Building Materials

Ancient Building Materials

Mud, bricks, lime, stones, wood, metals and

precious stones should be used in construction of
houses - Mayamat
 1. Soil /Mud
Soil –It is an aggregate of inorganic and organic grains which
can be separated by simple mechanical action such as agitation in
water or by sieving.
Clays: Clays are finest particles of soil with a size smaller than
75 microns.
Mud – It is a workable mixture of clay soil and water.
MANIFESTATIONS OF MUD

Cob Adobe / Sun- dried blocks

Rammed earth Wattle and Daub

Advantages of Adobe material
• Adobe has relatively high thermal conductivity
• Adobe has sound insulation property.
• Mud construction is really cost-effective,
• Mud construction is a labor intensive mode
Disadvantages
•Mud construction has low strength compared to
brick or stone construction.
 Ancient plasticizers can be grouped as

Extracts of Herbs, Fruits and tree barks

 Trifala- Aamla, Hirda and Behada
 Wood apple, Holy tree fruit
 Barks- Khadir, Arjun trees
 Natural polymers
Cow Dung, Jaggaery, Coconut water, Eggs, Green
Algae, rice husk, burnt coconut shell
 1. Mud flooring.
Padmanabhapurum palace (1601 A.D) in Tamil Nadu

The floors of were made of a

material that is unique blend
of burnt coconut shells, quick
lime, palm toddy, the whites
of eggs and extracts of
certain barks of trees and
nuts.
Laurie Baker & his work
2-Bricks & Roof Tiles

Mohenjodaro –2500 BC
 Origin of Bricks
Sanskrit word for brick is "Istika" meaning comfort giving
or well being. On being burnt, the mud blocks of fire place
(Yadnya kund) turned into a baked brick. Sage Angirus
was an authority on brick making.
 Bricks and Tiles making
Various stages involved

1. Selection of suitable site and collection of soil

2. Wetting & Kneading the brick earth, Mixing of
additives.
3. Hand molding of bricks
4. Sun dying of bricks
5. Kiln Preparation and firing the bricks
6. Cooling and quenching of bricks
7. Rejecting damaged or non standard bricks
8. Testing of bricks
9. Classification & qualities.
 Brick earth suitability based on color

Class I II III IV

Color White Red Yellow Black

Suitability Best Good Average Worst

 Additives for brick earth

• Extracts of barks of milky trees

• Fine sand and ferrous soils
• Decoction of Trifala
Brick
Standard Sizes of bricks…
• Conventional / Traditional bricks : Size 23 cm x 11.4 cm x
7.6 cm
• Standard / Modular : Size : 19 cm x 9 cm x 9 cm
1 - Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
Civilization

Brick Size - 10 x 20 x 40 cm

2 – Floating Bricks
Sizes of bricks vary from 350x175x75 mm to
450x225x150mm.
 Properly fired
 Lighter by 2 to 10 times compared to modern bricks
 Contains micro pores partially interconnected.
Bricks of Lothal -1500 BC
Village Sirpur (Chhattisgarh) 5th century AD.
 Lakshmana Temple, Sirpur-Chattisgarh
 Lakshmana temple built by Queen Vasata, in 7th century AD is
world heritage structure
 Brick temple stands on a high massive platform
 This temple is one among the best examples of brick temples of
Ancient India.
3. Lime and Lime Mortars
 Process of preparation of lime
mortar
1. Excavation of lime stone from underground mines
2. Calcinatation (Burning lime stones)
3. Quenching (cooling) with water to obtain a slaked lime
4. Sieving of the material to remove stones and other impurities.
5. Lime mortar preparation by mixing with sand
6. Pulverization by Lime mill to obtain the mortar.
 Five types of sands for lime mortars

1. Karal (size similar to hirda seeds)

2. Mugdi (size similar to green gram seeds)
3. Gulmash (medium size sand)
4. Kalk (size similar to Bengal gram flour)
5. ChikkaN (Fine silt)
 Ancient Cement
 Briquettes of Surki (brick powder) and lime are made and
allowed to dry for 2 to 3 months.
4. Building Stones
 Uses of Stones

 Making sculptures

 Building blocks for construction.

 Sources of building stones
 From hills
 From underground mines
 Riverbanks and forests

• The stones obtained from barren land, graveyard or those

embedded in ground are unsuitable.
• Stones obtained from sites unsuitable for habitation are
also unsuitable.
 Defects in building stones

Lines • curvilinear (as thread),

• straight (as sun rays)
• parallel (as rains)

Spots size.  lemon fruit (15-20 mm),

 grape size (5-10 mm),
 less than 5 mm.
 Detection Of Defects In Rocks
Microscopic defects in stones , which were invisible to eyes,
were detected by applying some herbal paints so that the
defects were clearly visible.
 5. Timber for Construction

A civil engineer has to use different building materials including wood.

 The quality and durability of the structure depends upon

the wood used.

 The life of the structure is also affected by trees grown in

its vicinity.
 Hence a civil engineer should have some basic

knowledge about botany.

 Selection of a Tree for Timber
Do not Select a Tree, which is

• in the compound of religious place,

• struck by lightening ,
• scorched by fire,
• grown in covered area, in unhygienic conditions or
• grown along the roadside,
• broken by wind or animals or vehicles impact,
• entangled by other trees or wound by creepers,
• grown in anthills or supporting honey beehive,
• grown on cremation ground or which harbors vultures or owls.
 Knots in Wood

The wood should not be full of or devoid of knots.

 Preservation of Wood
The wood should be painted to avoid the losses of oily
substance. An oil coat should be applied every year after rainy
season.
 Frames and door shutters
Wood for frames and door shutters should be of same type so that
the action of weather may be same on both. Unequal action
produces unequal strains and it is detrimental to architecture.
Woodwork Joints