How To Make House Without Cement?

How To Make House Without Cement
A house without steel and cement September 18, 2015 02:47 pm | Updated 02:47 pm IST At Auroville, for many decades alternative ideas have been explored and experimented with When we look around our homes today, can we imagine that less than a hundred years ago we used to build without steel and cement, but today that appears impossible? Does it surprise us to realise it has taken us only a few decades to wipe out thousands-of-years-old methods of building houses? Strange but true, the rate at which we are shifting is both astonishing and alarming too.

  • In the wake of such a transformation, we also see scattered attempts to counter the change.
  • The house of architect Dhruv Bhasker at Auroville is an apt example to prove how we can successfully reverse the clock, living in our times.
  • At Auroville, for many decades alternative ideas have been explored and experimented; as such Dhruv’s house draws lessons from past experiences.

The foundation is built not with stones with cement mortar but using lime-stabilized mud rammed into the trench in layers. It is simple, practical and very economical, but if not done properly may lead to settlement cracks; hence should follow prescribed technicalities.

Termites could be an issue, which is mitigated by using lime in critical areas. Walls are made of local burnt bricks, plastered with hand-finished lime and sand mortar. Likewise, joints too use the same lime mortar, replacing the conventional cement mortar. However, larger part of the wall is made of rammed earth, left exposed or partly mud plastered.

There are not too many lintels as per the design; the few that appear are done with single piece stone slab. Modern paints based on chemical pigments are totally avoided. Locally available old doors and windows from demolished houses were re-used as they were and if not, by resizing them.

  • Old wood needs to be carefully handled to take away the decomposed top layer and re-polished with durable finishes.
  • Athangudi tiles, also called as Chettinad tiles, adorn the floors in vivid colours and hues, adding a rich pattern at places.
  • The roof is made with reused wood rafters and purlins, topped with country clay tiles, and the ceiling covered by wood boards.

Electricity power comes from solar photovoltaic panels, adequate for lighting, water pump and refrigerator, with a good quality inverter. Most of the roof rain water is harvested, diverted into an underground sump, filtered and then taken to the overhead tank.

Septic tanks and soak pits take care of the sewage. Incidentally, it is not only a house without steel and cement, but also without any dependency on outside the site for water, sewage, and power. Presently, it is not a house for a large family, hence succeeds immensely as an alternative idea. Of course, there have been millions of such independent houses in our traditional villages, but majority do not support modern lifestyle.

The importance of such fresh thinking as seen in Auroville in general and Dhruv’s house in specific lies in finding ways to adapt local approaches for sustainable futuristic architecture. (The writer is an architect working for eco-friendly designs and can be contacted at [email protected]) : A house without steel and cement

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Contents

Can you use concrete without cement?

🕑 Reading time: 1 minute Concrete without cement is possible with the use of fly ash as an alternate for cement. It matches both the chemical and physical properties of cement. Thus it has the ability to replace cement completely. The word “concrete” defines as the bonding between aggregates, cement and water. How To Make House Without Cement Cement vs Fly Ash Cement has excellent binding property but its production requires large amount of energy which contributes for pollution and global warming. The process of cement production starts from mining for raw materials, crushing, blending and heating these materials at high temperature of 1500 0 C and finally creating cement from heated materials.

  • All the process involved in manufacturing of cement requires large amount of energy, it involves huge costs, contributes to increase in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases.
  • The production of cement contributes to 7% of the emissions of greenhouse gases and it is likely to double by the year 2014.

As the demand for more and more infrastructures is increasing day by day, the quantity of cement requirements is also increasing. With this, the control the emissions of greenhouse gases cannot be reduced to prevent global warming. To overcome this global problem and save the environment, a green alternative material is discovered – Fly ash

What is a house without steel and cement?

New Concrete Blocks Technology (CMU) Without cement mortar

A house without steel and cement September 18, 2015 02:47 pm | Updated 02:47 pm IST At Auroville, for many decades alternative ideas have been explored and experimented with When we look around our homes today, can we imagine that less than a hundred years ago we used to build without steel and cement, but today that appears impossible? Does it surprise us to realise it has taken us only a few decades to wipe out thousands-of-years-old methods of building houses? Strange but true, the rate at which we are shifting is both astonishing and alarming too.

  1. In the wake of such a transformation, we also see scattered attempts to counter the change.
  2. The house of architect Dhruv Bhasker at Auroville is an apt example to prove how we can successfully reverse the clock, living in our times.
  3. At Auroville, for many decades alternative ideas have been explored and experimented; as such Dhruv’s house draws lessons from past experiences.

The foundation is built not with stones with cement mortar but using lime-stabilized mud rammed into the trench in layers. It is simple, practical and very economical, but if not done properly may lead to settlement cracks; hence should follow prescribed technicalities.

Termites could be an issue, which is mitigated by using lime in critical areas. Walls are made of local burnt bricks, plastered with hand-finished lime and sand mortar. Likewise, joints too use the same lime mortar, replacing the conventional cement mortar. However, larger part of the wall is made of rammed earth, left exposed or partly mud plastered.

There are not too many lintels as per the design; the few that appear are done with single piece stone slab. Modern paints based on chemical pigments are totally avoided. Locally available old doors and windows from demolished houses were re-used as they were and if not, by resizing them.

  • Old wood needs to be carefully handled to take away the decomposed top layer and re-polished with durable finishes.
  • Athangudi tiles, also called as Chettinad tiles, adorn the floors in vivid colours and hues, adding a rich pattern at places.
  • The roof is made with reused wood rafters and purlins, topped with country clay tiles, and the ceiling covered by wood boards.
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Electricity power comes from solar photovoltaic panels, adequate for lighting, water pump and refrigerator, with a good quality inverter. Most of the roof rain water is harvested, diverted into an underground sump, filtered and then taken to the overhead tank.

  1. Septic tanks and soak pits take care of the sewage.
  2. Incidentally, it is not only a house without steel and cement, but also without any dependency on outside the site for water, sewage, and power.
  3. Presently, it is not a house for a large family, hence succeeds immensely as an alternative idea.
  4. Of course, there have been millions of such independent houses in our traditional villages, but majority do not support modern lifestyle.

The importance of such fresh thinking as seen in Auroville in general and Dhruv’s house in specific lies in finding ways to adapt local approaches for sustainable futuristic architecture. (The writer is an architect working for eco-friendly designs and can be contacted at [email protected]) : A house without steel and cement

Can you use fly ash instead of cement?

What is Fly ash ? – Fly ash is the by product obtained in the combustion of coal to generate electricity. It is a waste product and has no other use in power plants. The use of flyash also reduces the energy demand of cement plants as well as reduces the space required for its dumping thus reducing the environmental impact of both cement concrete construction and thermal power plants.

Typically fly ash is replaced by 25% of Portland cement in concrete to get good strength and durability. The property of flyash produced depends on type of coal being used in power plants, nature of combustion process. And the flyash properties suitable for use in cement can be used for concrete construction.

Research at various places in the world has found that concrete in which cement was replaced with flyash, the concrete without cement offered exceptional performance in short term and long term strength of concrete and its workability relative to use of ordinary Portland cement concrete. How To Make House Without Cement Fly ash concrete used in footing wall How To Make House Without Cement Fly ash concrete in structural members.

What is the best way to build a foundation without stones?

A house without steel and cement September 18, 2015 02:47 pm | Updated 02:47 pm IST At Auroville, for many decades alternative ideas have been explored and experimented with When we look around our homes today, can we imagine that less than a hundred years ago we used to build without steel and cement, but today that appears impossible? Does it surprise us to realise it has taken us only a few decades to wipe out thousands-of-years-old methods of building houses? Strange but true, the rate at which we are shifting is both astonishing and alarming too.

  • In the wake of such a transformation, we also see scattered attempts to counter the change.
  • The house of architect Dhruv Bhasker at Auroville is an apt example to prove how we can successfully reverse the clock, living in our times.
  • At Auroville, for many decades alternative ideas have been explored and experimented; as such Dhruv’s house draws lessons from past experiences.
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The foundation is built not with stones with cement mortar but using lime-stabilized mud rammed into the trench in layers. It is simple, practical and very economical, but if not done properly may lead to settlement cracks; hence should follow prescribed technicalities.

  1. Termites could be an issue, which is mitigated by using lime in critical areas.
  2. Walls are made of local burnt bricks, plastered with hand-finished lime and sand mortar.
  3. Likewise, joints too use the same lime mortar, replacing the conventional cement mortar.
  4. However, larger part of the wall is made of rammed earth, left exposed or partly mud plastered.

There are not too many lintels as per the design; the few that appear are done with single piece stone slab. Modern paints based on chemical pigments are totally avoided. Locally available old doors and windows from demolished houses were re-used as they were and if not, by resizing them.

Old wood needs to be carefully handled to take away the decomposed top layer and re-polished with durable finishes. Athangudi tiles, also called as Chettinad tiles, adorn the floors in vivid colours and hues, adding a rich pattern at places. The roof is made with reused wood rafters and purlins, topped with country clay tiles, and the ceiling covered by wood boards.

Electricity power comes from solar photovoltaic panels, adequate for lighting, water pump and refrigerator, with a good quality inverter. Most of the roof rain water is harvested, diverted into an underground sump, filtered and then taken to the overhead tank.

  • Septic tanks and soak pits take care of the sewage.
  • Incidentally, it is not only a house without steel and cement, but also without any dependency on outside the site for water, sewage, and power.
  • Presently, it is not a house for a large family, hence succeeds immensely as an alternative idea.
  • Of course, there have been millions of such independent houses in our traditional villages, but majority do not support modern lifestyle.

The importance of such fresh thinking as seen in Auroville in general and Dhruv’s house in specific lies in finding ways to adapt local approaches for sustainable futuristic architecture. (The writer is an architect working for eco-friendly designs and can be contacted at [email protected]) : A house without steel and cement