Mud Flooring
Mud flooring, also known as earth flooring or mud floors is the cheapest form of flooring. This is a traditional flooring type, made from a mixture of clay soil(mud), water, and sometimes other natural materials like – straw or animal dung(mostly cow dung). The mud floor is usually made in the Kutcha village house.
⇛ Materials required for making mud floors are very easy to get at any place.
⇛ It is fairly hard, impervious, and easy to construct and maintain.
⇛ Mud flooring is ideal for locations where the temperature increases very high during the summer and falls extremely low in the winter. This type of floor helps to keep the house warm in cold weather and keep cool even in hot weather.
Method of Mud Flooring
⇒ First, about 25 cm thick, a layer of selected earth is uniformly distributed. Then the layer is moistened by sprinkling water over it. After moistening, the layer is compacted by a rammer to get a hard-consolidated layer of about 15 cm thickness. Ramming should be done frequently to get a proper hard-level surface.
⇒ During ramming, if any place of the floor is found sits there should be filled with selected earth and if there is too much soil at any place then it has to be lifted. It should be remembered that no water is added during the process of ramming.
⇒ This layer may be cracked after it dries, to prevent this type of crack in the mud floor, moist selected earth is mixed with the chopped straw before ramming.
Maintenance of Mud Floors
⇨ Mud floors require frequent maintenance for their upkeep. The floor should be given a thin wash of cow dung and cement mixture at least once a week.
⇨ Cow-dung and cement wash consists of three to four parts of cow-dung to one part of cement. The floor is not good from a sanitary point of view.
Advantages of Mud Flooring
The main advantages of mud flooring are as follows:
- It is eco-friendly and very cheap.
- Skilled labor is not required.
- Required materials for this type of flooring are easily available at any place.
- It is easy to maintain and repair.
- It is well resistant to fire.
- It is suitable for extremely acidic environmental conditions.
- It has better heat insulation properties compared to other types of flooring. It helps to keep the space cool in summer and warm in winter.
- Mud flooring is non-toxic and does not release harmful chemicals and components into the air.
Disadvantages of Mud Flooring
- It absorbs moisture from the atmosphere.
- Without proper maintenance its life is short.
- Periodically, maintenance is required.
- It is less impermeable and not durable.
However, it should be noted that mud floors may not be suitable for areas with excessive moisture or heavy foot traffic.
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