Earth Floor Sealed with Oil
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2019
- A step by step tutorial on making an earthen floor, sourced from a mix of materials, such as clay, sand, and straw, similar to cob and adobe. In this video you'll see construction of an on-grade floor (sealed with oil), along with its foundation (insulated with pumice). The guest star Sukita Reay - author of Earthen Floors, who we're so happy to have join us.
For a lot more info, ready mix, and oil please check out Sukita's website -
www.claylin.com/
Earthen Floor Book Links:
Support the small publisher: New Society and purchase here -
www.newsociety.com/Books/E/Ea...
or Amazon:
amzn.to/2Z1zFUS
Music mostly from Blue Dot Sessions
Valantis/Cauldron
Um Pepino/Orange Cat
The Rampart/Castle Danger
unna/Broke For Free
Some of the above links are affiliate links, which means we receive a small commission with each sale at no extra cost to you.
Get a hold of me at - thenitoproject@gmail.com
And for info on me and family please visit - www.caneloproject.com
![MOBYE - มีใจทำไมไม่จีบ (ASAP) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dCOdz92FU18/mqdefault.jpg)
And here's the link to Sukita's books on Earthen Floors - www.newsociety.com/Books/E/Earthen-Floors
And don't worry, the plastic is optional.
We thought about simply leaving this out, but it felt more comprehensive to add more information than not. It's code in some places to have it.
The "because she is woman" part is just a story that inspired Sakita, there's no intention here to bash men or masculinity. It's feminine because it's flexible, it's not dangerous like cement, cement burns the skin when you're working with it, I wouldn't bring my baby to a cement pour.
I guess the plastic sheet at the bottom is for damp proofing. Is there any natural alternative for doing a damp proof course?
I would think a thin layer of viscous clay slurry might do the job, at least initially. It would be interesting to see how such a stack might evolve through time and use.
@@kaushikshrinivask2028 Well, I know that Sodium Bentonite clay is so renowned for the amount that it expands when it absorbs moisture that it's used to seal the bottom of "natural" bottom ponds. Supposedly the clay expands anywhere from 10-20 times it's original size(depending highly on the purity and processing) when wet, so when used as a pond seal it's sandwiched between two layers of dirt so the expansion just makes the fine grains press against their neighboring grains, and the water then takes a long long time to seep through the tight spaces. It might serve just as well with water vapor coming from the bottom, but that would have to be fleshed out in testing.
Thanks for pinning this to the top. For sure they didn't use this petroleum based plastic liner in the Puebla back in the day! It's time we got plastics out of our lives before they clog the planet for good!
pretty telling of some of your views by claiming this floor exists only because women and it's feminine. go fuck yourself, sexist.
I had aunts in Mexico with dirt floors. It kept the houses cool during the hot desert days. They swept & wet the floors every morning. The dirt was hard and compact. Bare feet did not get dirty. It was amazing.
Why did you wet it every morning?
@@Ladida386 most likely to re-polish it everyday
@You Tube your comment does not show humility to these people's living conditions.
@You Tube "Hburr durr I'm just fine from my point of economic privilege" No shit, jackass
@You Tube the mopping is the deal breaker for you for earthen flooring? thats the thing? you were gonna replace all your hardwood til hearing that? XD
My boyfriend told me of Earthen floors in Oaxaca that he grew up in... he said after his grandma would sweep and splash water on them, the smell was heavenly and that he does miss it terribly.
Agreed,It smells heavenly like the time the earth smells before it is going to rain👍
Does he remember what the floor was made of? Did he smell the moist dirt or the moistened oil or moist binders??
Seattle smells like that 320 days a year.
@@liambenyamin5482 wow. That sounds much better than Atlanta 😁
@@zachreyhelmberger894 I'm not sure, I need to ask him. I know they supposedly packed it down with water when making the homes, but I'll ask.
I love the stories that everyone is sharing.
I grew up in Redlands California USA, when I was a child around 1970 there were some very old houses that my grandfather did a construction job on, I couldn’t believe I saw this lady sweeping, then washing her dirt floor! It was so shining! I was only 8 years old at the time and will never forget how clean and beautiful the red clay floors were, and how my grandfather explained to me that dirt can be clean if respected and treated with great care. I learned something special about life that day.
Artevious - I grew up in Redlands also! I miss the orange groves.
Artevious - thanks for sharing your sweet memory
so sweet! thanks for sharing.
that’s beautiful! thank you for sharing :) a little parable
Learned what?
During the depression, my Aunt Kate and Uncle Arthur lived in a tent. It was a plain dirt floor, but every day my Aunt Kate swept it, and damp mopped it. In about 3 or 4 weeks it turned into (almost) a big, single, tile floor. It was shiny, hard, and water-proof. They had no oil for the floor, and there was no plastic. They just did a French drain around the tent, and damp mopped every day. We live in farm land, not much clay about, so this was done
with regular, loamy, dirt.
I would like to know more about this
id like to know more also please
As well as I, am curious to learn more of these Aunt Kate & Uncle Author you speak of. Please, continue.
Fascinating
@@TSB43 During the depression there were great dust storms in Oklahoma. Aunt Kate and Uncle Arthur lost what little they had. They came to California, to the Sacramento Valley. They were farmers in Oklahoma, so they picked fruit, and nuts. They lived on little, but shared what they had, as did everyone else.
They got (or brought) a tent, they had a bed frame, mattress, table, 2 wood chairs, and a kerosene light. Kate cooked outside. They were good people, and I never heard either one raise their voice. Aunt Kate played a guitar, and sang a little. She taught my brother to play. They had no children.
Here in Trinidad, my Indian ancestors (including my grandmother) made floors by mixing cow poop and clay. The cow poop has a high fibre content (it becomes like cardboard when it dries) so I suppose it holds the clay particles together.
Also, when it dries it becomes odourless (believe it or not)
well you are right here in India we used the same thing and you are right after 2-4 days their is no smell left
What about after you wet it again, like for mopping?
We also do this in South Africa 😊
@@mrsaye499 i believe you should be able to mop it once it has dried. It is still going to retain its integrity.
WOW AMAZING THIS IS A NOVEL AND UNIQUE APPROACH THAT MUST BE AN ANCIENT INDIAN SECRET
Fucking Americans man. Smoothbrains.
Was I looking for this? No. Did I thoroughly enjoy it? Hell yeah.
Love it! I work as a concrete finisher so I can tell that this is the exact same process you'd use for a slab on grade. Just subbed with natural and noninvasive material!
We absolutely love our kitchen floor she installed 4 years ago. Holding up BEAUTIFULLY! couldn't be more pleased.
Thank you,
Terry in Medford Oregon
Terry Trantham great to see you here!
Do you have dogs scratching around on it?
Hey!! Monmouth Oregon here, do you have pictures of the floor!? I'd love to see if you have an Instagram?
Yall got ooil?
>gets in jet< be right their
Ahhhh, plastic- that centuries old Indian secret ingredient.
LOL! 😂
they explained that some area's building codes require the plastic
- she also said 'moisture barrier' rather than plastic so you could use lots of other things instead.
👍🤣😂
@@lemon1peach2mango3 anything moisture can't get past. Somewhere else in the comments said that traditionally in her region tanned leather was used.
Where she's running the screed boards, could cut deeper to lay underfloor hot water pipes that feed of a woodburner backboiler This could also eliminate the need of a plastic membrane. Your concern here is damp. Damp is a major concern. This can be overcome with adequate ventilation around the parimeter. Another topic pending on your project. Cover in final finish with natural lime. Thoughts please?
I really love the way you showed the cross section of what you were doing. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.
The way to find out the particle size distribution in soil is : take a straight side bottle, cut the top off a 2 qt plastic bottle and toss in a couple of cups of soil. Add water until 3/4 full. Then stir or shake until completely mixed. Then set down and let the soil settle. The coarse material will settle on the bottom with finer materials grading until the silt settles on top. The clay will stay in suspension for days.
Then measure the thickness of the layers and that is the proportion of the soil components.
Out here in Outback Northern Territory, Australia, they used the massive termite mounds and crush them down, wet them then compact them and they turned hard like concrete, they even made airstrips out of it..
perentee77 Sounds cheap but durable, do termites make their nests out of coay?
@@robrod7120 they combine dirt with saliva. Enzymes in their saliva acts much like sealant oil that forms a polymer like in the video.
lets farm them for low cost eathen construction?
A fellow Territorian!
Same in Brazil
I loved the stratigraphic column view throughout the video. Great job!
I learned a new word through you today
That’s true... and showing the ‘compaction’, also very useful!
Isn’t it called a row when it’s horizontal ?
@@NYMusic89563 strata are layers. I can't think of any time I have seen "rows" that were not side by side.
When I was younger I heard my adopted Uncle Ben talk about when he was a kid growing up in a Hopi family. He mentioned his family lived in a house with many unique and fascinating architectural features, from hollow form Cobb walls heated by a central hearth to a compacted earth floor so densely packed that it was almost akin to a cement foundation. I always wanted to figure out the process of making those types of houses, but since he didnt know how to he couldn't teach me. Thank you for giving me a bit of insight towards the process.
I love that idea of the hollow cobb walls for heating! Pure genius!
Yeah, it's sad that such knowledge is dying out. I find the old crafts like that so charming!
If humanity keeps on going on the destructive path it's taking atm, we might well have need of such knowledge as we destroy our own civilization and will have to start again from nothing.
In the southern area of Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, people used to make two floor houses with this type of earthen floor. But they will also mix cow and sheep manure with the clay.. the houses are hundreds of years old and they are still standing.
I just love that, how you showed the soil strata along with the depth dimension as you add the layers over layer. The soil compaction as you add pressure on top of it and the oil on finishing was brilliant. Love this kind of detailed video 👍🏽👍🏽
When I used to live in Indian village 12 years ago we used to mix cowdung with soil, water to create our huts floor.
Hitesh Rawat cowdung is a great binder commonly used for wattle and daub construction.
Bullshit
In Kenya we still do that in the villages:)
Interesting! Please look up Imigongo art from Rwanda!
now this is an actual natural solution. I might use the manure from the cows on our homestead over plastic, thank you for sharing your country's method :)
Lots of single-use plastic buying hypocrites moaning about the use of a durable *long lasting* layer of vapor barrier here. Instead of thanking this amazing woman for sharing her valuable skills.
I have been experimenting with making bees wax cloths to replace plastic wrap in the kitchen. I would really love to see you experiment with this type of thing to replace the plastic foil. Maybe a tougher cloth and more bees wax. It becomes more flexible if you add an oily wax like jojoba and extra antibacterial/antifungal and stability with pine tree resin ;-)
Modern History TV channel has an episode about that.
i wonder if you can leverage some formulas from oil painting. Linseed oil with 2% beeswax can be used to make oil paint. I wonder if you increase the wax
content a bit and then dipped the wrap cloth in it if you'd get a nice substitute for plastic wrap?
I’ve installed a couple earthen floors with no plastic barrier, but your suggestion is a really good one! I use beeswax cloth wraps for food storage and can see how easily that could work on the floor. And the pine resin as an anti fungal is brilliant!. You would need a small bathtub full of beeswax to coat the large pieces of cloth! Not sure how that would work but def something to play with. Especially in areas where moisture migration is known to be a issue…
By far the best and most comprehensive presentation of earthen floors. Thank you.
Did they ever say anything about longevity or strength or cost? These are things you have to know before building anything...
Yeah. I just bought her book! :)
I was showing my Artwork at a show in Taos New Mexico.. many years back.. I was invited to stay at a Taos Pueblo's Story Teller's house which was as old at the Pueblo.. It was of course made of adobe, and I was amazed to see that the floor of this very old house had an almost marble like texture... It was, as I found out, dirt that had been walked on for soooo long it got that texture...
That will be a visit I'll never ever forget.... Stringing beads by the light of an oil lamp and listening to that sweet old ladies stories...
David Lemon, you were very fortunate to have had that experience. Thank you for sharing it with us!
@@thisorthat7626 It was fun remembering it
All the steps and materials really helped to make the end result so aesthetically appealing. Very nice job.
Ah, traditional plastic sheeting! Nice!
Everything you did was beautiful. That reed roof is best insulation.
I been in a house like this and was incredibly cool on the summer.
Yea,the best part is when your laying in bed and a mouse falls out of the ceiling onto your face.
@@yougerard1976 true, in horror movies, not in reality
Thats funny
Really great videos documenting these process. I really appreciate you and these people putting in the time to openly share knowledge.
Thank you TH-cam algorithm. This video was great
How many times do I have to lick the floor to get enough tongue oil on it? I've been going at it all week and I'm not seeing results. 9:20
Keep at it friend, until you do. Perseverance is key. Send pics of you're tongue as you progress.
😂 😂 😝
So funny! Thanks.
Damn It.. Genius comment!
Gewgulkan Suhckitt hahahah. humor is always appropriate....thank you
In our community, we just use red clay soil and water. Gives the colour as well as the smooth finish. But it needs to be layered after months or years. Interesting that modern society is into primitive construction and here we are still primitive but organic. 🙂
@@SR-gs8zo Could you clarify your comment pretty please?. It seems you got a notorious point there, but your autocorrector kicked in and busted your message.
@@SR-gs8zo That put me off as well. I would sweep and harden the floor first and then apply a THIN layer of linseed oil, it cannot harden when they pour that much on it, of course the fresh earth soaks it up.
The oil makes it a little darker and maybe even easier to maintain.
Very nice. My wood floors were laid by human hands as well. No matter how hard we try not to… we are always taking from the earth to create something for our comfort. It’s nice to see the different beautiful ways the earths materials are utilized.
Earthen floors have a special energy which connects us with natural vibrations...
I'm a woman and hand paved my own driveway and now working on my cottage. I feel so much better coming home to my natural elements. We are strong and smart women, our worth is not be underestimated. ♥
I had no idea this existed, but I'm glad I found it! How interesting!
Girl! What an amazingly described way of making an earthen floor. You too it all the way down to the main layer and made it so easy to understand. High five! You rock!
That baby is adorable. The floor:unbelievable!❤️👌🏽
So only a woman could receive the secrete knowledge on how to make a clay-sand floor. The older I get, the more esoteric nuances of reality become clear to me. I feel I'm becoming WOKE! Hallelujah!
Well done. Pure chilled out while watching you do the construction. Therapy
Wow, this actually reminds me of my aunt's ooold house in India, with the earthen floor. Heck, it's been so long I'd damned near forgotten about it! Talk about jogging your memory!
I have no intention of ever doing an earth floor, but wow... This video was such a delight to watch.
this video is the first iv'e seen from this channel and it just has such good vibes
It’s beautiful the way you made it, this technique has been used since ages in our villages but since the so called advancement in technology, people have stopped using such method of construction.
Very well executed and explained. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
cool stuff, crazy talk.
Best comment.
What a stunning floor! I love everything about it- including the way you described it!
Earthern floors feel so good to walk on! Thanks for the killer video... so awesome!
Beautiful technique. I've never seen one done without manure in the mix before.
I've walked on an earth floor only once in my life and my feet have missed it ever since.
@Craig X Ok Mr.Original thought.
Weirdo.
Why? What does it feel like?
@Craig X I'm 24 but okay lol
@@samuelasanderinos1521 It just feels so nice and soft yet firm, and cool, like a spa or something. It's also very grounding and calming.
Amazing visuals, that cross section told me so much more!
Awesome building skills and great video. I'd very strongly recommend remembering that it's just as important to let water out as it is to keep it out. Pitch your vapor barrier slightly so it doesn't puddle
One day I'll build an earthen home in a farm house for myself!!
My house is old was build with mud wall and floor also earthen my mom 2 time s in week maintining the floor with cows wast in india we not use this type oil to finishing floor cow weast is best and healthy and this coat is best for flooring layer
Now aday we fix the tiles for floor but we miss this flooring.
.
I m civil engineer
I m planing to build new rcc building ,on my old house.
I will leave one hall for this type flooring...It's remember me my old childhoods day.when we poor i sleep on this floor
I bet that little baby at the end was in heaven when he got to play with the clay
Thank you, Sukita Reay et al! The resultant floor is so lovely, cute lil home, too💐
THANK YOU!!! Very timely as I'm working on my floor in my place now. You are very right about the clay differences. Great video
Earth floor: the natural enemy of white socks lol
White socks are the enemy of white socks. Wear black socks. :ok_hand:
Civil engineer here : plastic is for evenly distributing the loads , similar mechanism is used for making ramps to flyover known as engineered soil
Earthen floors, haven for mold, wood destroying mildew, and natural enemy of all things electrical. Up here 8n New England, there are many an old home built on granite, but the humidity just rots the electrical panels to dust and rust. No thank you.
@@tailgunner2 obviously this isn't meant for England lol
And dirty feet 😉
Excellent team work and a true piece of ART
Boy! A lotta, lotta work! Mighta taken it on when I was young- if I'd heard of it then! God bless you.
Very nicely explained and demonstrated thanks. My own home has cob walls on a rubblestone plinth and is about 300 years old and because the subsoil has a heavy clay content there were no deep foundations. I work mostly using lime putty mortars and plasters because they can last for many years and if you mix up too much you can put it back in the tub and use it on the next job because it only sets when it's exposed to the air.
The other benefits of using lime is that it absorbs co2 and a lime plastered room has better acoustic and feels warmer too. All the best on your next project.
@@SR-gs8zo look up the lime cycle. It wont absorb more than was driven off the calcium carbonate when it was fired, usually in a process that generates CO2.
Perfect explanation of how to do an earth floor. Good job 👍🏻
I remember as a toddler being fascinated by and playing with the cast iron floor iron that my Mother used to smooth the dirt floor in our cabin in the far north of Canada. It was a log one room log cabin with a sod roof.
Beautiful work! And an inspiring video. Well done!
My grandma used to tell me how she would lay floors using pretty much the same materials but finishing it off with cow dung. This was in South Africa during the early 1920s. This method was used by both the indigenous black people, as well as (poor working class) folk of European descent. Back then, I think you had to be wealthy to afford homes constructed with “modern” building materials, so a lot of people used what was available around them.
Wayne Holmes a few years back I helped a group of Stanford students get going with modernizing the earthen floor tradition in Rwanda. Check them out, they are doing amazing work! EarthEnable
Best earth floor video I’ve seen! Thanks for doing this!
Wow I had no idea these type of flooring existed. Thank you and very beautiful
Beautiful video. Nice to see things like this aren't left behind.
Gorgeous! I would absolutely love to have these truly organic and beautiful floors in a home.
Wonderful video. I'm happy to say I get to learn something new everyday.. and something new to put linseed oil on. Great job thank you
I liked the baby smile ☺
I'm again.. again...and again watching this video because there is only 1 particular floor video in youtube... Remaining all about mud walls, stone construction and roofing!
Mixed with ox blood . Polished up . Brilliant floors for the Zulus
Penelope Hunt do you have any photos you can share with me?
Oh wow! How amazingly gorgeous and interesting? I want to install a clay floor now. Thank you for the inspiration!
Perfection at it's peak!
Liked it very much .
Keep up the good natural work
I was born during the depression in New Mexico and the first house I lived in had a dirt floor. 80 years ago.
This is absolutely the BEST VIDEO about earthen floors that I have found....THANK YOU for such a thorough job explaining the process...your work is beautiful !!
Beautiful work thanks for sharing this!
I love everything thing about this video. Information, voice, music. EVER THING.
There are many steps to layering for a beautiful finish. Wow I am impressed watching your practiced hands work. Thanks.
A year ago I bought her book and I completely recomend it. I am amazed with the video and with the Nito Proyect. Thanks for sharing :D :D
Great job! Love the way it looks and love that it's nice and "earthy!" Cheers!
😍lovely!
Varnish?
I may be ignorant here but this looks really flammable with the grass and the oil.
That baby smiling at the camera is the best part of this video
As an architecture student I am so happy to see that people are understanding more about the old traditional methods and sticking to a eco-friendly materials rather than a newly found concrete ❤️
Concrete is 3000 years old and Inert.
Higth quality, talent, carefull edition, like ever. Tanks a lot. We need watch this kide of video in Brazil.
I have no idea why I'm watching this or what its about but I enjoyed all of it.
Can we take a moment to appreciate this makes nice work with her trowel.. Well done ma'am
Great work! And thanks for sharing the knowledge.
40 years ago where i come from people could not buy concrete, or rebar, any construction method was beyond they could afford, so they made their house out of that but there was called "adobe" even now this little houses are still stand up...
fireblade639 my grandmother and my mom lived in an adobe house in mexico and till this day its still standing. We stay in it whenever we visit mexico!
But those need to be cooked no? It’s like making pottery, cook the product so it can last.
@@yeseniarobles4289 actually no... Just the mixture... The dry chopped straw makes an excellent tensioner inside the mixture... I really don't know the exact formulla but still on this time you can see this houses and if you hit with a rock it falls like compressed sand, not cracking like pottery, They use to say something like this "the hungry is the fuel to reach the sky" if your hunger is enough you can be the best of yourself....but who knows...
hmm ive only used adobe for photoshop and illustrator
Those are common on coastal, hot areas in my country. They're pretty nice.
What does a house look like that is mostly built without plastic? At least 99% of it. The little bit that has been used has positive benefits that offset any negatives. The walls are straw with clay plasters, the earth floor is a mix of clay soils, sand, straw and finished with linseed oil and wax. Most everything else could be considered recyclable and natural. Of course everything I’m saying here is on a “for the most part” basis. In other words, “mostly true.” Point is, this little cottage, finished by our son Benito and his wife Amy is truly a work of art and all the materials have been carefully sourced and beautifully integrated.
That was awesome. I had no idea an earthen floor could be refined so much. Thank you.
In 72 outside of Subic Bay in the Philippines. I saw them scrubbed and then the girls would tie half coconuts to their feet and scrub them. I thought they were concrete but they told me they were dirt and explained the oils of the coconut help to keep them like that and shine. Hard as rock to me and cool even in the heat. Don't try to eat Balut though.
Brought back some memories and taught me in detail how it was laid. Thank You.
I wonder if a waxed cotton could be used in place of the plastic sheet?
Clay is waterproof. If you have proper drainage you don't need plastic, you shouldn't be putting rocks under it either as all they do is trap humidity and damp in there and let it seep upwards. But there's a reason the continent of north and south America were living in the stone age whilst others were in the jet age.
@@bashkillszombies, no clay is waterproof. It is water absorbent when it is dry, and it expands when it gets wet.
@@bashkillszombies - clay is not waterproof, you absolute mong, lol!
Clay that is baked in a kiln and becomes a ceramic is waterproof...kinda, although it is still very porous. That's why glaze is painted all over it, to seal it! (glaze being basically powdered glass)
When's the last time YOU laid an earth floor?, huh?
Yeah...that's what I thought.
That is actually a really good idea, and would be a great substitute if you either couldn't get plastic sheeting or didn't want to use it - because natural :P
I like where your head is at! :D
If only subfloor drainage was added to drain out than one doesn’t need plastic but a geotechnical material can be used instead.
Great video with detailed explanations 👍🏾
A.T.D..... Attention To Detail.....Fantastic work :)
i can only imagine how wholesome it must feel to walk on this floor
i don't have any clue of what am watching but i'm entertained.
This needs to be taught to every kid in every school start to finish graduation is build your own house.
Yes !
Awesome 👍
I think it should be more optional, I would have loved it but some kids do better than some with certain things and it wouldn't be all that great to force a bunch of kids to build a house if they are not interested to do not do good with carpentry it building in general. Another option would be the entire grade or class to work together to build a single house each offering their own abilities to better the house.
All the appreciable efforts to make a great video got overlooked with the use of a single plastic film..
this was a very nice video to gradually fall asleep to
Not sure I will ever use it but thanks for the info
I don’t know how I got here, but this is amazing and now I want to play with making floor :D
Wow that's very beautiful it's so rich and fertile in the way that it feels when I watched you putting it together but especially when it was complete it was just nothing like anything I've ever seen before and really loved it thank you for sharing