ADOBE homes?

[woodchuck]

Does anyone have experiences (or know anyone) living in a home of adobe?
I am concerned about the structural strengh especially if the home is a multi story.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Best wishes & stay safe.

[Alpineprince]

In zones 1 & 2 you can go two stories, zone 3 only 1 story allowed.
Zona 1
1. Loreto: Provincias de Ramón Castilla, Maynas, y Requena.
2. Ucayali: Provincia de Purús.
3. Madre de Dios: Provincia de Tahuamanú.
Zone 2
1. Loreto: Provincias de Loreto, Alto Amazonas y Ucayali.
2. Amazonas: Todas las provincias.
3. San Martín: Todas las provincias.
4. Huánuco: Todas las provincias.
5. Ucayali: Provincias de Coronel Portillo, Atalaya y Padre Abad.
6. Cerro de Pasco: Todas las provincias.
7. Junín: Todas las provincias.
8. Huancavelica: Provincias de Acobamba, Angaraes, Churcampa,
Tayacaja y Huancavelica.
9. Ayacucho: Provincias de Sucre, Huamanga, Huanta y Vilcashuaman.
10. Apurímac: Todas las provincias.
11. Cusco: Todas las provincias.
12. Madre de Dios: Provincias de Tambopata y Manú.
13. Puno: Todas las provincias.
zone 3
1. Tumbes: Todas las provincias.
2. Piura: Todas las provincias.
3. Cajamarca: Todas las provincias.
4. Lambayeque: Todas las provincias.
5. La Libertad: Todas las provincias.
6. Ancash: Todas las provincias.
7. Lima: Todas las provincias.
8. Provincia Constitucional del Callao.
9. Ica: Todas las provincias.
10. Huancavelica: Provincias de Castrovirreyna y Huaytará.
11. Ayacucho: Provincias de Cangallo, Huanca Sancos, Lucanas,
Victor Fajardo, Parinacochas y Paucar del Sara Sara.
12. Arequipa: Todas las provincias.
13. Moquegua: Todas las provincias.
14. Tacna: Todas las provincias
Ministerio de Vivienda, Construcción y Saneamiento - Dirección Nacional de Construcción MANUAL DE CONSTRUCCION / Edificaciones Antisísmicas de adobe

[alan]

During earthquakes, the adobe homes that have not been built to standards come crashing down with fatal consequences. Quite literally, a ton of bricks collapses on whoever is unfortunate enough to be inside.

In towns and cities, the structure is quite often quicha, which is adobe with lots of layers of woven reeds. Structurally very sound. In the second story, that walls are not as thick, and the bricks are supported with 2x4's. I had the chance to see inside of one of these walls in a home built in the 193'´s that was getting some renovation. The wood looked like it was one day old... perfectly preserved by the earth around it.

That said, I imagine if you have long-term leakage, that could really do a number on the bricks and the wood.

Before buying, I'd recommend you get an architect to give you a second opinion on what you are buying into.

[windsportinperu]

It is a Technical Question,

Some of the pro of building with Adobe is that the material is obtained direct from the place where it is built, specially in the CountrySide

Assuming we are only talking about Peru - and excluding all the new techniques for building with Adobe, It is better to mix adobe with very good foundation. Usually in Peru the foundation is basic.. + Arquitecture very ugly

As Alan mentioned, Quincha has been the material for building in cities as Lima, during the Colonial Times and First stages of the Republic

In Barrios Altos + Downtown still we can see Quincha Houses, and some of them restored to its original beauty

The Pro of Adobe is that maintain a better temperature isolation in Regions in the Andes of Peru

Excluding Peru, there are a lot of new Techniques for building with adobe as this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp8GlYVGv0w

[windsportinperu]

Part 2,

Some organizations in Peru have investigated Earth Quake resistant Adobe Houses and there are some data on Internet

Unfortunately most of that data is stuck on the first stages and is not popular because is unknown for the poor farmers in Peru

[alan]

adobe bricks.jpg (355.21 KiB) Viewed 754 times

Adobe bricks.

quincha.jpg (34.59 KiB) Viewed 754 times

Quincha... which is also mud, but mixed with other organic material, which gives it sway.


I think a lot of homes are characterized as adobe, when in fact they are quincha.

[windsportinperu]

Alan, excelent example on how an adobe house should not been built

That Collapsed Adobe House has neither "amarres horizontales" (ring beam) nor columns

[woodchuck]

Thanks for the advice everyone.
The home we looked at was made of adobe BLOCKS, many times larger than bricks.
Best wishes & stay safe.

[alan]

I am doing some remodeling of an old home and thought some of you might be interested to see the construction methods that were used back in 1933.

The walls are "quincha", which is a criss cross of reeds packed with earth (also with a lot of fibrous content). I expected to find that. What I didn't expect to find was a one inch layer of dirt between the roof of the first floor neighbor and the floorboards of my second floor. This pancake of earth was placed there to reducing the bounce and noise of the floorboards, and I am certain it does a lot to help keep the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Sure messy to work with though!

These reeds are still in very good shape (mostly), as are the 2x4s.

Reeds in quincha wall.jpg (332.39 KiB) Viewed 524 times

Wood at bottom of this photo is my floor. Wood at top of photo is the ceiling of my downstairs neighbor. Notice the dirt in the middle.

dirt layer underneath floor.jpg (400.01 KiB) Viewed 524 times

[woodchuck]

Good info; thanks Alan.
Best wishes & stay safe.

[jcarney]

This is an older thread, but since I live in Ayacucho, this is my two cents:

Adobe is actually one of the best materials for building if you live in the mountains. My family had a cement home and it was always really cold. When I would go in the little adobe houses built sometimes half in the mountains with a traditional stove, they were usually cozy. But as others mentioned, you have to make sure it is reinforced for earthquakes. There has been a lot of initiative to do that in rural areas lately with various methods like mesh, reinforced beams, etc., but most are not reinforced. They also don't last near as long as brick, but should do for a lifetime if they're kept up.

Quincha, by the way, is one of the most earthquake resistant materials for building that there is in Peru because it's so flexible. I forget which huge earthquake that happened in Lima maybe a hundred, or a hundred and fifty years ago, and destroyed the entire city except for some streets downtown where they used that traditional construction. Unfortunately, when those houses get old, they're really fragile. But again, I've seen them making modern houses with traditional quincha and modern materials and they're nice - stay cool, cheap, safe. But I think there's a stigma against traditional building materials still. It's associated without old crumbling buildings or rural, uneducated areas.

[alan]

This is an older thread, but since I live in Ayacucho, this is my two cents:

Adobe is actually one of the best materials for building if you live in the mountains. My family had a cement home and it was always really cold. When I would go in the little adobe houses built sometimes half in the mountains with a traditional stove, they were usually cozy. But as others mentioned, you have to make sure it is reinforced for earthquakes. There has been a lot of initiative to do that in rural areas lately with various methods like mesh, reinforced beams, etc., but most are not reinforced. They also don't last near as long as brick, but should do for a lifetime if they're kept up.

Quincha, by the way, is one of the most earthquake resistant materials for building that there is in Peru because it's so flexible. I forget which huge earthquake that happened in Lima maybe a hundred, or a hundred and fifty years ago, and destroyed the entire city except for some streets downtown where they used that traditional construction. Unfortunately, when those houses get old, they're really fragile. But again, I've seen them making modern houses with traditional quincha and modern materials and they're nice - stay cool, cheap, safe. But I think there's a stigma against traditional building materials still. It's associated without old crumbling buildings or rural, uneducated areas.

Thanks for bringing this thread back up. I've continued - to date - with the renovations at our old property. The only comment I'd like to add about what we are learning is that the quincha has really held up well over the years (more than 80). The wooden two by fours are in fantastic shape, but there is an exception in the areas, like old bathrooms, that had humidity. Here we've had to replace wooden supports. The earth traps the humidity and is not good for the wood at all. In a city like Lima, rain isn't an issue, but old leaky pipes can slowly hurt the integrity of the structure.

[jcarney]

the quincha has really held up well over the years (more than 80)

Interesting article about why downtown Lima has held up so well over the years. After huge earthquakes in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Viceroy forbid bricks or adobe on the upper stories of new houses:
https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/artic ... 2_3170.pdf

I don't think there has been a huge earthquake since before Lima started building really tall cement buildings. When it comes, maybe they'll start rethinking construction again. Maybe you'll be safe in your house though.

[alan]

the quincha has really held up well over the years (more than 80)

Interesting article about why downtown Lima has held up so well over the years. After huge earthquakes in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Viceroy forbid bricks or adobe on the upper stories of new houses:
https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/artic ... 2_3170.pdf
)

Great article. Almost too much information. I was interested to learn of the two basic structures, "citara" and "diagonal". We are dealing with "citara" in this job, which seems to be more more solid of the two methods, at least over time when the base of 2by4 columns can weaken due to water damage.