Please note this document is currently a work in progress.
Introduction
This 10 week project is a combination of social service and a comprehensive experience with natural building. The final goal of this project is to provide the Parras Desarollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) a refuge for homeless senior citizens to find shelter and companionship, as integration of the family is an important part of the Parras culture. The shelter is to be constructed out of adobe, a natural building material that is widely used here in Parras. This project also has provided hands on education for the participants of the Parras 2006 summer program and younger DIF volunteers.
Provide more background information, assume that readers do not already know what you are doing. This section should be dramatically expanded.
General Description
The final construction will consist of one large room measuring 4.40 x 6 meters. The adobe walls are 30 cm thick, making the building itself 5 x 6.60 meters. The projected number of adobes needed to complete the shelter is approximately 1,300. (How did you calculate this? State methodology. Adobes are made offsite and transported to DIF.
Location
The shelter is to be constructed in a small ranch town called Parras of approximately 32,000 citizens which is located in northern state of Coahuila Mexico. It will be constructed in the Parras DIF headquarters which is located on the calle Ramos Arizpe. At the DIF headquarters the senior center will be located in a far back right corner, behind the kitchen. The adobe blocks used to build the center were fabricated offsite from the DIF. The site provided ample storage space to allow approximately 250 adobe bricks to dry. We figured out this number first by approximating and then by seeing how many bricks we actually made in the given space.
Proposed Materials and Budget
| Quantity | Materials | Source | Cost (pesos) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Strawbales | WHERE FROM? | 50 | 400 |
| 4 | Truckloads (HOW MUCH) Dirt | WHERE FROM? | 330 | 1420 |
| 4 | Adoberas | WHERE FROM? | 120 | 120 |
| (HOW MUCH) Water | WHERE FROM? | 200 | 200 | |
| TBD | Bags Cement | WHERE FROM? | TBD | TBD |
| Floor (HUH?) | WHERE FROM? | TBD | TBD | |
| Total Cost | MATH | |||
Too casual.
Address topics such as plumbing, wiring, windows, doors, framing, paint , sealant, plasters, required mortar, design, labor (there are different costs for different specialities and levels of experience - thus separate out the cost of different laborers), equipment, actual cost of water, rooving, foundation reinforcement and construction. Itemize costs for the floor and roof.
Do and show quantity calculations for materials, such as adobe needed (for blocks, mortar, maybe plaster), concrete (foundation etc), water (for adobe etc), paint, etc.
Process: Preparing the Site
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Fig 1: Here the students of the Parras 2006 program are clearing the area where the adobe bricks are going to be constructed. A majority of organic matter is removed so that it does not get mixed into the adobe. The ground both where the adobe matereals are mixed and where the adobes dry is leveled. This allowes for even drying of the adobes and a much smoother process.
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Fig 2: To clear and level the area tools such as hoes, shovels, rakes, and pick axes were used.
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Fig 3: During the clearing process separate piles of the organic mater and trash were made. To dispose of the organic mater it was suggested to the homeowners to compost it.
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Fig 4: This process took 18 people only two hours to finish. We have found it to be enough area to dry approximately 250 bricks, an important thing to consider in terms of scheduling and drying time. Adobes take aproximately two days to dry enough to be moved in Parras´ hot climate.
Process: Making the Adobe Mixture
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Fig: After the pile of dry dirt is made into a crater it needs to be filled with water and soaked over night so that the hard chunks of dirt will be easier to break up. This way most of the dirt will be wet for the following day.
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Fig: Once the pile is soaked overnight, the dry dirt from the edges of the crater is piled onto the top of the pool of water. Now there are no extremely dry areas in the extremities, and mixing will be much easier.
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Fig: The dirt is mixed by the stomping of feet. It is done in this manner in order for each grain of sand to be coated in a layer of clay. It is important that the clay and dirt are well mixed because clay offers the cohesive strength between the sand. If it is not well mixed, the adobes will crack or crumble. More water can be added throught the mixing process; chances are the mixture will need it.
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Fig: When the mixture feels stiff it is likely ready for straw. A good test for this is if your fingerprint remains. The straw is then piled on top and mixed into the mud by stomping it in with your feet. The straw is added in order to provide internal tensile strength to the bricks (making them more difficult to break in half). The pile should consist of more or less 10% straw. Straw function is the comparative to rebar in a concrete building.
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Fig: After the straw is mixed into the mud it must then be turned with shovels to mix it once again and then cut with a hoe into smaller piles which are ready to be brought to the brick making site. Note: This photo has been reverted to its original. Please do not overwrite other people's photos. Please reupload with a different name such as DIFcutting.jpg. Thank you.
Process: Making the Bricks
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Fig: The adoberas must be soaked in water over night so that they are easier to use and so that they don't stick to the adobe when they are pulled off.
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Timeline
Where is your timeline?
Project Participants
Project Coordinators
Project Participants
Parras 2006 Humboldt students and coordinators, Parras DIF employees; Bernardo Reyes and Adrian, Parras DIF volunteers, Adobe educator; Martin (Ciro Liro).
References
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