How To Build A Mud House With Your Bare Hands

, When it comes to primitive technology very few do it better than John Plant.  In this incredible video he shows you how to build a simple mud house with a roof, fireplace, elevated bed and a chimney using only his bare hands and a stone tool.    He’s also the author of the book Primitive Technology: A survivalist’s guide to building tools, shelters, and more in the wild. The book is “a practical guide to building huts and tools using only natural materials from the wild” containing “50 projects with step-by-step instructions on how to make tools, weapons, shelters, pottery, clothing, and more”

John built this house in the video by weaving wooden strips called wattle and then covering them in mud or clay.  This type of building can be traced back at least 7,000 years, and is still in use all over the world.  It’s also an eco friendly and sustainalbe way to construct a fun little getaway in the woods.            

Here’s a word from the builder:

“I built this hut in the bush using naturally occurring materials and primitive tools. The hut is 2m wide and 2m long, the side walls are 1m high and the ridge line (highest point) is 2m high giving a roof angle of 45 degrees. A bed was built inside and it takes up a little less than half the hut. The tools used were a stone hand axe to chop wood, fire sticks to make fire, a digging stick for digging and clay pots to carry water. The materials used in the hut were wood for the frame, vine and lawyer cane for lashings and mud for daubing. Broad leaves were initially used as thatch which worked well for about four months before starting to rot. The roof was then covered with sheets of paper bark which proved to be a better roofing material. An external fireplace and chimney were also built to reduce smoke inside. The hut is a small yet comfortable shelter and provides room to store tools and materials out of the weather.”

Thanks to John Plant and his Primitive Technology YouTube channel, anyone on the internet can learn to make the objects necessary for survival out of basic raw materials.  If you’re up to the task of building everything from fires to stoves to houses from scratch.  Get your stone tools out and get to work!!  His WordPress Blog is here:  Primitive Technology