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Consumption ecology. Homestead: Health, environmental friendliness, water resistance, great mechanical strength, low cost and easy restoration, handmade are the main advantages of a clay floor.

Health, environmental friendliness, water resistance, huge mechanical strength, low cost and easy restoration, DIY making are the main advantages of a clay floor.
Using the example of American eco-builders, let's look at exactly how a clay floor is created, to which some experts give a lifetime guarantee! Thanks to the deep penetrating impregnation with linseed oil, the clay turns into the well-known peasant pot, which was eaten for thousands of years before the advent of porcelain.

A layer of wax gives the durability of the front surface of the floor and the aesthetics of a natural covering material! Today, adobe flooring is gaining momentum in popularity in America and Europe. Many families who have decided to build natural homes want to get rid of the chemical toxic components of modern flooring that have poisoned our families with fumes for many years.

Considering the high price of modern industrial floors, saving becomes another reason for choosing a natural clay-oil floor. There is a lot of various information in foreign and domestic blogs. The described experience is the experiment of our American colleague and is not the only way. The entire recipe must be selected independently experimentally.

Clay floor - manufacturing process from start to finish.

1. Compacting the soil layer in place of the future floor.

2. A layer of polypropylene is laid to protect against suction of soil moisture into the floor.

3. Heat-insulating carrier layer of insulation.

4. Pipes of engineering communications if necessary.

5.Moisture barrier

6. A mixture of clay / fine gravel or sand / straw - as the main draft layer 7 cm.

7. In this layer, install underfloor heating pipes where planned.

8. The finishing layer of clay / sand is smoothed to a completely flat surface.

9. We cover 4 layers with impregnation clay / fine sand / 20% flour to increase wear resistance. You can use red clay to color the floor. Remove excess impregnation with a cloth. We dry.

10. Cover with warm but not hot linseed oil in 4-7 layers as desired. The first layer is 100% oil, the second is 20-45% mineral solvent, the third is 50-60% solvent. Consumption 19 liters of linseed oil per 30 square meters with 4 layers. The floor drinks the first two layers actively. Then the oil starts to dry harder and you need to open the windows.

It is desirable to use organic raw oil without chemical additives. If the proportions are violated, the floor may remain sticky. The oil can be removed with turpentine or, in extreme cases, with a solution of demixide. Always check proportions empirically before applying as materials may differ in their properties.

11. After drying, the floor is covered with beeswax.

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Today, ultra-modern technologies for building houses based on the use of the latest building materials have come into fashion. At the same time, in the pursuit of novelty, the experience of our ancestors, who for centuries built houses without cement, processed lumber and other achievements of civilization, is gradually being lost. Nevertheless, their dwellings were no less cozy and adapted for a comfortable life than modern buildings. Moreover, 10 children were born and raised in their homes ...

So maybe it’s not worth it like this without hesitation to deny the knowledge of grandfathers and great-grandfathers, but on the contrary, is it worth studying them better and adopting them? Moreover, recently the fashion for environmentally friendly housing, built using safe natural materials, has returned to our lives again.

As part of this trend, we offer those who are just now thinking about building a small country house, but at the same time have too small in cash, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the technology of arranging internal adobe floors. These are clay floors, how to make an adobe floor we are with the editors of the site www ..

Clay like construction material known from antediluvian times. Once upon a time, houses were built entirely of clay, but then stone and wood replaced it almost completely. But clay floors were made with adobe even in the middle of the last century. This is explained simply - clay in most territories of Russia is the cheapest, most affordable, but at the same time very strong and durable building material.

When arranging a summer house, an adobe floor can be used in outbuildings, for example, in sheds where you plan to keep poultry, in a garage, a tool room. In addition, the adobe floor is also suitable for outdoor areas.

So, let's get down to business. The first step in the installation of an adobe floor is the preparation of a foundation pit. Its depth should be about 50-60 cm. We will not need the selected soil, therefore, when digging a pit, it is better to immediately take the earth out of the site.

Next, the pit is filled in layers various materials. The first layer is sand. It must be clean, so if you use self-extracted natural sand, then before laying it is necessary to thoroughly rinse it to clean it of fine sandy loam and loam. In addition, the sand cushion must be well compacted.

If you do not have a special tool for this, you can easily and quickly make a homemade manual rammer. It is made from a thick log about 1 m long, on one end of which a board is nailed. Its area should be twice the area of the log cut. At the other end, you can make the handle more grippy. The thickness of the compacted layer is from 10 to 12 cm.

A layer of coarse gravel is laid on top of the compacted sand cushion. Although here there is an opportunity to save money by replacing it with small river pebbles. By the way, the size of the fraction depends on the planned load on the future adobe floor. The greater the load, the larger the rubble or pebbles should be.

You can increase the bearing capacity of the floor by laying large stones up to 15 cm in diameter on top of the rubble. This completes the preparatory work. Next, a clay solution is prepared.

Clay should be oily and sand should be added to it to a minimum. The solution should be thick. It is laid out on top of the stones in such an amount that the entire floor area is covered with a layer 10-15 cm thick. Having leveled the mass of the solution, they start tamping, for which again you can use the previously made tool.

Some time after the start of compaction, some stones will be on the surface. This means that clay was scarce. In this case, it is added and continued to be tamped until, even with prolonged exposure, the stones are exposed.

After that, it remains only to fill the surface of the almost finished adobe floor with coarse-grained sand and again thoroughly walk over it with a rammer. The rest of the sand that did not enter the floor is swept away with a broom.

The final stage is drying the adobe floor. Its duration depends on the density of the clay solution and the air temperature. The drying can last from 10 to 30 days.

If you are going to build a house taking into account the use of passive solar heating, then the easiest way for you to accumulate solar energy is to use a clay floor in a private house, especially since its price is not high.

In climates where winter heating is used, most of the building mass must be placed in a location that can absorb solar energy and then radiate it. In our case, this is the floor.

This is due to the fact that you can place a different mass in the base of the floor without reducing the usable area. In addition, the level of comfort in the home can be increased with underfloor heating rather than warm walls, as our feet are very sensitive to temperature changes.

A well-laid adobe floor does not leave any stains or scratches, it is quite easy to keep clean (compared to a wooden floor), and it does not lose its properties for many years.

To lay a clay floor you will need:

remove the top layer of the earth approximately on the bayonet of a shovel (fertile layer);
tamp the resulting base;
fill the resulting recess with infertile soil with the addition of crushed stone and stones;
pour over the entire order of 20 cm of expanded clay or gravel.

Earthen floors can be divided into 2 types:

cast;
rammed.

Cast floor laying

The advantage of earthen floors is that they do not require additional waterproofing, since the accumulation of moisture under or above the floor surface will certainly lead to a decrease in its service life. Instead of a waterproofing layer, gravel is used, which will not allow moisture to rise and saturate the adobe floor with it.

Cast floors dry quite slowly, since only one side of them interacts with air, and they are located in the coldest part of the room.

Note!
Do not lay a dirt floor in conditions of high humidity or in anticipation of rain.

The mixture for the cast floor should be slightly different from ordinary adobe with a higher content of sand, gravel and water. Moreover, if you take a handful of such a mixture and squeeze it in your fist, then it must crunch. Before pouring the entire floor, try to check the mixture for hardness by pouring a test sample (about 1 m 2).

The hardest part of kneading clay is getting the right proportion. If there is a lot of it, then the floor may crack, if it is not enough, it will be crumbly.

Advice!
Make sure that all layers are laid in the same plane to avoid cracks during the drying process.

Base layer

In a concrete mixer or other suitable container, knead the mixture, which is similar in thickness to pie dough. It will subsequently be the structural basis of your gender. For strength, add a significant amount of whole straw.

If you intend to use a mixture with the addition of gravel to fill the main layer, then try to choose (weed out) broken stones 1.5 - 2 cm in diameter for this, leave the smaller stone for the second layer.

Advice!
If you still have to use large stones when laying the drainage layer, then the mixture can clog all the air channels.
To avoid this, lay any airtight material as insulation (sheets, newspapers, gravel bags, etc.).

The order of work is as follows:

using two straight boards (5x10 cm) installed on the floor at a distance of 60 cm from the walls, make guides for yourself;
pour the mixture and carefully level it with an aluminum wedge or even stick;

then carefully remove the boards (guides) and move them to a new location;
repeat such manipulations until the entire space (from the far wall to the doors).

When you get to the end, the surface should look horizontal and flat, but a bit rough. If coarse gravel is present in the mixture, then small voids may occur, which are not recommended to be removed. In the future, they will serve as additional adhesion to the top layer.

The base layer will cure for several days or weeks (depending on weather conditions). Refrain from walking on it until completely hardened.

Advice!
Use a fan heater to speed up the drying process of the floor.
It will be correct if you lay the gravel and the base layer before laying the walls, since a flat base for construction is very convenient.

Second layer

As we noted above, for the mixture of the second layer it is necessary to use gravel no more than 2 cm in diameter, since it should be smoother.

Advice!
If the first layer still cracked, then the amount of straw and sand should be increased.
Also, the straw for the second layer should be carefully chopped.

Laying the second layer is not much different from the first:

still install the guides, only their thickness in this case should be 2.5 - 4 cm;
to improve the adhesion of the mixture to the surface, moisten the latter with water;
if the main layer turned out to be not quite even, then by placing stones under the guides.

Third, top layer

The last layer is made 1-2 cm thick, it serves to finish the surface and adjust it to the required level. It can be made in various colors, choosing the soil of the desired shade. The mixture should be made smoother so that the finished floor looks attractive.

This is done by sifting the soil through a mesh with a 3-millimeter pitch. As before, before laying a new layer, moisten an already dried layer with water, for better adhesion.

As you lay the mixture should be carefully smoothed. This is best done with a construction trowel designed specifically for this purpose. After complete drying, the surface.

rammed floors

Packed adobe floors are a bit awkward to install and require more effort than cast floors, but they also dry faster.

They are more often used if:

there is excess moisture in the base;
there is no clay in the soil or there is very little of it;
laying takes place during the wet season;
in the place of laying there is always high humidity.

The instructions for laying a rammed adobe floor are very similar to cast ones, but with some differences:

3 layers are made, while all of them are tamped with a special machine, as a rule, it is rented or with a wooden manual tamper. The first of them should be tamped thoroughly, the second is a little more gentle, the third should be left as is;
the main layer should contain a large number of chopped stone chips with a diameter of up to 4 cm;
there should be no excess water in the mixture. It should be possible to walk on it immediately after laying;
straw should be put into the mixture much less, it should only provide tensile-compressive strength;

adobe floor is ready.

Finishing the adobe floor with oil and wax

For durability and water resistance, a completely dry clay floor should be treated with oil and wax.

The order of work is this:

with a roller, a regular rag or a brush, treat the clay floors four times with boiled hot linseed oil. It should be applied in such a way that “puddles” form on the surface, which should subsequently be removed;
the first layer is applied with pure oil, the second - with the addition of 25% alcohol or turpentine, the third - the oil is diluted with a solvent 1 to 1, the final, the fourth - the oil is diluted with a solvent one to three;
all these layers contribute to filling the pores, making it moisture-proof and harder.

Output

Now you have an idea how to make a clay floor in the house with your own hands. If something is still unclear, then the video in this article will help you understand everything.

Speaking of earthen field or clay field, you can imagine the Middle Ages, a gray and dirty surface under your feet and unwashed people living in the house. However, a dirt floor can be quite neat. With the right approach, such a floor can be made very elegant, durable, inexpensive and environmentally friendly. Clay flooring techniques vary, but the basic idea and ingredients remain the same for the most part. An earth floor (or clay floor) is poured or pressed with clay, sand, straw, and sometimes crushed stone and other additives, resulting in a pleasantly smooth surface that is resistant to wear.

Clay is a natural, affordable, easy-to-use building material that does not require any hazardous chemicals (such as adhesives, varnishes or solvents) to work with. Clay floors have antiseptic and antistatic properties, they maintain an optimal moisture balance, neutralize odors and have an excellent ability to retain heat. During the daytime, thanks to the sun, the floor can heat up, and then gradually release the accumulated heat at night. Since clay is a good conductor of heat, such a floor is great for arranging heating. The floor surface does not require special service and easily repaired if necessary. Moreover, thanks to various methods finishes, clay floors can be a key element of interior design.

Instructions for creating

Materials that are usually needed to make a floor:
gravel, clay, sand, straw, water, linseed oil, turpentine, beeswax.

floor base

It should be borne in mind that in order to install the floor in a humid climate, to improve drainage, it is necessary to first lay a layer of gravel (for example, you can make a layer of about 30 cm). For cold climates, additional insulation may be needed, such as 10-15 cm of perlite (a light mineral with low thermal conductivity), mineral wool (use formaldehyde-free mineral wool), or other suitable environmental insulation. In case there is a possibility of radon release, a plastic barrier is also needed. It should also be borne in mind that when laying the floor in areas with a humid climate, work is best done in the dry season.

Draft floor

5-7 cm of the subfloor is laid on the base. This layer will provide insulation and level the subfloor. Common clay floor mix is 70% sand, 30% clay, lots of crushed straw for tensile strength. The rough floor can be slightly compacted with a vibrating plate.

Finish floor

The layer thickness is 2.5 cm. The mixture for the finishing floor is made from the same ratio of sand and clay, but with an admixture of shorter straw. The quality of the components is different everywhere and in order to get the right combination, you need to experiment on a small area (for example, 1 m 2). The mixture should be sufficiently dense, not crumble after drying, there should be enough straw in it so that cracks do not form after drying. Apply the mixture with a spatula in a layer of 1.5-2 cm. The material should come off cleanly and easily, remaining on the rough layer. If the mixture sticks, then either there is too much clay or not enough moisture; if it does not stick to the spatula, then either there is too much moisture or not enough clay. This coat is applied when the rough coat is dry (this may take several days, depending on the climate). For the finishing floor, it is necessary to sift sand and clay to avoid the formation of unnecessary lumps. To create a finishing floor, the mixture is applied about three times. Each time it is necessary to wait for the drying of the previous layer. This layer must be carefully leveled.

Floor impregnation

When the floor is COMPLETELY dry, it can be covered with impregnation. Typically, the floor is impregnated with heated linseed oil, which protects the floor from wear and tear, while obtaining a smooth and hard surface.

The second ingredient to impregnate and improve the penetration of oil into the floor is natural turpentine (common mineral solvents can also be used, but natural turpentine is a more environmentally friendly solution). The fact that turpentine is a natural product does not make it absolutely safe. When working with it, sufficient airflow and skin protection are necessary.

For 30 m 2 of floor surface, 8 liters of linseed oil may be needed. Impregnation is performed several times, while the composition of the impregnation varies from 100% linseed oil to 100% turpentine. Each subsequent layer of impregnation is applied after the previous layer has been absorbed.
Impregnation can be of the following composition:

1st layer - 100% linseed oil;
2nd layer - 80% linseed oil, 20% turpentine;
3rd layer - 60% linseed oil, 40% turpentine;
4th layer - 40% linseed oil, 60% turpentine;
5th layer - 20% linseed oil, 80% turpentine;
6th layer - 100% turpentine;

Also, to make the floor more pleasant and smooth, its surface can be finished with beeswax. To do this, the wax must be heated and applied in 1-3 thin layers, but this is not a mandatory procedure.

Repair and service

Over time, most likely, re-impregnation of the floors will be required. To do this, the floors must be cleaned of dust and dirt by washing them with water. Then they need to be sanded a little in order to open the pores. Don't work too hard unless you want to significantly change the surface quality. Then the floors can be treated with oil. To remove small cracks, they can be rubbed with hard wax and soaked in oil.

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The content of the article:

Clay floor insulation is the oldest, but effective method elimination of heat losses of a stone or wooden house. Currently, it is quite popular due to the environmentally friendly materials that are used in the process of constructing such thermal insulation. You will learn how to insulate the floor with clay from our article.

Features of thermal insulation of the floor with clay

Red clay is suitable for floor insulation in this way. It is distinguished by high plasticity and the presence of small pores. Has good performance and White clay. If necessary, it can also be used as a heat insulator. The color of clay depends on the minerals it contains. Manganese and iron give the material a reddish color, organic impurities - a gray or black tint.

Clay, depending on the content of sand in its composition, is lean, bold and oily. The material of the latter type is most suitable for thermal insulation of the floor. It is not difficult to distinguish such clay - it is soapy to the touch.

Often, to achieve the maximum effect when insulating the floor, a mixture of clay with sawdust or chopped straw is used. The choice of filler for such a mixture must be treated with attention. The best option is oak shavings or conifers wood. The reason for this is essential oils, which contain spruce, pine and larch in large quantities. These substances have a pronounced antibacterial character, which reduces the risk of fungus formation in the pores and on the surface of the insulation. In addition, before use, the clay filler is additionally treated with a fire retardant and an antiseptic. Oak shavings do not rot and do not swell from moisture.

Due to its unique properties, clay serves not only as a heater, but also as an excellent waterproofing. Complemented with wood material, it can even be used to insulate the floor in the bath, without being destroyed by contact with hot air. Not all materials used for thermal and waterproofing have this property.

The process of thermal insulation of the floor with clay does not take much time. However, it should be borne in mind that the drying of the moistened insulation will last about a month, provided that the ambient temperature is positive.

Pros and cons of clay insulation

The ability of clay to retain heat is not its only advantage. In addition, the material has other positive qualities, which include:

Elementary technology for applying a warming mixture to the base surface. Any home master can cope with its preparation and styling on their own.
The low price of the material or the ability to get it free of charge in places of natural occurrence.
The low thermal conductivity of clay allows you to insulate floors even on the ground.
Clay insulation is inedible for insects and mice.
Clay is environmentally friendly and therefore does not emit harmful substances into the air.

The disadvantages of this method of floor insulation include a significant duration of work and their high labor intensity.

Clay floor insulation technology

Clay for floor insulation can be used as a liquid mixture with sawdust or ready-made panels. After the clay mixture hardens, the surface of the insulating layer becomes so strong that you can move along it without fear of cracking the material. Work on thermal insulation of the floor consists of several stages: preparation of the base, laying insulation and a protective film layer. Let's consider them separately.

Preparatory work

Before starting thermal insulation, the base should be cleaned of debris. If it is planned to lay ready-made clay blocks, it is recommended to first make a cement screed 1-2 cm thick under them. If it is planned to fill a wet mixture of clay with sawdust, wooden floor beams can be used as formwork for it. Before installing the insulation, the wooden surfaces of the floor structure must be treated with an antiseptic, for example, creosote.

As a substrate for a wet clay mixture, you can use a waterproof polyethylene film m. 150-220 microns. It can be glued to a cement base or fixed to wooden floor beams. The underlay sheets should be overlapped. This will help to avoid leakage of the clay mixture before it dries.

To work on the preparation and laying of the working mixture of insulation, it is necessary to prepare a trough for mixing it, a bucket, a construction mixer, water, sawdust and clay.

Instructions for laying clay insulation

Clay can be used as a floor insulation, as already mentioned, with two different ways. At the same time, the method of manufacturing a heat insulator determines the technology for its further installation. In one case, a still wet mixture of clay with sawdust is poured onto the floor, in the other, panels are made from it, which, when dried, can be laid like mineral wool slabs.

During the preparation of the mixture important point is to maintain the correct ratio of its components, since in the future this will avoid the appearance of cracks on the finished surface of the clay insulation. If the working mixture is planned to be laid on the base in a wet form, then for one bucket of clay you need to take 2/3 of the same bucket of sawdust.

First, you need to mix the clay with water to obtain a mushy consistency of the material. The amount of water in this case depends on the initial state of the clay. Clay can absorb moisture for quite a long time, especially when the raw material is dry and hard.

After a few days, the clay will acquire the necessary consistency, after which it needs to be diluted a little with water, sawdust is added and mixed well until a thick and homogeneous mixture is obtained. For mixing, use a hoe, mixer or a small concrete mixer. The finished composition can be laid on a prepared base.

Clay slab insulation is usually used in an already built house and is made in a slightly different way. For the manufacture of panels, the ratio of clay and sawdust should be 1:1. The mixture is poured into special molds that must be made in advance. They are ordinary lattice cells made of bars 150-200 mm thick. Cells must have dimensions of at least 500x500 mm. Before making panels, the grating should be laid on a sheet of plywood. This will allow you to conveniently pour the mixture into it and form neat ends of the insulation plates.

Pouring the working mixture into the grid cells can be done with a bucket to the top edge of the bars. The resulting surface should be leveled with a spatula and leave the material to dry completely.

It is not recommended to dry the panels of clay insulation under the rays of the sun, this can cause cracks on the surface of the products. You can make a canopy over the forms or simply throw grass over them, creating a sufficient degree of shading. Depending on the humidity of the air and its temperature, the clay mixture hardens in 7-15 days. If small cracks appear at the same time, they can be easily repaired with liquid clay.

To obtain an insulating layer, the finished plates must be laid on the base with minimal gaps. Joints between products should be sealed with liquid clay to avoid heat loss through voids.

Insulation protection features

Any enclosing structures of the house, including the floors, which come into contact with the external cold and internal warm air, are exposed to condensate, which manifests itself in the form of drops of moisture on the surface. Therefore, in order to avoid wetting the insulation from the condensation of steam entering the floor from the side of the warm room, the clay coating is protected with a vapor barrier membrane.

When choosing it, it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristics of this material. There are membranes that partially let vapor through, while other films block it completely. The versatility of insulation, as well as its affordable price, will be the best solution for a purchase.

The sheets of vapor barrier film should be laid on the insulation with an overlap of up to 150 mm, its surface should be completely closed. The seams between the strips of insulation should be glued to seal with adhesive tape.

After carrying out all of the above activities, flooring can be attached to the floor logs. In their absence, perform a screed on an insulating layer of clay. In the first case, a ventilation gap must be left between the floor boards and the insulation. It will ensure the absence of dampness in the space under the floor and the safety of the wooden elements of its construction.

How to insulate the floor with clay - look at the video:

In recent years, many have consciously chosen natural materials for construction and decoration, and are increasingly abandoning various polymers. If the environmental friendliness of materials is of paramount importance to you, clay floor insulation is what you need. Good luck and health!

Is it possible to arrange a concrete floor on clay and what is the best way to insulate it?

Theoretically, clay can be used instead of concrete. Well compacted, it is strong enough that it can even serve as a base for ceramic tiles. In the old days, clay was carefully kneaded and compacted with iron chains and mallets. In the process of work, the floors were watered in layers with the blood of animals, it makes the clay stronger. The floors were insulated by mixing the middle layers with chopped cane and dry cow dung. In peasant huts, the floor was left adobe. In rich houses, churches and cathedrals, tiles, ceramic or stone, were laid on top of the clay-lime mortar. This technology is very reliable. Until now, in Europe, and in Russia, restorers are amazed when they find perfectly preserved clay floors that are hundreds of years old.

Traditional adobe floor in a Ukrainian hut, quite comfortable and hygienic

But, traditional technology creating clay floors is very labor-intensive and you are unlikely to use it. In addition, it is now fashionable to make heated floors and it is not known how clay will behave if there are warm pipes in the floor. Therefore, we recommend using clay only as a base. The standard design of the insulated concrete floor on the ground is a sandwich. The insulation is located between two layers of concrete. The lower one, about 10 cm thick and preferably reinforced, serves as the base. First, a waterproofing layer is placed on it, then a heater that will not get wet. You can use extruded polystyrene foam, dense foam, foam glass. The top layer is concrete 5-6 cm thick, in which heating pipes are laid. And finishing: tiles, linoleum, etc.

Followers of ecological housing from the USA are finishing the clay floor in a straw house, smoothing the surface. After drying, the floor is covered with a special paint. You will need to align and seal the base under the insulation in much the same way as American colleagues do

In your case, you can save money by replacing the lower concrete layer with clay. That is, the floor sandwich will look like this: clay, insulation, concrete. It is necessary that the clay be oily, with a low content of sand. The layer thickness is 20-40 cm. The material should be compacted very well, in layers. In the middle, between the layers of clay, you can lay a dense polyethylene film, then you will not need a rather expensive rolled waterproofing. If you pour on top thin layer crushed stone and tamp it into clay, it will only get better. When you make sure that the base is really well compacted and leveled, and it dries out, you can lay the insulation (recommended at least 10 cm thick) and continue to follow the usual scheme of underfloor heating.

Note: another traditional North American clay floor design, but without insulation

One of the options for creating a clay floor

Clay floor construction is the most durable and inexpensive. Clay, by far, is very cheap consumable, or completely free, for example, when layers of clay are found when digging pits, under a layer of soil. Subsequently, this clay can be used in construction.

Clay retains a solid structure for a very long time, and if you follow certain manufacturing rules, then the clay floor will turn out to be very durable and will last for centuries.

Of course, the considered coverage has its drawbacks. For example, if the floor is poorly protected or insufficiently protected from moisture from above and below, it will not last long. More precisely, this gender will not match necessary requirements operation.

Another disadvantage is that the clay floor can become a haven for ants and mice. After drying, the clay is quite strong, but, despite mechanical characteristics, it can still be gnawed by rats and mice, or ants can settle. Of course, all this can and should be warned in advance.

Methods for making a clay floor

To begin with, it is worth deciding in which room clay floors will be made - in a residential or utility room, for example, in a barn. If you make the floor in the house, then it should be smooth and durable and, if possible, warm. If you need to make a clay floor in a detailed room, then the evenness of the surface is not so important, which reduces manufacturing costs.

Clay floor manufacturing

How long have clay floors been in building history? This method come down to us from ancient times. To make the floor, you will need only clay and some improvised tools.

After preparing the surface, clay is poured onto it, which should be sufficiently moist. Then the clay is evenly distributed with a rake over the entire area of the prepared room. The level of clay that is poured should rise above the level of the future floor by about 25%. After the initial preparation, you can start ramming the clay.

How to make an auxiliary tool (rammer)

It is quite easy to make this tool yourself. The grip adapts to the bar to make it comfortable to hold. Sizes are adjusted based on convenience criteria. It should be taken into account that it is faster to work with a rammer with a large area of \u200b\u200bthe beam, but the surface of such a floor will also be less even.

You need to ram the clay until the rammer bounces off the floor. If you need to get a very even surface, then clay can be poured in the required places and rammed.

In places to be poured, the surface should be loosened so that the layers have better adhesion.

As a result, a floor obtained in this way can be a completely finished structure; subsequently, for example, chipboard boards can be laid on it. In a detailed room, you can not cover the floor with anything at all. Previously, they did this when building houses from clay, and if they made a coating, then it was hay applied in a thick layer.

In climates where winter heating is used, most of the building mass must be placed in a location that can absorb solar energy and then radiate it. In our case, this is the floor.

This is due to the fact that you can place a different mass in the base of the floor without reducing the usable area. In addition, comfort levels in the home can be increased with underfloor heating rather than warm walls, as our feet are very sensitive to temperature changes.

A well-laid adobe floor does not leave any stains or scratches, it is quite easy to keep clean (compared to a wooden floor), and it does not lose its properties for many years.

To lay a clay floor you will need:

remove the top layer of the earth approximately on the bayonet of a shovel (fertile layer);
tamp the resulting base;
fill the resulting recess with infertile soil with the addition of crushed stone and stones;
pour over the entire order of 20 cm of expanded clay or gravel.

Earthen floors can be divided into 2 types:

cast;
rammed.

Cast floor laying

Cast floors dry quite slowly, since only one side of them interacts with air, and they are located in the coldest part of the room.

Note!
Do not lay a dirt floor in conditions of high humidity or in anticipation of rain.

The hardest part of kneading clay is getting the right proportion. If there is a lot of it, then the floor may crack, if it is not enough, it will be crumbly.

Advice!
Make sure that all layers are laid in the same plane to avoid cracks during the drying process.

Base layer

Advice!
If you still have to use large stones when laying the drainage layer, then the mixture can clog all the air channels.
To avoid this, lay any airtight material as insulation (sheets, newspapers, gravel bags, etc.).

The order of work is as follows:

using two straight boards (5x10 cm) installed on the floor at a distance of 60 cm from the walls, make guides for yourself;
pour the mixture and carefully level it with an aluminum wedge or even stick;

then carefully remove the boards (guides) and move them to a new location;
repeat such manipulations until the entire space (from the far wall to the doors).

The base layer will harden for several days or weeks (depending on weather conditions). Refrain from walking on it until completely hardened.

Advice!
Use a fan heater to speed up the drying process of the floor.
It will be correct if you lay the gravel and the base layer before laying the walls, since a flat base for construction is very convenient.

Second layer

As we noted above, for the mixture of the second layer it is necessary to use gravel no more than 2 cm in diameter, since it should be smoother.

Advice!
If the first layer still cracked, then the amount of straw and sand should be increased.
Also, the straw for the second layer should be carefully chopped.

Laying the second layer is not much different from the first:

still install the guides, only their thickness in this case should be 2.5 - 4 cm;
to improve the adhesion of the mixture to the surface, moisten the latter with water;
if the main layer turned out to be not quite even, then by placing stones under the guides.

Third, top layer

This is done by sifting the soil through a mesh with a 3-millimeter pitch. As before, before laying a new layer, moisten an already dried layer with water, for better adhesion.

As you lay the mixture should be carefully smoothed. This is best done with a construction trowel designed specifically for this purpose. After complete drying, the surface

rammed floors

Packed adobe floors are a bit awkward to install and require more effort than cast floors, but they also dry faster.

They are more often used if:

there is excess moisture in the base;
there is no clay in the soil or there is very little of it;
laying takes place during the wet season;
in the place of laying there is always high humidity.

The instructions for laying a rammed adobe floor are very similar to cast ones, but with some differences:

3 layers are made, while all of them are tamped with a special machine, as a rule, it is rented or with a wooden manual tamper. The first of them should be tamped thoroughly, the second is a little more gentle, the third should be left as is;
the main layer should contain a large amount of crushed stone chips with a diameter of up to 4 cm;
there should be no excess water in the mixture. It should be possible to walk on it immediately after laying;
straw should be put into the mixture much less, it should only provide tensile-compressive strength;

adobe floor is ready.

Finishing the adobe floor with oil and wax

For durability and water resistance, a completely dry clay floor should be treated with oil and wax.

The order of work is this:

with a roller, a regular rag or a brush, treat the clay floors four times with boiled hot linseed oil. It should be applied in such a way that “puddles” form on the surface, which should subsequently be removed;
the first layer is applied with pure oil, the second - with the addition of 25% alcohol or turpentine, the third - the oil is diluted with a solvent 1 to 1, the final, the fourth - the oil is diluted with a solvent one to three;
all these layers contribute to filling the pores, making it moisture-proof and harder.

Output

Now you have an idea how to make a clay floor in the house with your own hands. If something is still unclear, then the video in this article will help you understand everything.

Clay floor construction is the most durable and inexpensive. Clay, today, is a very cheap consumable, or completely free, for example, when layers of clay are found when digging pits, under a layer of soil. Subsequently, this clay can be used in construction.

Clay retains a solid structure for a very long time, and if you follow certain manufacturing rules, then the clay floor will turn out to be very durable and will last for centuries.

Of course, the considered coverage has its drawbacks. For example, if the floor is poorly protected or insufficiently protected from moisture from above and below, it will not last long. More precisely, this floor will not meet the necessary requirements for operation.

Another disadvantage is that the clay floor can become a haven for ants and mice. After drying, the clay is quite strong, but, despite the mechanical characteristics, rats and mice can still gnaw through it, or ants can settle in it. Of course, all this can and should be warned in advance.

Methods for making a clay floor

To begin with, it is worth deciding in which room clay floors will be made - in a residential or utility room, for example, in a barn. If you make the floor in the house, then it should be even and durable and, if possible, warm. If you need to make a clay floor in a detailed room, then the evenness of the surface is not so important, which reduces manufacturing costs.

Clay floor manufacturing

How long have clay floors been in building history? This method has come down to us from ancient times. To make the floor, you will only need clay and some improvised tools.

After preparing the surface, clay is poured onto it, which should be sufficiently moist. Then the clay is evenly distributed with a rake over the entire area of the prepared room. The level of clay that is poured should rise above the level of the future floor by about 25%. After the initial preparation, you can start ramming the clay.

How to make an auxiliary tool (rammer)

You need to ram the clay until the rammer bounces off the floor. If you need to get a very even surface, then clay can be poured in the required places and rammed.

In places to be poured, the surface should be loosened so that the layers have better adhesion.