In Trinidad years ago people would build houses with a wooden frame and then construct the walls with clay and straw in the method of “wattle and daub” or tapia, as it is know locally. I have always wanted to learn this art and the opportunity recently came along to carry out a repair to the walls of an open air kitchen up in the Northern mountains. The repair turned out to be a complete demolition. We rebuilt with materials on hand, using a frame of bamboo and plastered this with a mixture of clay and vetiver grass. Two weeks later we put on a second smooth coat of clay and sawdust. A third coat of cow manure and clay will make the wall waterproof. These walls should last for years. We gathered a gang of mud building experts and enthusiasts led by Celine to chop the grass, split bamboo and tread the clay and here are the photos.
