A Way to Make Mud Bricks

1. Build a mold out of 2-by-4s for manufacturing your mud bricks. It should contain several separated sections, each of which will make one brick. The bricks themselves need to be about 14 by 10 by 2 inches, and are quite heavy. You probably shouldn't build a mold for more than 6 bricks. You may want to make several molds.

2 Place a small children's wading pool on the ground and fill it with 3 parts sand and 2 parts clay. Add some water and mix with a shovel. The amount of water you add will depend on many factors, so just try to achieve a smooth but thick consistency, adding more water as necessary. Remove your shoes and socks, step into the pool, and step up and down to mix the clay into the sand. Mix the clay into the sand until the mixture becomes loose dough.

3. Shovel some of the clay-sand mixture into another wading pool. Then add some straw. The ratio of clay-sand to straw should be 5 to 1. Again, step up and down in the mixture. Then roll the mixture together and knead it until it stiffens.

4: Place the mold (or molds) you constructed on a flat surface. Scoop up some of the mixture from the second wading pool and press it into the mold. Make sure there are no air bubbles. Use a trowel or knife to scrape off the excess. After 30 minutes, remove the bricks from the mold and let them finish drying. This will, depending on the weather, take several days

5 Lay out the shape of your building using guide lines. Then start laying the bricks for the walls. Use some of your remaining mixture as mortar. Make sure that with each level of bricks, you let it set long enough to dry before adding another layer. Alternate the layers for greater stability. An hour or two should work.

6 After this, you can add a roof using the standard joists and roof rafters that you would with any house. Add sheathing to the roof, and then shingles. Remember to insulate the roof as well.