Rammed earth walls

This technique consists of building walls by compacting layers of earth within a formwork. In addition to sharing the ecological qualities of the rest of the earth construction systems, rammed earth has the advantage of its material austerity since it does not require the inclusion of plant fibres and needs very little water to be able to be compacted properly. This technique consists of building walls by compacting layers of earth within a formwork. In addition to sharing the ecological qualities of the rest of the earth construction systems, rammed earth has the advantage of its material austerity since it does not require the inclusion of plant fibres and needs very little water to be able to be compacted properly.
Many traditional buildings in Mallorca are built using the rammed earth technique. Can Monroig is an example of this. Although it is not built solely from rammed earth, the basic material with which it was built is earth.
In recent decades, all these houses have been restored using unsuitable materials such as Portland cement, which is too strong, inflexible and not very breathable. This eventually leads to problems with humidity, condensation, deterioration of the original materials, cracks, unhealthy environments, etc.
Contrary to popular belief, earthen constructions have an indefinite duration (the Alhambra of Granada It is made of adobe, only water leaks, either through the roof or the foundations, can damage it.
Good conservation of the building is essential. Even so, once deterioration has begun, the adobe can be restored. The materials used are those closest to the original: earth, clay, lime.
At Can Monroig, the earth walls were plastered and plastered with lime mortar. To reflect the type of construction, the “bare” adobe wall was left exposed on one of the side walls of the house, without any mortar or paint. This allows the horizontal marks typical of this type of construction to be seen, as well as its earthy colour. However, a suitable consolidant was used to prevent the landslides of earth or sand.
Current rammed earth
Nowadays, rammed earth is one of the proposals for modern and sustainable architecture due to its unrivalled thermal characteristics that facilitate heat retention in winter and insulation in summer, with the consequent energy savings.