[Greenbuilding] (1850's Michigan) adobe question

[Adam wilson]

Chris,

I agree that time and money are major factors with building in general.
But as there are plenty of brick houses in the area, one can easily assume 
that there were people who chose to build with brick.  Remember now, this 
was (is) a city.
As I was saying, that was just my opinion on why people chose fired brick 
vs. adobe.  Not a question of why there weren't more masonry houses.

As for back then, I don't think it was as cheap to build stick frame as it 
is now.  Hand saws were the norm on the worksite back then.  This was a 
partial reason why Sears' precut homes of the early 1900's were suppossed to 
save a person money.  All the labor intensive sawing was done in a factory 
with electric powered tools.

Adam




>From: Chris Green <pojeros at telus.net>
>To: Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] (1850's Michigan) adobe question
>Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:10:23 -0700
>
>Adam wilson wrote:
> > In my opinion, there would be multiple reasons for locals to choose 
>fired
> > brick over adobe.  It wouldn't require plastering to finish, wouldn't 
>fall
> > down if moisture did penetrate the walls, and probably because it was
> > historically the accepted norm to use fired brick in anglo culture.
> >
>A more telling reason would be that at time in North Eastern United
>States, there was a drastic labour shortage, especially in a 'frontier'
>region like Michigan in the 1850's. So the labour to build stuff was a
>big cost factor. The entrepreneurs of the day had to deal with this
>labour shortage by inventing a lot of machinery for industrial uses, and
>water- powered and even  steam-powered sawmills were among the
>solutions: so lumber became relatively cheaper, as it is today: it's a
>lot cheaper to have a crew build a stick-built wall than to hire someone
>to build a rammed earth or adobe wall. Takes less time, too, and people
>needed shelters built rather quickly, before winter set in.
>
>Eartharchitecture.org states that  many immigrants from Europe,
>especially from Germany, brought the practical skills to build rammed
>earth buildings with them and did so. Some of these still exist, but
>often the occupants of the buildings aren't aware they live in rammed
>earth houses.
>See the entry dated Sunday, March 12, 2006, at the link below, entitled
>"Is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Constructed of Rammed Earth?" (The
>answer is No. )
>
>http://www.eartharchitecture.org/index.php?/categories/61-United-States-Other-Regions
>
>Also, the farmers and other settlers had other things to do, such as
>clear land, raise animals, and bring in crops to get food on the table
>and for sale to the nearby markets, so they just didn't have the
>available time to spend building with earth.
>
>Time and money are always factors.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Chris Green.
>
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