Daubing

Daubing in construction is the application of a daub, effectively a sticky binding material. Traditionally describes a sticky natural composite, used as a building material for timber and earth building techniques for many years. A form of mud plaster made from a combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung, straw and oakum.

The term is still used today however to describe the process that follows chinking, which is the filling of gaps to close of log frame buildings. In a modern context the same terms are used, more commonly in the US and Canada , to describe closing the joints in log buildings. However the materials used may in some cases differ to be waterproof but less breathable materials such as flexible acrylic compound or mortar material.

In the UK, where log construction is less commmon, the term daubing is more commonly associated with the construction technique of wattle and daub. Wattle being the secondary support material, lathes or thin branches woven or fixed closely together and daub being the binder of glue and substance of the wall, finished with a lime plaster.

Typically, the component ingredients of daub are a combination of binders which hold it together (clay, lime, chalk dust, and so on), aggregates which provide bulk and stability (subsoil, sand, crushed stone, and so on), and reinforcement which aids flexibility and controls shrinkage (such as straw, hay and other fibrous materials like oakum). Daub is usually mixed by hand but traditionally livestock was used to tread it together.

Once the daub has been applied to the wattle (sometimes in more than one layer) it must be left to completely dry before being whitewashed which provides resistance to rain. Certain regions of the world have continued to use daub and the technique of as a building process, but it has become more prevalent with the rise in popularity of sustainable building techniques and materials and renovation.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Aurora Log Homes.
• Cabin Straumsnes, Norway.
• Cedar.
• Hewing.
• IHBC articles.
• Log construction.
• Oakum.
• The use of timber in construction.
• Timber frame.
• Timber framed buildings and fire.
• Timber.
• Types of timber.
• Whole life carbon assessment of timber.
• Wood and the future home