Can adobe be used only in deserts or arid climates?
Unfortunately, most people think “adobe” buildings are found only in deserts or arid climates. Actually, earth wall buildings (adobe, rammed earth, and other types of earth building) have been used in almost every country and climate in the world. Earth is man’s oldest building material. Various forms of earth-wall buildings are used in different climates. For example, it takes weeks or months of dry weather to cure adobe bricks so they may be handled and used to build a wall. In a damp rainy climate that may not have enough dry weather, damp earth is packed into forms (rammed earth) or placed by hand in a wall shape, (commonly called “puddled”). What are adobe bricks? Adobe bricks are soil and water which are thoroughly mixed together into a plastic condition, shaped in a mold (or by hand), and dried by the sun. The resulting bricks can be almost any shape or size, and are laid up with a mortar made of the same material, soil and water. In the summer it takes a minimum of a week of ho
