Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One year On And A Companion Fence

Now that our adobe wall is just over one year old 

I thought it would be nice to give a look at how the adobe plaster has held up.

We had couple of hard driving rains this past summer 

and as expected they left a nice texture to the plaster

but also washed off much of the pigment in the exposed designs.

All of the posts to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,

Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs.

Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs

In this post of our series I want to take a look at how we plastered the wall 

and Allison will explain how she and her sisters made the designs, such as you see above,

 out of adobe mud and mineral pigments.

 In the photo above Cynthia used caliche, a clay slip, and oxides on her burrowing owl 

with earring eyes hiding under the Mexican Hat flowers Allison created earlier.

All of the posts to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,

Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof for the Gate

In this post on building our wall, after having looked at how we put the metal cap on in the last post,

I want to now look at the standing seam hip roof that will protect the yet to be built gate.

All of the posts to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,

Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap

In this fourth part of our series on building the wall you see above

 let's take a look at how we did the metal cap that will protect the wall from the elements.

An adobe will not last without protection from rain.

All of the posts to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,
Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes

In this post of Building An Adobe Wall we will start putting up adobe bricks.

In the previous post we made our "gringo blocks" and set up our mud mortar mixing pit.

All of the posts to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,
Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,
Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started

After the first post in this series
where we looked at how to build the stone foundation for our adobe wall
we will now take a look at making the "gringo blocks",
 and setting up our mud mixing area for making the adobe mortar that will be used with our bricks
as we go through all the steps for building the wall you see in the photo above.

All of the posts to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,

Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation

This is the first post in a six part series on how to build the adobe wall that you see in the above photo.

All the posts in this series to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,
Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

In this post I will cover all the aspects of this wall from the stone foundation to the metal cap...

Fence And Wall Ideas

Seems like a good time to show some more fence and wall ideas.

The above wall is in Santa Fe, N.M.

Cecilia Stanford's Multi-Media Fence

For the last post on the work of ceramic artist Cecilia Stanford

let's take a look at the fence behind her house and studio

that surrounds her back patio.

The previous posts are:

Cecilia Stanford's Ceramic Art In Silver City, N.M.,

Cecilia Stanford's Ceramic Art Studio,

Cecilia Stanford's House Of Ceramic Art,

and More Of Cecilia Stanford's Ceramic Art.

Stone And Concrete Walls Made With Forms

 Ever sense I first read about using a form to build a stone wall in the early 70's

 in the book Living the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing

 I thought it could be a good idea in the right situations.

 While we were in Alamos, Sonora recently there was a fellow 

who was doing just that with a  retaining wall 

and much of it would be covered up so looks were not a priority. 

Tips On Building A Drystack Stone Wall

 I spent many years as a self taught stone mason

 doing random rubble dry stack walls which I enjoyed doing 

more than just about any other trade that I have dabbled in,

until my body just couldn't do it any more.

The last time I worked at it was this project
at Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon in the summer of 2008.

 Let me caution that stone masonry is hard work 

that requires sturdy boots, gloves and attention to what you are doing. 

It is easy to have serious accidents: 

smashed fingers or hands, broken bones, or worse, 

and what follows is not intended as a complete instruction

 but merely as notes to the process.

A safe work site is essential as well as safe practices.

(Please note that this is a reworking of the post:

Notes On Building A Drystack Stone Wall from 2/10/10.)

Building An Adobe Wall

When properly built and protected,

 adobe is a good material for privacy walls.

(Please note: this post is a reworking of the post:

Notes On Building An Adobe Wall from 2/8/10.)

Decorative Adobe Walls

Adobe is an intrinsically beautiful material 

and lends itself well for privacy walls such as courtyards.

More On Fences

This artistic and colorful fence is in the arts district

 in Silver City, New Mexico.

Part of the fence appears to be from an old stamped metal ceiling.

For more check out Building In Silver City, New Mexico

under LABELS in the right side bar.

For more on fences go to my posts:

Fences,

or  Fence And Wall Ideas From Alamos, Sonora.

Capping An Adobe Wall

Adobe can be an excellent choice for a privacy wall 

but in most climates it must be protected from rain and snow.

More On Entry Ways

Periodically I like to do a post on doors, gates, and entry ways.

Fence And Wall Ideas From Alamos, Sonora

I want to show a couple ideas for garden fences

 that I have seen around town.

More Gates

It is time to look at some more gates.

The gate above is in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

Stone Walls In Winchester, Virginia

For my last post on stonework in Winchester, Virginia

 I want to concentrate on walls.

Stone Work In Silver City

Since we are in Silver City, N. M. for a good part 

of this summer I want to continue with some

 of the building techniques that I see around town.