How to make a Rammed Earth Wall

In this new series titled Sustainable Home, we will take you through a series of videos on how to build a sustainable home. At Aanandaa, we are building an innovative and creative home, which is as sustainable as possible. We have explored several construction technologies and designs to ensure we have the most natural, resilient and energy efficient home.
Sustainable architecture at Aanandaa is directed by Ar. Jitesh Malik from Studio Aureole. The integral design practice at their studio combines a commitment to environmental sensitivity with a contemporary design language and a pedagogical process. At Aananda, Jitesh creatively contextualised a diverse range of sustainable practices to collaboratively work towards an aesthetically enriching experience.
Studio Aureole team: Prabhjot, Richa, Mandav, Harshita and Tanvi
Collaborators/Experts: Lallan, Ashumi, Malvika (Mlime), Narayanji (Rohtak domes)
To know more about Studio Aureole see www.studioaureole.com or email [e-mail]
In this episode, we take you through Rammed Earth Construction. Our entire home is made of Rammed Earth, and in this episode, Manisha and JItesh will explain the step by step process of making a rammed earth wall.
Subscribe to our channel to stay tuned into more videos around sustainable home.

[@alapparikh2952]

I am an Architecture student and would like to thank you so very much for explaining the practical aspects of the rammed earth walls thoroughly.

[@farmaanandaa]

You're welcome!

[@archbharat]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJraZoqNormbl9E

[@jamesmatheson5115]

Rammed Earth houses were popular here in Australia 20 years ago, not sure about now, as costs were high.

[@00007chirag]

Where are you from sir?

[@fbsfarm9910]

Thank you for this valuable information. My grandparents from both sides lived in houses made from earth here in Cyprus 100 years ago and the walls are still standing!

[@farmaanandaa]

So assuring to hear that!

[@fbsfarm9910]

@@farmaanandaa I will try and take some photos to show you.

[@DittoK18]

Wow very informative.

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you think so!

[@aniketpatel2589]

Nice to see jitesh malik, he took one class for us on insulation art.

[@irina.gamulina]

Thank you do much for this kind of detailed explanation 🙏🏼

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pateljipatel4856]

The Best Solution for tropical areas houses on Westrn side for thermal Protection n in garden for for soft plants 🙏🇮🇳🙏💐

[@bec5250]

Another amazing Indian woman bringing valuable knowledge to the world. Love it. I'm going to try this.

[@farmaanandaa]

Thank you!

[@thandimichelle]

Thank you for your clear breakdown and instructions. This is one of the best videos I've heard on the subject.

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ogathingo8885]

Good to rediscover ancient building resources and methods that are appreciate again…indeed ancient tribal knowledges have wisdom that we slowly are respecting…

[@farmaanandaa]

Well said!

[@nayan4121]

Kindly make a video about ratio of material for various types soil ie sticky ,sandy.. And haw can established the wooden frame of door, window and ventilator ,

[@farmaanandaa]

We have covered the door fixing in this video itself, but will try to make a video in more detail.

[@sajidrafique375]

That's lovely Info . I saw one video of pakistani villagers doing exactly the same thing .

[@Iam.com.c]

Wow thank you that is such a good teaching on how to build basic 😮

[@Lukavichiano]

Wonderful video. Well explained and presented. Thank you.

[@agrippanyagwaya2308]

Thank you for this beautiful unique technology I'm gonna venture into this project in Zimbabwe Africa

[@farmaanandaa]

Awesome! All the best!

[@alecsherman]

Thank you for the excellent practical details like "tamping until you hear a metallic sound". Your video was so informational I've taken notes and sending to my contractor. This year I'm planning on building a rammed earth construction home and will definitely use some of these tips! I'm subscribing to your channel now...

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful! And thank you for subscribing!

[@sumitakundu8052]

Thanks Manisha , you are actually showing us the way to follow our dreams, and hope will get to contact PPL who can help build our dreams.

[@wreay2240]

This is a video of my thoughts the last couple days about rammed earth. Thank you

[@ThoneJones]

I really love the idea of this type of construction. It’s so much better than the typical 2X4 construction. Of course getting it approved by the building inspector in the USA would be a big challenge.

[@jiteshmalik3606]

You could still try non-load bearing walls, i assume....I understand, getting permissions within the urban areas in India, specially for Load bearing Walls is next to impossible....the Building Codes need to be updated with research and documentation; A group of us architects in Chandigarh area are pursuing with the administration...with our experiments at Aanandaa, we are a step closer! There is Sirewall in Canada who are building Rammed earth walls, you might be able to get specifications etc. from them for the approval process in the US.

[@Batmicheal]

That’s an issue here, getting approved for non conventional construction. Can do anything for non residential construction like sheds, barns, cellars, etc but commercial building are typically steel and concrete and residential dwellings are typically stick framed but have known of cement block construction approved for residential construction, and some areas have a method of approving log homes. There are areas that have no building codes and no code enforcement for building but I don’t live in one.

[@jamesmatheson5115]

They passed construction requirements here in Australia so America should be easy.

[@the_seekerslife1027]

Thanks Manisha Ji 🙏🙏🙏 loving your efforts. So inspiring 🙏🙏🙏❤️

[@namelessanonymous5216]

Works well even without rcc columns. 6'x2'x3 i.e. (length breadth height) block at a time. One layer/level of huge blocks is laid n left to dry for 24hrs & then another row is made over it. That's how ppl are building farm boundary walls in rural Punjab.

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes sure it can be done. We wanted to be 100% earthquake proof as these walls are carrying the weight of the roofs too

[@biswanathpradhan7549]

In Odisha, mud houses were in huge numbers. Sadly, those are rare now. Mortar is made of mud & sand, first by mixing with a spade and then adding water and using feet to make a good mixture. This mortar is laid on a foundation of stones layer by layer till reaching the desired height. I have seen mud houses of more than 50 years without much maintenance.

[@farmaanandaa]

Thanks for sharing

[@Ab_035]

Do you know mud house can be build in any location or only in dry area? What can be the cost to make for minimum of 400 sqft home?

[@arjun10able]

Hello i am from Nepal.🙏I remember my grandparents house built from mud, Bamboo n bricks which was more comfortable in summer n winter. In future i am planning to build new house with rammed earth wall. Mud house is comfy n cosy effective

[@farmaanandaa]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ulkapawar952]

Huge work you are doing by spreading on site knowledge! i=could you throw more light on what is the foundation used here and also, the costing of these walls. thanks a lot!

[@farmaanandaa]

Thank you! Will do!

[@yalealy]

Thank you Manisha. The information you provide is very valuable.

[@raagamadhu]

Hello mam, Very inspiring to see the amount of changes you have adapted to lead a sustainable life. Only few can do this. As I am not as capable as you are, I am just supporting a campaign know as "Conscious plant" headed by Sadhguru to save soil. I couldn't imagine anyone except you who can understand this better.If people like you support this, the momentum that it gathers is huge. This is my small request to you to support this as much as you can 🙏🙏🙏

[@HarshSuryawanshi]

That’s the best video someone ever made on rammed earth. Great

[@farmaanandaa]

Wow thats great to hear!

[@HarshSuryawanshi]

@@farmaanandaa it will good if you can put detailed information on how to fix corner and end panels of shuttering, electric and plumbing working, fixing doors and windows and closing top of rammed earth wall. Basically if you have proper documentation of construction then by watching all these videos one shall easily able to understand the process and start planning his/her rammed earth adobe. Thanks

[@hometube788]

really helpful video. thankyou for sharing

[@leilatiu9721]

This what I am looking for. Thank you so much ❤

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad!

[@sara31786]

What a ram fine woman 😍

[@farmaanandaa]

Haha

[@sara31786]

@@farmaanandaa Only a person who truly understands the subject can explain it simply.......doing so with the voice and tone of an angel whilst looking flawless well, very compressive

[@jatinjalia8676]

This is simply beautiful

[@rogercarroll1663]

Great presentation, thank you very much.

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rajeevrawat6863]

Thank you so much for the derailed explanation 🙏

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@soltanakouider5922]

thks very informative

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@namelessanonymous5216]

Excellent 👍 superb. Future of environment friendly construction. I wish I cud visit the site & take a hands-on training course to DIY construct my own house. M in Lahore, Pakistan.

[@VishalSingh-ng4cl]

Thankyou very much ma'am for such a precious knowledge!

[@kimgboy1]

Excellent i love your techniques i look forward to Learning more

[@farmaanandaa]

Awesome, thank you!

[@haiderimran1]

Lovely piece of work. Respect from lahore and now I’m looking for artisans who can do this for my house ❤

[@farmaanandaa]

Thank you. Am sure you will find some local artisans

[@johnhoward2337]

Can you place a metal pipe in the walls for electrical lines. Ram the soil. Then pull the metal pipe out? Perhaps coat the pipe with oil or powder to retrieve easy? So that no plastic pipe is needed for electrical cables?

[@farmaanandaa]

That would be risky.

[@lurin971]

Fantastic!

[@anjalikohroo7428]

Very good series for earth lovers..nice mam ...thank you for this... 🙏

[@farmaanandaa]

You're welcome. Happy to share!

[@rks3488]

Love you guys 💕💕💕

[@Visualizingmathandphysics]

Beautifully explained nice and simple.

[@radhagupta3939]

Super informative, with supporting videos as well!

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you liked it!

[@ramilabhandarisaptaranjani7781]

Thank you for such important information

[@imayank9]

thanks manisha for nice video

[@patelneeraj]

Wonderful !! Thank you Didi for sharing this with us!

[@HCEndgame]

You're doing God's work 🙏

[@farmaanandaa]

Thank you so much 🙏

[@ajayayyappan2522]

Excellent video! Thank you for sharing. I have enjoyed it.

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@phucnguyentv7541]

I like this menthod building houses with soil❤

[@davidfernandez2652]

Thank you for answering my questions from your previous video!

[@farmaanandaa]

Keep your queries comin!

[@reshmithampy]

wow! this is really cool..pun intended

[@SuerteDelMolinoFarm]

Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain

[@farmaanandaa]

Hello! and thanks for following us!

[@kiransingh9756]

Superb explanation

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you liked it

[@Wild1Banana]

India is probably the worlds best resource for Rammed earth natural home construction with modern plumbing wiring etc and my biggest questions about rammed earth is not the walls but the engineering of wall to roof structures and materials for a well insulated natural material roof and the roof water proofing without synthetic materials etc .

[@maelneri5495]

Thank you so much for this great presentation. Almost all of my question are answered.

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad!

[@durbinito]

Watched two videos. Seems great. Excited to see the finish of the house.

[@nikbivation]

amazing job, keep it up!

[@starofthesea1943]

Thankyou! Fantastic video!

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@HayatPermacultureFarms]

Thank you man for this knowledge..

[@apurbadash6831]

What about windows opening?

[@vinaymk2002]

Please make more videos we are glad to watch and i started to do your things in my farm

[@farmaanandaa]

Awesome!

[@satyakithorat3545]

Wonderful, quite helpful video

[@farmaanandaa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dhanrajbhure6406]

How to make rammed earth wall? Some stabilisers and aggrigaters in this so that it sets quickly. We've added lime and normal gravel or bajri(बजरी in Hindi) as a aggrigate. The soil is excavated from the site itself. We've dug water tanks for rain water harvesting and the soil excavated is used to make the walls.! We create a shuttering with two sheets of ply and some tools to hold the two sheets of ply together. Those tools are pipes which goes through the rammed earth wall and a threaded rod is put into the pipe and on both sides of the wall this is tightened and a square pipe of 1 1/2 inch by 3 inch pipe is fixed on either side. When this structure is ready, we mix the mixture of earth, aggrigate, lime etc and pour it into this framework 12 cm at a time. When it's 12 cms, we start ramming it by tampers or durmud(Hindi). Keep pounding it till you hear a solid metallic sound.! The 12 cms of mixture gets compressed to about 9 cms And then it's time to put next layer of mixture and start ramming it again. The next day itself, we de-shutter the wall and take out all the magnesium screws, loosen the plywood and remove it. With a little bit of knocking the metal pipes will come out leaving behind these holes. These can be easily be fixed using the same mixture and taking a hammer and tapping in. In rammed earth construction we've to plan first and execute later. In a rammed earth wall, you can't undo what's already put up.! Like in brick 🧱 and mortar structure you can break some bricks put a window 🪟 but in rammed earth wall,You need to plan before and execute. One must know where the electrical pipes, plumbing pipes are going to be, well in advance.! Wooden piece is placed into the edge of the wall 2 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch wooden piece. Wood has to be of good quality so that it won't be prone to termites. It has to be dry. Once the shuttering is removed, we've a piece of wood into it where We screw in window 🪟 and a door 🚪 frame. You can do it in any shapes or forms by just altering shape of the shuttering. All you're doing is putting in loose material and tightening it. So the walls , the junctions don't need to be perpendicular to each other. It self regulates the temperature.!

[@chepindichepindi3328]

Thank you very much.will build one like this.

[@thakkardevansh]

Thank you so much for sharing your content, it's been very helpful and informative! Can you please demonstrate adding natural pigments in earth as you escalate 12 cms at a time and ramming it, I'm sure the effect will be be worth the extra efforts as I assume these walls will be exposed in and out later in use!

[@VyacheslavZinger]

Thanks !!!!

[@bhanuchaudhary3436]

Wow Very Interesting 😊

[@CEarthling]

I think you guys are Vegan....You adopted that stray cow.I appreciate it.

[@jagirjosan4521]

Nice, thanks for knowledge

[@farmaanandaa]

Thanks for liking

[@atulbhagwat8043]

Very good information. Thanks for that. Are your rammed earth wall acting as panel walls? As i see RCC columns in between probably to take roof load

[@farmaanandaa]

The walls are load bearing. The pillars are just connectors between the plinth beam and ring beam and staple the entire structure together

[@gmtomazio]

Obrigado!!!!! 🇧🇷 Thanks!!!

[@saladin333]

Great video with full of information. Thank you! A question wil remain: how to protect the wall from rain?

[@farmaanandaa]

The wall doesn't really need any protection from rain. It will hold its own. However you can coat it with a silicon waterproofing solution to prevent it from dusting off

[@KrishN-bx2fy]

U r simply beautiful

[@surekadevistudios7217]

Have you built with solar power in mind? Thank You for your video. I will be exploring your channel.

[@farmaanandaa]

Yes I have. Just need to install the plant now. Wondering whether to keep batteries or not. Any thoughts?

[@Baelon903]

Thank you for instruction break down

[@farmaanandaa]

Welcome!

[@lilyairich]

Thank you so much!!

[@farmaanandaa]

You're welcome!

[@muhammadmubeenislam]

Hey nice work. What kind of lime did you use? Is it slacked lime or any other form?

[@farmaanandaa]

Slaked lime

[@asifsharoon9773]

Very nice mam

[@LatifMirza-tu5tb]

Thank u.

[@pranitrangole449]

lovely

[@trueindian2125]

Please also show the mixing of soil

[@keefskibiro]

Thanks for this great content. How do you ensure cracks don't appear on the walls?

[@farmaanandaa]

The soil composition should have the right mix of clay, silt and sand. Also, ramming should be consistent. Shuttering should be tight. If any pillars are inserted within the wall, there should be enough space around it to ram the earth. 👍

[@GowthamV07]

Nice.

[@prabhuvn]

Self regulating the temperature is interesting...Can we live without air conditioner in hot climate regions?

[@farmaanandaa]

Absolutely. There is no provision for air conditioning in our house

[@prabhuvn]

@@farmaanandaa Awesome...please explain in detail in your future video.Shuting down AC will make us lot more healthier.

[@anilbaraik3684]

Great Idea of constructing a Sustainable House. I would like to know when the water is added or completly no water is used to raise the Wall.

[@farmaanandaa]

Very little water is added. More like a sprinkle

[@anilbaraik3684]

When can I join you for trainings. Please send address. Atleast how much time is needed for Basic training? Thanks ANIL Ranchi Jharkhand

[@kamugishaarthur2765]

Good work but do you use concrete in foundation?

[@farmaanandaa]

The foundation is made with stone and lime. But there is a plinth beam which is made of steel & concrete, on which the shuttering is anchored and wall is built.

[@saisuren6488]

Hi akka I saw ur project house it's fantastic akka 🎉

[@exoticfruitcauldron4422]

Amazing , great work , you have made it look so easy explained very well, please make more videos in detail related to rammed earth

[@farmaanandaa]

Stay tuned

[@exoticfruitcauldron4422]

@@farmaanandaa Thanks , can you please tell why these cement pilar for, its good idea, how many ?where they should be ?start and end of rammed earth wall ?

[@keithc8108]

Amazing architecture! How does it handle the rainy season? Please explain.

[@farmaanandaa]

Nothing happens in the rains as long as the top of the wall is protected. The sides are well rammed and water resistant

[@a.s.562]

Thanks for good explanation video. Is column is necessary for this technique, will earth compress and more compact with time and wont crack will appear between different material (concrete column). May you make video review of very old houses, with/withiut columns. Namaste

[@farmaanandaa]

The walls are load bearing so columns are not really needed. But we have added some columns to connect the plinth beam and ring beam and staple the structure together. This is because we are in an Earthquake prone zone.

[@a.s.562]

@@farmaanandaa thanks for quick ans useful reply, I'm also from earthquake risk place. Namaste

[@king000775]

Great work, here i have a question, the rammed earth walls are having great load bearing capabilities then why you using concrete columns?

[@farmaanandaa]

To hold the entire frame together and make it erthquake proof.

[@king000775]

@@farmaanandaa great

[@ravikarpunj608]

I am inspired and wonders if I could ever get a chance to build my own "Rammed Earth" or "Earth Block" house ? Even I don't have a piece of land. But definitely would love to associate with architect near me, to learn the art. Looking forward to get an opportunity to work with.

[@farmaanandaa]

All the best!

[@riethacrafford7375]

what is the mixtures you use of EARTH< LIME etc. please. How wet should mixture be

[@mritunjay4344]

Unburnt stable compact brick is more easy and cost effective way to make eco-friendly house

[@shaileshlute8059]

Rammed earth vs compressed earth bricks , which are better ? Also madam plz make a video on how did u plan everything prior to execution. Thank you for great initiative.

[@farmaanandaa]

Depends on what soil you have. Earth bricks may need more clay.

[@martinmartin691]

This is v good. Problem is if you dont have the correct soil quality

[@farmaanandaa]

Thats right. Your soil cannot be too clayey

[@pathikshah9055]

Hi, Love what your are doing and have been following you since a long time. Need your little help here. We are planing to build a farm house and are very keen on using natural materials to build our farm house. We are from Mumbai and our farm land is near PAWNA damn. This region as you know comes under heavy monsoon belt. My question here is that can Rammed Earth wall sustain in such a harsh monsoon conditions. Your insights would be really appreciated. We are contemplating either mud blocks or Rammed Earth. Thx.

[@dhojookram1225]

I am a great lover of sustainable earthen buildings, but want to know more about the coating of walls and waterproofing.

[@farmaanandaa]

The exterior of the walls is coated with Zycosil - a thin layer of silicon

[@zh1959]

hi there, great new series! thanks a lot it's very inspiring and I would like to build a rammed earth house can you show us also a construction plan? that would be so great to see how you did the planing of your building! also how long did it take to ramm for instance 12cn by 1m? just to get an idea. most of the video on rammed earth you find don't show how to do the preperation and planing in advance.

[@farmaanandaa]

Difficult to share our house plan, as that is a private document. Its takes about 3 days to make a 10 x 9 foot wall of 13.5 inch thickness.

[@AmirSaleemShah]

Manisha ! I am still confused about the foundation of the rammed earth. My question is " Do you used Steel in the foundation of the wall or used Steel or cement in the beam beneath the walls " ? Hope you will answer the Q ?

[@farmaanandaa]

Steel and cement in the beam beneath the wall. The formwork is anchored on that beam and then we start ramming the earth

[@AmirSaleemShah]

@@farmaanandaa Thanks alot . Now I got your point.

[@AmirSaleemShah]

@@farmaanandaa I am going to construct rammed earth walls for my upcoming project. Is used of steel and cement in beams beneath the walls necessary? ( Single storey building )

[@ಕಾವಲು]

thank you mam, i need learn more about this rammed earth wall, your conducting any class?

[@farmaanandaa]

No classes, sorry!