An earthen floor, also called an

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

floor, is a floor made of dirt, raw earth, or other unworked ground materials. It is usually constructed, in modern times, with a mixture of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

, finely chopped

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

, mixed to a thickened consistency and spread with a trowel on a sub-surface such as

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

. Once dry, it is then usually saturated with several treatments of a

drying oil A drying oil is an oil that hardens to a tough, solid film after a period of exposure to air, at room temperature. The oil hardens through a chemical reaction in which the components crosslink (and hence, polymerize) by the action of oxygen (no ...

Benefits

* Variety of colors, textures, and materials * Can be installed over nearly any subflooring * Integrates well with in-floor radiant heat tubing * One of the cheapest flooring methods,

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

or otherwise

History

Earthen floors were predominant in most houses until the mid 14th century in Europe, and persist to this day in many parts of the world. Gies, Frances & Gies, Joseph, Life in a Medieval Village In medieval times, almost all peasant housing had earthen floors, usually of hardpacked dirt topped off with a thin layer of straw for warmth and comfort. In China, most cottages and smaller houses also had earthen floors, made of

rammed earth Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method. ...

and sealed with raw linseed.Mitsu,Ahn , Developments in History: China Earthen floors were used in ancient Greece, and in many other countries in ancient times. Earthen floors, along with stone and sometimes wood, were used as

threshing floor Threshing (thrashing) was originally "to tramp or stamp heavily with the feet" and was later applied to the act of separating out grain by the feet of people or oxen and still later with the use of a flail. A threshing floor is of two main typ ...

Construction

In modern times, most earthen floors are often laid over the top of a subfloor of tamped gravel or cob or adobe, and then a mixture of clay, sand and fiber are mixed and leveled onto the subfloor. The finished layer can be 1/2 to 2 inches thick, and once dry is sealed with a drying oil (like

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

). Earthen floors can be laid over the top of previously installed wood floors but weight can become an issue.

Finishing

A drying oil like linseed oil is usually used to seal the floor and protect it from wear and tear. A final coat of a wax sealing finish (

perilla oil Perilla oil ( ''Deulgireum'') is an edible vegetable oil derived from perilla seeds. Having a distinct nutty aroma and taste, the oil pressed from the toasted perilla seeds is used as a flavor enhancer, condiment, and cooking oil in Korean cuisine ...

or floor wax) can be used to increase durability and lustre.

References

External links

Earthen Floors: (6 parts sand, 2 parts clay, 1 part finely chopped straw)
– description of installation process
Earthen Floors: (5 in road base + 1 in (70% sand, 30% clay and 10% straw))
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

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LanderLand - Earthen Floors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earthen Floor Floors Soil-based building materials