Building Diane's Thatch Hut

Short film about building a mud hut in a Nigerian village, and then some images of when it burnt down again!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• africa
• building
• nigeria
• mud
• hut

[oldsouthafrica]

I am interested in afican home schemes, do you know, is it possible to mould the mud into brick shapes then fire it (in a kiln), would the mud bricks become solid bricks suitable for biulding a long lasting house, like brick houses in the UK? Many thanks!

[JulesinAfrica]

Yes. This is certainly done in some areas of Nigeria. The bricks are made out of mud, dried in the sun, then built into a tower, inside which a fire is lit. These bricks are then used to build houses/huts

[JulesinAfrica]

Glad people are enjoying this example of simple living. The hut cost about $300 to build.  This includes materials, and the locally distilled drink that was the mail form of payment for labour!

The fact that the roof caught fire during the drying process was unfortunate, but we went ahead and build a bigger, better hut the second time around.

[xtexred]

what a happy, awesome vid!!! i wanna dance barefooted in mud -- how fun!!! and what a sweet lil abode! how did it turn out after the fire did more than it was supposed to? how long did (do?) you live in it? thx for sharing the fun xo*

[JulesinAfrica]

It was a joy to make and live in - we rebuilt it after the fire. I was there for 3 great years, though it's nice to have electricity and water now.

[ELFmex]

you had to burn it to get consistency in the mud, right?

[JulesinAfrica]

there was a small fire to dry te mud out, but it caught the thatch. not part of the plan!

[FerrellRon]

This video affirms my complaints about houses built in America as well. The mud/brick walls don't burn, but the roof is flammable. We build houses out of fuel and then are surprised when they burn to the ground.

[jooker28]

How clever of you that you were able to get the natives to work for you like slaves for just a few bottles of freakin' Kai Kai. You must be proud! And what do they know about money anyway. You did them all a favor by not confusing them with things only civilized people understand. Kai, Kai for everyone!

[boysselle]

Lucky you. Always exploiting the natives

[ScavengerData]

@oldsouthafrica look up Adobe homes

[KASPLARFO]

Too much Kai Kai I guess.

Got wasted, fell asleep smoking?

[saacbe]

hi, what´s the mix of the mud? i am building an earthbag house, i allready plastered it, it has been raining lately, and tha plaster is still there, well pieces of it, the rest was washed out.

so, what was the mixture that you use? thank you so much.

would´t it be possible to place mud on the roof so ti wouldn´t burn??? i really liked your video, thank you

[KingRyltar]

@JulesinAfrica burnt during the drying process? was thinking someone was just clumsy with the Oil lamp.

[ResearchKnowledge123]

WOW! the best part was the fire! reason being, we learned that the house will hold up even after a fire. The walls were good to go! If this were a modern stick frame house, the entire structure would be gone.

[karachisay]

very good .. but it will be damage in rain?? right?? rain will destroy it :(

[cousteaujr]

thanks for the video. the burning is a bummer. at least by posting we'll learn from it. it looks like it took a lot of time to make those walls - nicely woven. i helped thatch a hut's roof once - it wasn't bad except for the really long splinter i lanced into my thumb!