Replies

1. 
   inperfectionist | Jan 17, 2009 02:29am | #1

   J,

   I had always wanted to work w adobe,,, finally had a chance a few years ago. Built a 2000ft2 addition in AZ.

   Lot of fun. Lot of heavy work also.

   We were lucky. We hired four brothers (Mexicans) to help w the adobe. They usually showed up w a helper or two also (but many days it was only three brothers)

   The adobe took about six weeks. There were aprox 300,000 lbs of adobe and 40 yds of sand in the walls.

   Nice link,,,, got me thinking,,,

   Thanks, Harry

2. 
   yojimbo2 | Jan 17, 2009 04:10am | #2

   The guy did an amazing job on putting this presentation together. Having said that, I am rather appalled by the amount of labor and materials involved in this project. This sort of construction must be on the very high end of labor and material cost in relation to square footage. How does this hold up in an earthquake?

1. 
   JohnCujie | Jan 17, 2009 04:59am | #3

   "How does this hold up in an earthquake?" Probably not very well. Isn't this basically what collapses in China when they have a big quake? New Mexico isn't earthquake country. Although I did some work on one in Calif.John

3. 
   oops | Jan 17, 2009 07:07am | #4

   If you don't mind, a little reminiscing. I had a commission to design and build a house in Santa Fe, NM. Since I had no experience with the Architecture, I spent a week looking and learning. I fell in love with Santa Fe/Pueblo style. No sharp corners. Lots of curves. Everything smooth and round. Almost like sculpture.

   The first day, I walked into an adobe house under construction and saw an electrician running the wiring. He had a straight claw hammer scratching out a groove/notch in the earthen wall, and stapling the wiring in the groove. Then he nailed a piece of lath over the groove. (nailing into dirt as it were) I couldn't believe my eyes.

   The house I designed/built was not an adobe. As mentioned before it is labor intensive and more expensive than convention framing. We went to great lengths to make it look like an adobe. The time we spent making it look authentic probably cost as much as the real thing.

   The house was later used in an issue of Southern Living magazine as an example of Santa Fe/Pueblo architecture. I guess this was my 15 minutes of fame.

   I apologize for bending your ear so long. Your post just brought back some good memories. Thanks