this way would usually be part of a house and have roofing over hanging the wall by around 3 feet to prevent rain falling at up to 45 degrees, so that even then - the rain won't touch it.
@@jeanladoire4141 yes. Also, the lower internal part of the wall can be damp and cool, which may cause degredation up to 1 foot high. Unless fire is lit every day..
@@craggyhole thanks for your answer, i hope to build myself a shed from dirt and wood, and i'm just not sure of how good it is / what needs to be done to make sure it works
Teaching is a talent mate. Very fine film you made. Thanks. Greetings from Greece 🇬🇷.
Thank you so much for teaching these old skills, that shouldn't be old. These skills should be required classes for young people. Learn to survive.
Thé earliest form of building walls, practised all over the world,
This and mudbricks, used since ancient times to this day.
Terrific video - hope to do this on a future property one day and get children involved. Kids love getting muddy! Thank you from America.
This is perfect for this fantasy that I am creating. I am so glad I found your channel. Thank you.
Your lovely. Thank you. We're about to embark on a wattle and daub project on a shed we're building. Feeling relaxed about it now.
Thank you for a very complete demonstration. Most people are showing minimal construction of these fences. You was very helpful and thorough.
Thank you for your comment!
I saw an article in which experimental archaeologists compared the man-hours required to build a log cabin vs a watt;e and daub house. They concluded that the log house was a more efficient use of time but, of course, in the old days these were built by families rather than grad students and kids can handle the wattles just fine but would have to leave the logs for adults.
Log cabins can be built faster but are extremely wasteful due to how many trees it takes to build. Log cabins were very popular in the American colonies due to the incredible surplus of trees and the quickness of construction. In Europe there was heavy deforestation for thousands of years for firewood, charcoal, shipbuilding etc.
@@jeremyfutch9472and of course wattle and daub is more fireproof. In the end, each tech had its ups and down sides
We may have to start building this way due to increased lumber prices in the US, lol. Nice work!
Thanks!
The same goes for sweden. Prices for building materials have skyrocketed over here.
You ain't lying. Everything is ridiculous... can't even afford to repair stuff much less save for something new.
I love this. I can see how the fence could be give colors and extra strength and beauty with powdered color concentrate, glass, marbles, gem stones, and more. Brilliant. And great if left in rustic beauty. LOVE your channel!
Thank you so much!
Well done Stephan, see you at the park in a few weeks. Guy the blacksmith
Merci beaucoup Guy! See you soon.
Better than a 30 year mortgage !
Little tip for those that don’t know , just chamfer the top of hour posts and they won’t split when you bang them in . 😀👍🇬🇧🔭🦔
Anyone else still here making wattle and daub in 2024? Never gets old🙂
Going to build a home soon using timber framing and wattle and daub. It’s going to be styled after a wattle and daub creole cottage a lot like my ancestors would have done in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana during colonial France.
I want to make a playhouse for my kids!
Came here cause of a game called Medieval Dynasty. I build them there, so.... Yes I'm an expert now.
@@matthewstec3026 Good game. I sold stone knives until I could figure out, and affored, to grow flax. Flax seed is basically growing my own coins.
I kinda don't like how you have to level up to build new things. Maybe it would be funner to me if you had to buy the lisence or something IDK. The leveling aspect makes starting a new save not appealing.
Doing so on KAUAI with lots of haole Koa saplings. Made a wattle lawnmower rack with 5 aluminum lengths that fit atop bumper and under back door on my suv. Then tie ends to roof rack k. Aloha
Yessssah!
My dream is a wattle daub Tudor cabin. With great internet connection
Merci from Montreal Canada
Nice video, made me feel like I was in the shire.
Beautiful. I need to build a goat enclosure, so this will be perfect!
That's exactly what I'm going to do! How's is going so far?
This is great info. Love what you have done. Inspires me more to venture in this kind of project for my dream rural home. Thanks for your tips! Straightforward and simple.
Thank you! I hope your dream house is a success!
Good job, I had such a boar, everything would eat here right away ...
You can use the nice log that you are sitting on to make a nice upright platform for it and build even a green house for your gardens with a dome ,
6 1/2 red clay and 1 1/2 water 1 1/2 straw 1 1/2 sand mix up and apply like the brick mix for mortars
When I was young, in our villages in Ukraine there were wattle fences everywhere.
And in Chernihiv there was a wicker factory. What beautiful furniture the craftsmen wove.
🇨🇦🇺🇦✌️🪖
This is a really lovely technic , thank you for shareing
Thank you! Cheers!
With the wattles make ten around 5 10 feet and 5 8.84 and then every other one switch and then you have a perfect base walls for the geo dome makes a lovely greenhouse . Try the technique you have for the walls would look nice paint them up even when it dries .
Wouldn't the straw also add some insulation? Or is this effect negligible?
Planning to build a sleeping house for my ducks like that.
If you thatch the roof, this will add to insulation - I recommend reeds. However, the straw content in the clay wall mix is, as you say - negligible.
Wow,, amazing content you have. New Subscriber from Philippines
Thank you Stefan
I remember when I was a girl, I came across one of these 'stick insects' in the garden. When it moved I was very shocked!
Great demo, thanks
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am going to make a fence for my poultry come warm weather. Im curious about a few things. #1 - the clay, Do you filter out the mud or jut use plain mud? I have soil that is vey heavy in clay but I have been unsuccessful in separating it. #2 is the clay needed? I was considering just using the branches for this project and foregoing the clay all together
Thank you. Sorry for the delay in answering: #1 - mud with some clay content is good. #2 - clay is not necessary for your particular project.
@@craggyhole Thank you sooo much ! as soon as the snow is gone up here in the north Im getting started
Can you use a lime and cement mix, instead of clay?
Thanks for the video! Could you tell me, is it preferable to let the wattle dry, before daubing? Due to the green wattle drying/shrinking
Just gather a bunch of 6 year olds and you'd have enthusiastic workers for as long as you had daub to sling!!
Now we want to see you build a Geo dome! 30 A at 10 foot and 35 B at 8.8 then wattle it and clay to seal makes a nice thing yes! Try that eh!
Awesome mate Thank you 🎉
Thanks for this upload, Stefan. I'm wanting to add a wattle and daub porch to my little cob roundhouse I built 4 years ago so have a question. I used the clay from the area I cleared to do my built but added sand to the clay and straw. It dried like concrete and is grand so if I don't add sand to the mix will it crack and be less resistant to the weather? I'm 750 m above sea level in Portugal and hope to use coppiced mimosa. Would really appreciate your opinion. ❤
@@maggietaylor9713 I'm hearing a lot about sand in the mix and must try it for myself! If it's working for you then I say do it! I have only researched building methods from Ireland and have started looking at Britain. It seems to me that you use what is around you, wherever you are. That's what I do.
@@craggyholeThanks for feedback Stefen, unfortunately I had to buy in the sand to built my wee house. The cob man said unless my clay ratio in the soil was about 25% to loam and stones I'd need to add sand or it would crack. Have you started on your wee house and what mix are you doing? Taking your feedback I think the external daub will be cob and I'll do the inside with your mix plus goat poo from my gals. Much appreciated and greetings from Portugal 😊
@@maggietaylor9713 thank you. My latest short is the start of the latest shelter. Not sure about a mix yet. Stay tuned!
Very good enjoyed that
Thanks Danny! More soon...
Oh man... I gotta fix this house.. bad timing of the year. Being it our bathroom especially.. and in use You polish in uk ?
Najlepszego! Panie. 👍👍👍😉
Dzieki!
Very clear demo. One question, does it have to be clay, or is this in the vaguest sense, ie any old mud will do. Where i live i have to dig down about a metre to get to (orange) clay. - bit too much work for my liking :)
I used what could be called mud with some soft clay content - mixing it with straw is the key. Sometimes with the harder and deeper clay, small stones would be mixed in for extra strength and no straw used!
Very helpful. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
I love your accent 😍
Nicely done Mr. Barry, if I might ask, what county are you from?
Limerick.
I thought Liam Cunningham would talk about construction 😅 Good video 👍
Thanks a Lot
Thank you!
How long did it take for you to make that fence portion? I feel like it's more time consuming than it appears.
It's half a days work harvesting and prepping the willow & stakes for this example. Yes - it does takes time. The daubing is the most rewarding for me.
@@craggyhole My question is: How did they historically tie in wattle and daub to a timber-framed house?
I know that the mud would sort of tie it in, but I would think that they'd have a more secure method of attaching the stakes to the wooden beams.
@@tyree9055 there are different methods, but in the case of building a house, the beams would be fixed to larger stakes at the top using dowling and rope to fix it onto upright stakes (approx. 4"/5" diameter). Another method is to simply place beams onto finished wall which will not be as strong or as durable.
Watching this I can almost hear my Celtic/Gaelic ancestors whisper on the winds, "Pill do'n tìr, a mhic"
WELL EXPLAINED ESPECIALLY FITTING THICK WATTLE TO THIN WATTLE ENDS TO MAKE THEM LEVEL , I WOULD HAVE MOVED THE BUCKET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FENCE THO TO CATCH ALL THE FALLING DAUB LOL
I have seen this done before, and have wondered how the rain affects the finished product.
Usually a wall like this is protected by a thatched overhang - however, this demonstration patch I made has sustained winter and hardly suffered at all. The straw seems to help with keeping the structure intact.
i didnt know bill bailey did traditional construction tutorials
Wonders never cease!
How do stand up to several months of rain?
Well, what happens when it rains? Done a fireplace from clay and it lasted one winter.
It will erode in the rain. How fast? Depends on your environment and what type of clay. I used common garden clay, but I think the straw helped - again - from the garden. This type of wall would ordinarily be part of architecture, so it would have a roof over it. This demo is only to show how to build a wattle and daub wall.
Stefan, you are of Polish descent, that is a wonderful Polish name! Did your parents immigrate to Ireland or just your father? I would love to hear your story! I am 2nd and 3rd generation US born, but 95% Polish, 5% German..(a great great grandfather).
My parents met in London in the 1950's, I was born there and we emmigrated to my mother's native country (Ireland) after I finished college.
could not hear very good even with the volume all the way up. You may wanna work on raising the volume while mixing your videos. Thank you so much!
how do you make it water resiliant though?
You don't usually because the overhang on the roof should prevent rain from touching it, even if rain is falling at up to 45 degrees.
Sourcing clay is harder for those of us that live on sand ;) Where I am, it's sand to at least 65 feet down, with no clay to be found :(
Where did you get the machete from please?
Made it myself from an old lawnmower blade.
@@craggyhole oh my! Well done! It’s exactly what I need! Wondered why I couldn’t find one around! Was it difficult? 😊
@@michellehulme2305 not difficult for a metal worker.
I wonder if he used black locust.
Does honey locust also not rot the way black locust generally won't rot?
Does cedar work as well, but it's very flammable and dangerous?
Who do I ask these things to? Librarians?
No black locusts involved! Try cedar if you like - we don't have many around where I am. As long as it is bendy and straight enough, it should work. I do not know about the dangers of cedar - although wood in general is flammable. Librarians can be very helpful.
How do they hold up to humidity and rain tho
A wall built this way would usually be part of a house and have roofing over hanging the wall by around 3 feet to prevent rain falling at up to 45 degrees, so that even then - the rain won't touch it.
@@craggyhole alright ! And what about humidity coming from the soil? Doesnt it degrade the wall?
@@jeanladoire4141 yes. Also, the lower internal part of the wall can be damp and cool, which may cause degredation up to 1 foot high. Unless fire is lit every day..
@@craggyhole thanks for your answer, i hope to build myself a shed from dirt and wood, and i'm just not sure of how good it is / what needs to be done to make sure it works
Your beard is even bushier since last time i seen ya mate. can ye guess who this is? lol
I reckon I can guess. It could only be yourself! lol
Are branches green or dry?
Green!
hard to hear, sound too low???... how does one keep it from eroding away in the rain???....
and that Is for!?
You said poo!
How about some audio?
There is audio. Unless you mean a lack of background music?
Very sorry for interrupting you while you were drinking a fine brew and disregarding your religion.
LOL. Did I miss the angelus?
@@craggyhole I love you Stefan but the real question is are you the imposter
@@oisinenright538 I am not the imposter!
I might be the imposter...
@@craggyhole Chef stef is the imposter
Instruction unclear. Chopped me hands off with a machete (typed this with my feet)
Poor bloke probably had his door kicked in by armed coppers after uploading this.
Nope. No sign of them. Not much of a door on the hut to be kicked in either. I have since moved, so I may have foiled them!
I'm not using dung. No thanks