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5 Ways to Create a Natural Floor

12/3/2019

20 Comments

 
It’s been natural floor month in the Mud Home Facebook Group, with a number of members attacking their substrates and creating natural beauty by the spade-load. As luck would have it, all of them have chosen different flooring methods, which not only gives me fodder for a great post, but is filling my noodle with ideas. Because it’s just about floor time for my little stone cabanas in Spain. So which one of these five will I choose?

1. Earthen floor
Picture
Kim Siu’s hobbit house in Moray, built by Hartwyn Natural Building
Here’s a floor to salivate over if ever I saw one. Earthen floors can be absolutely stunning, though they require some know-how. As with most floors, earthen floors are usually laid upon compressed gravel or foam glass beds. Foam glass is popular because it adds insulation too. There is some disagreement as to whether a vapour membrane is necessary to stop moisture wicking up into the floor. If you’re in a dry climate, or with a house that’s high up a slope with plenty of drainage, you may well get away without one, if not probably best to hedge your bets. For the record Kim’s gorgeous floor (shown above) in her hobbit house in Scotland  didn’t require one, and it was built to code*.

Earthen floors are basically a cob or earth plaster mixture poured, troweled and left to dry. After this they are coated a few times in an oil (most commonly linseed). Kim’s floor above has also been polished with beeswax.

You can learn more about how to make them on The Abundant Edge podcast with earthen floor expert Sukita Reay Crimmel. She is the co author of Earthen Floors book, which I can also recommend.
 
Pros: You can create gorgeous looks with an earthen floor. And if insulation is used, they are pretty snug too.
Cons: Earthen floors are probably the least hard-wearing of all the natural floor types listed here. If not properly protected, chair legs can gouge holes out.
 
You can feast your eyes on plenty more luscious photos of the Kim Siu's amazing straw bale Hobbit House here: Kim's lovely house was built by Hartwyn Natural Building.
 
2. Limecrete
Picture
Esra adding a limecrete step in The Mud Home
For folk needing something more durable, limecrete is used all over the world as a flooring option (much like concrete). When restoring ancient homes in the UK, limecrete floors are pretty much always installed, because they are both breathable and can handle some damp.
 
Again limecrete floors are laid on compressed beds of loose aggregate.
 
For more information on creating your own limecrete look here. Always test on a small area (2 metres squared, for example) before mixing a whole batch, as everyone’s limecrete mixes vary according to the kind of lime used, the climate, and other strange mystical forces that inevitably evade meticulous calculations.
 
This nice post by Richard CL Pillinger shows how to lay a limecrete floor. And here's a video showing how.
 
Which kind of lime should you use for floors? If you’re new to lime you’ll want to check out the Mud Home guide to various lime types. For flooring, many tradespeople prefer NHL type limes because they are more cementitious, and set harder. There are plenty of diehards who use pure lime putty too, though.
 
In some countries like the UK and Australia, ready-made limecrete slabs are also available.
 
Pros: Limecrete breathes. Lime is a natural fungicide and insecticide too, so it’s great for wet climates.
​
Cons: Lime is trickier to work with than stones, bricks or wood. You need to get your mixture right, and allow it to cure slowly but thoroughly.

Don't forget lime is caustic. Read the Mud Home guide to using lime safely here.
 
3. Simple gravel bed with stones/bricks
Picture
My first attempt around the water trough.
I’m becoming a bit of a fan of this method. For outside spaces it’s a no-brainer. So easy. So low-impact. And you can create some very aesthetic results with gravel and slabs too.
 
All you have to do is throw down a bed of gravel or sand (hard core really creates a strong base), and then inlay bricks or slabs or stones into the gravel bed. Once you’ve achieved the pattern you love, fill in the gaps around the stones by throwing more gravel or sand over the top and brushing it into the gaps. This stops your bricks/stones from shifting around and wobbling.
 
Pros: Much more stable than you’d expect. Superb for drainage as it’s completely unsealed and any water simply seeps away. Easy and cheap to make.
 
Cons: Because it’s not sealed you may find grains of sand working their way out. I’m happy to sweep the floor every now and again, but clean freaks may not be. You’ll probably need to refill the sand in the gaps every year or so.
 
Learn more about laying a brick floor here:
http://highstreetmarket.blogspot.com/2012/06/diy-antique-brick-pathway.html
 
For more inspiration look on my Pinterest page: UP THE GARDEN PATH

4. Wood
Picture
Juniper floor in The Mud Home, Turkey.
I love a wooden floor. Always have, always will. They smell and feel so good. No gravel bed needed with a wooden floor. Usually (at ground level) wooden floors are raised slightly off the ground to prevent damp rotting them. They’re actually pretty easy to make, even for newbie builders (I made mine in our roundhouse in Turkey with Celal, and although it wasn’t perfect, I loved it).
 
Pros: Warm on the feet, nice on the eyes, and they smell good too. Wood floors are very hard-wearing, give you a perfectly flat platform, and are relatively easy to make.
 
Cons: Not particularly sustainable in most cases (timber isn’t unless it’s reclaimed). Wood is also notoriously expensive, and will usually result in the greatest outlay in your build.

I'll be writing a full post on creating a wooden floor for a round house at a later date, because many folk ask how I did it.
 
5. Breathable tiles with lime mortar
Picture
Emma Winfield’s perfect quarry tile floor.
Emma Winfield in our FB group created this gorgeous floor using buff-coloured quarry tiles laid into a lime mortar. The result, as you can see, is very professional. Lime mortar is essentially simple to make (usually somewhere in the region of 1 part lime to 3 parts sand) but you need to test you batch well first because everyone's ratios seem to be slightly different.

If you want to read more about lime plaster/mortar and crete, read The Mud Home post on it here
 
Pros: Very slick finish and even suitable for mainstream homes (or restoration projects).
 
Cons: You need to get your lime mortar mixture and application method right, otherwise the tiles may not stick.
 
Which Natural Floor Will I Choose?
Picture
Which floor for this one then?
​I love to experiment, and it’s lucky I have three cabanas. Because I shall be using the gravel bed with stone slabs or bricks in one, an earthen floor in another, and probably wood in the big one. But hey, you know me. Time will tell. :)
 
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20 Comments
Sandi Berumen
12/3/2019 10:57:28 pm

As always, terrific information and great ideas. The problem comes in when one tries to decide on what type of floor they really want -- Perhaps one could put a diamond shaped wood floor in the middle, then surround that with a tile floor and finish up the outer ring with an earthen floor. I like them all. Am in the land hunting phase and I am really excited about it. I am sure something viable will present itself to me.

Reply
Atulya
13/3/2019 03:08:33 pm

Ha ha ha, yeah I felt like that. Which one? I want them all LOL! I also thought about mix and matching. Let's see.

Reply
Judith
24/3/2019 04:32:06 pm

Fully agree!!!
They are all so lovely!
You would wish for 5 rooms, to test them all out.
<3

Reply
slow
12/3/2019 11:45:47 pm

For info, a slightly stronger mix is advised when making up lime mortar for tile laying (as opposed to brick laying or pointing) as it has a bit of a tougher job to do.

The mix generally recommended for tiling is 5:2 (sand:lime), and that is what we used for the terracotta floor above. We used the same strength mortar for the grouting, since in a floor it is subject to quite a lot of stress from a variety of angles, and helps retain the structural integrity of the floor.

Reply
Atulya
14/3/2019 11:35:20 pm

Thanks for the extra info!

Reply
MIKE COOK link
15/3/2019 01:03:57 am

Tiz about your bought of flu, not flooring. 😜. You might want to check on 'OREGANO OIL', for the next time you feel the flu coming on. Tiz antibacterial, antimicrobial, n antiviral, and is also effective on fighting MRSA. You can use it on scrapes n cuts also.🤔 It's carrier is olive oil, so whenever I feel a sore throat coming on, I homogenize a half a dropper full with a half tank of water in my waterpik, then fill the tank, and after cleaning my teeth, I save a mouthful and gargle a few times, I do that everyday, sometimes more than once, till the soreness goes away. Has worked every time so far. 😍😘

Reply
Atulya
19/3/2019 11:13:37 pm

Thanks Mike. You're not the first to recommend it. Having some trouble sourcing it where I am for some reason, but hopefully it will turn up.

Reply
Darshan Chandekar link
15/3/2019 06:17:09 am

thank you Atulya for a beautiful blog updates.
All the best
greetings from India

Reply
Atulya
19/3/2019 11:14:45 pm

Oh thank you Darshan!

Reply
Sandra Goodman
19/3/2019 05:18:11 am

As always your timing is impeccable. After five years of indecision I had finally settled on an earthen floor after creating one for my daughter's yoga studio. Your beautiful blog has served to confirm it is a perfect decision. Thank You!

Reply
Atulya
19/3/2019 11:15:45 pm

Yay! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Reply
T B
9/7/2020 02:59:45 pm

Excellent information just what I needed with bonus of knowing pros and cons

I am planning my own mud house walls would be of Rammed earth but I am getting more information on flooring. I want white flooring without using artificial tiles.
Can earthen flooring be of white colour without using paint?
I want mat finish not shiny stuff
White looks bright and reflects back light
So how do I get white flooring
I want same type of flooring

Reply
Damon link
9/8/2021 06:14:23 pm

As of right now I'm thinking of wooden floors for the living, dining room and the bed rooms and have earthen floors for the bathroom and kitchen.

Reply
coastal zone access panels link
12/8/2021 04:00:49 pm

Thank you for giving us a direct and straight to the point answer! It greatly helped in clearing our confusion.


Reply
Best Access Doors link
16/8/2021 03:18:26 pm

This is well worth a read. You presented great insight and information. Thanks.


Reply
Julie
26/8/2021 07:29:01 pm

Hello, when you are taling abouth earthen floor on top of glass foam do you mean that between the stamped glass foam (and the eventual vapor barier) you sonore place any other strong layer for stability? Kind regards, julie

Reply
Subramanian P N
30/12/2021 02:46:45 pm

Love the posting on diff types of flooring

I am in a dilemma. Prepared lime mortar to lay but fancied unfinished granite stones. Luckily got my hands on quite a few pieces picked from a 96 yr old building which was demolished. Now looking forward to using this material. Pl suggest anything ai need to look for
This is a 250 sq ft mudhouse near Chennai and near a UNESCO monument called Mahabalipuram in South India

Reply
Hailey Miller link
11/1/2022 03:07:04 am

Thanks for pointing out that we can create aesthetic results with gravel and slabs. As you said, they can also be great for drainage at they are unsealed. This is helpful because my husband and I are planning to have our own space where we can build a family. We are hoping to find contractors on Monday who can construct a two-story house for us within eight months.

Reply
Mia Evans link
19/6/2022 02:12:38 am

It got me when you said that earthen floors also look gorgeous and are pretty good when insulation is used. I will keep that in mind and consider it once I have the budget for a flooring installation project next year. I just to get the old property renovated soon so that I can feel more comfortable in this house, especially when most parts of it are old after inheriting this from my grandparents.

Reply
Pixie Hearn
22/10/2022 08:31:41 pm

Hi! Loved your post! Did you ever do the three different floors? If so, which one ended up being your favorite, and do you have any pictures? Thank you! ☺️

Reply



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