Adobe\ Cob
Early Spanish colonists began making and using these sun baked mud blocks for their building, which formed the southwest vernacular. Adobe is the clay from which adobe bricks are made. Adobe is the Spanish word for mud brick; a natural building material is made from sand, clay, water and some kind of fibrous or organic material. The most desirable soil texture for producing the mud of adobe is !" of clay, #$%#" of silt, and !!$&!" of fine sand. Another source 'uotes !$(!" of clay and the remainder sand and coarser particles up to cobbles ($ # inches with no deleterious effect. )odern adobe is stabili*ed with either emulsified asphalt or +ortland cement up to #" by weight. Adobe is most commonly used in Africa, ,est Asia, South American, -orth America, Spain and South ,estern .nited States. There are no special skills or training needed for the adobe. Adobe is the traditional building material of the southwest. The basic step in constructing a home using this method is the ground must be compressed, place the adobe bricks by course, than put a layer of adobe between the bricks, lay bond beams across the bricks, and around that you can put mud plaster and those are the basic step for constructing a home using this method. The advantage of adobe is best suited for warmer climates, yet it has been adapted to colder regions with use of insulation, /t saves trees and easy to repair. The disadvantage of adobe is it is not that strong against storms, a lot of labor also it takes longer to build than using wood.