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Stone and ćerpič (adobe)

Laying stone in lime mortar, making and laying ćerpič (sun-dried earth blocks), clay and lime plasters, repairing an old stone house, and the limits set by damp and earthquakes

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Stone and ćerpič (adobe)

In short

  • Stone and earth need good boots and a good hat: foundation and plinth 30–50 cm above ground and a roof overhang of 50–60 cm.
  • Old stone and earth walls are repaired with lime mortar and plaster, not cement. Cement traps moisture in the wall.
  • Slaking quicklime is violent and boiling hot: goggles, gloves, long sleeves, and children well away.
  • Soil for ćerpič is tested before every batch: jar, sausage, ball. Too much clay cracks, too much sand crumbles.
  • A stone or earth wall without a ring beam collapses in an earthquake. For a building where people live, get a design.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. Stone or earth: which when
  2. Stone: choosing, gathering and dressing
  3. Lime and mortar
  4. Building a stone wall in mortar
  5. Ćerpič (adobe): soil, tests and recipe
  6. Laying ćerpič
  7. Plaster: clay and lime
  8. Rammed earth and wattle and daub
  9. Damp, earthquakes and the limits of self-building
  10. Common mistakes
  11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Stone and mortar calculator
  • Ćerpič calculator
  • Soil test and ćerpič log
  • Cost sheet and building log
  • Stone and earth calendar

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

This guide in other languages:

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