Building with stone and earth: Part 1
Practical Action
If the building is to be square, four straight poles are used for marking out; if it is round then
you need only one pole. You will also need string, a measuring stick about 45cm long (the length
of your forearm from elbow to fingertips), and a simple 20cm-Iong wooden peg that is sharpened
to a point at one end. You will also need two door poles.
They should be the height of the doorway that you require, and as straight as you can find.
To clean and finish off the wall you will need a medium-sized paintbrush and some water.
Planning and preparation
First choose your site,
depending on what you are
building. Lavatories should
be away from and downhill of
houses, for example. If there
is a termite hill nearby you
can work near to it, saving
yourself some work in moving
the material about.
Then make a list of the tools
that will be needed, and plan
to buy or borrow any that you
do not already have.
Figure 2: Marking out a round building
Next you will need building
stone. If there is not enough stone near your home, then begin collecting it well before you are
ready to build. The amount that you will need will depend on the size of the building, but collect
as much as you can to start.
Clear the ground, uprooting and carting away all the scrub, bushes, and other plants that are on
the building site. Then level the site, removing all the lumps and bumps until it is all flat.
Finally, unless the ground is sandy, stamp on the ground to make it as hard as you can.
Stone and mud walls will not be damaged when the rains come as long as you follow the Golden
Rule: keep the top and bottom dry. First a layer of stones is placed at the bottom dry, without
any mud mortar. Then when you come to build the roof, the overhang is made as long as
possible, to keep the falling rain away from the wall. There are one or two other things you may
want to do, but we will deal with these when describing the building.
Foundation
For this article, we will
build a circular rondavel. It
is possible to build without
using any strings or pegs to
help you mark out the
position of the wall, but it
is much more difficult, and
never looks as good.
Stick a straight pole into
the ground where the
centre of your building will
be. Then tie a piece of
string to this pole, and the
pointed peg to the other
end of the string, at a
length of just under half
the width of the building.
With the string taught,
scratch a circle in the
2
Figure 3: The first two lines of stones are laid in perfect concentric
circles. Make sure that they are level, and fill the space in between
with small pieces of stones