To prevent it from cracking when drying, straw, horsehair, and dry hay are added to the dough, which serve as armor. The appropriate dimensions must be such that the bricklayer can handle it with one hand; they are normally in proportions of 1:2 between width and length, varying in thickness between 6 and 10 cm, measurements that allow adequate drying. The most common proportions to find are 6 × 15 × 30 cm, 10 × 30 × 60 cm, 7 × 20 × 40 cm; This depends on the region of the world and its conditions.

Water softens dry mud, so it must be protected from it in different circumstances: rainwater, infiltrations due to poor installations, inadequate maintenance (when watering outdoors, etc.); Elementary protection is to make eaves with sufficient projection towards the area from where the rain comes and correct construction of the foundations or foundations. Continuous maintenance is required, which must be done with layers of mud (mud plasters). It is not correct to do it with cement mortar, since the resulting layer is poorly permeable to water vapor and retains interior humidity, which would cause the adobe to fall apart from the inside and could even cause the cement mortar stucco to detach due to separation from the wall. The best thing for external walls is to use plaster based on slaked lime paste, with clay or sand, for the first layer, in the second, only lime and sand paste. For the internal ones, a mixture of clay, sand and water can be made, or with fine-finish plasters of earth stabilized with sand, to which waterproofing agents can be added in the mixing water.

In countries with cheap labor it is very economical; allows you to make the materials yourself to build your own house. In the past, in the seasons when farmers did not have work to do in the fields, they made adobes, which they then sold to anyone who wanted to build a house. Hence the proverb: while he rests he is making adobes.

Currently they are manufactured more accurately with respect to the composition, and usually have twenty percent clay and eighty percent sand, depending on the composition of the soil, the more clayey the more sand is added, without adding straw or other elements to the mixture. Research has shown that the inclusion of plant fibers can serve as an attraction for termites and furthermore, if the drying of adobe without fibers occurs in the shade, the shrinkage is less.

It has a great thermal inertia, due to the thicknesses necessary to build, so it serves as a regulator of the internal temperature; In summer it retains coolness, and during winter it retains heat.

Compared to rammed earth, which is similar but built en masse, with formwork, it has the advantage that it requires much less preparation time.

Construction with adobe has the advantage of its formal, constructive and aesthetic similarity with fired field brick. If you have a lot of labor, specialized or not, this technique is very suitable depending on the manufacturing processes that allow the integration of a large number of people during the pressing and molding, although it must be taken into account here is the control during production to minimize the variation in dimensions and the irregular shape of the pieces. Adobe walls have very good acoustic and thermal insulation conditions due to the characteristics of the material and the thicknesses used.

The disadvantages of this technique are a function of the manufacturing process itself, which can be slow since two or three weeks are required to be able to use the pieces if production is done on site. The process also depends on the treading, drying and storage areas, which will control the continuity of production while waiting for the previous pieces to dry. Therefore, this technique requires some infrastructure planning to have clean, horizontal surfaces, and protected areas to prevent rainwater from affecting production.

Common failures in adobe constructions can be reduced by controlling the soil and stabilizers used, proper sizing of the pieces and walls, proper sizing of the structure, both the foundation and the load-bearing wall, or the beams and pillars, and protection against rain and the natural humidity of the ground. Both the advantages and disadvantages must be taken into account as data from reality, but the specific conditions of the work will be those that determine the viability of the processes.

The properties of adobe architecture are thermality, mechanical resistance, acoustic insulation and fire resistance.[7]​.

In Latin America there are examples that adobe structures have a high seismic vulnerability, since there have been inadequate results in the face of the forces produced by earthquakes - even moderate earth tremors -, collapsing suddenly. This has produced a large number of human losses and important economic, cultural and heritage losses. A specific case is the earthquake in the city of Cartago in Costa Rica in 1910, after which the use of adobe was prohibited in buildings in that country.[8] This is repeatedly observed in Latin America, where the care of heritage, particularly land, is generally without adequate maintenance or care. The main reasons for collapse and seismic vulnerability of adobe buildings are due to lack of maintenance, neglect, inadequate interventions on their structure and, above all, constructions carried out in a precarious manner or without adequate knowledge about the construction system, not taking into account basic characteristics of their construction, such as respecting height and thickness proportions, adequate proportions in the mixture, correct mortars, among others.

The biggest problem for the repair, maintenance and correct execution of adobe constructions is the loss of an ancestral tradition, transmitted from generation to generation, creating a void in the construction culture, losing know-how and generating problems that can be fatal, especially in the case of seismic countries.

According to the Argentine Standards for Earthquake-Resistant Constructions: INPRES Regulation - CIRSOC 103: "There are suitable materials to achieve safe constructions, and unsuitable materials (such as adobe), but in no way can we speak of earthquake-resistant materials."[9]​.

This situation led governments and the population in general to favor reconstruction with block, brick and concrete. However, these new homes, apart from losing their thermal quality, are more expensive and their self-construction construction becomes more difficult. For this reason, many research centers and cooperation agencies are working to develop earthquake-resistant adobe constructions that are healthy and socially affordable.

In Colombia and Peru, various studies and techniques have been developed to obtain earthquake-resistant adobe pieces, paying special attention to the appropriate composition and optimal dimensions, which can be used in both new constructions and rehabilitation.[10]​.

In Chile, in the Santiago Earthquake of 1985, many of the adobe buildings were seriously damaged and during the Chilean earthquake of 2010, various buildings made of this material collapsed or were seriously damaged, communes such as San Carlos "San Carlos (Chile)"), Yumbel, Santa Cruz "Santa Cruz (Chile)"), Talca (historic center), were practically left on the ground due to these collapses, since they are the oldest buildings in the places. accidents. However, many of them also collapsed and were abandoned due to the prejudices generated over the years, ignoring their real construction status, which has generated great alert in the population and prejudices about the material. Others remain stoic waiting for their repair and others have already been repaired, like in Vichuquén.

Currently, various universities in Chile, state organizations, and private offices are studying a way to renew adobe and give it earthquake-resistant properties to maintain the country's cultural identity. On the other hand, strategies applied in buildings that have stood for centuries without collapsing before the immense number of earthquakes in Chile are studied, to learn from traditional construction strategies and the good work of earth builders.

It is a good and cheap bioclimatic construction element for dry and desert environments, since it has great thermal inertia (heat capacity between 500 and 1000 Kcal/m³°C): it absorbs heat during the day and expels it on cold nights. That is why it has been a common construction material in the desert. Not so much in tropical climates where dryness alternates with intense rains, since on the other hand it has to be hydrophilic: it absorbs atmospheric humidity when the air is saturated, so that it loses its resistance to the efforts, even those of its own weight, which is why in the tropics, after a rain of several days, some adobe walls collapse without the intervention of any other force.[11]​ To combat this characteristic, the walls must be properly tiled.

The "superadobe" or "superblock" is a method developed in the mid-1970s by the Iranian architect Nader Khalili based on the ancient techniques of the East, which allows the construction of vaulted constructions through the use of polypropylene bags filled with compacted earth, which, joined together and stacked on top of each other using rows of barbed wire, form durable structures resistant to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and fires.[12]​.

To prevent it from cracking when drying, straw, horsehair, and dry hay are added to the dough, which serve as armor. The appropriate dimensions must be such that the bricklayer can handle it with one hand; they are normally in proportions of 1:2 between width and length, varying in thickness between 6 and 10 cm, measurements that allow adequate drying. The most common proportions to find are 6 × 15 × 30 cm, 10 × 30 × 60 cm, 7 × 20 × 40 cm; This depends on the region of the world and its conditions.

Water softens dry mud, so it must be protected from it in different circumstances: rainwater, infiltrations due to poor installations, inadequate maintenance (when watering outdoors, etc.); Elementary protection is to make eaves with sufficient projection towards the area from where the rain comes and correct construction of the foundations or foundations. Continuous maintenance is required, which must be done with layers of mud (mud plasters). It is not correct to do it with cement mortar, since the resulting layer is poorly permeable to water vapor and retains interior humidity, which would cause the adobe to fall apart from the inside and could even cause the cement mortar stucco to detach due to separation from the wall. The best thing for external walls is to use plaster based on slaked lime paste, with clay or sand, for the first layer, in the second, only lime and sand paste. For the internal ones, a mixture of clay, sand and water can be made, or with fine-finish plasters of earth stabilized with sand, to which waterproofing agents can be added in the mixing water.

In countries with cheap labor it is very economical; allows you to make the materials yourself to build your own house. In the past, in the seasons when farmers did not have work to do in the fields, they made adobes, which they then sold to anyone who wanted to build a house. Hence the proverb: while he rests he is making adobes.

Currently they are manufactured more accurately with respect to the composition, and usually have twenty percent clay and eighty percent sand, depending on the composition of the soil, the more clayey the more sand is added, without adding straw or other elements to the mixture. Research has shown that the inclusion of plant fibers can serve as an attraction for termites and furthermore, if the drying of adobe without fibers occurs in the shade, the shrinkage is less.

It has a great thermal inertia, due to the thicknesses necessary to build, so it serves as a regulator of the internal temperature; In summer it retains coolness, and during winter it retains heat.

Compared to rammed earth, which is similar but built en masse, with formwork, it has the advantage that it requires much less preparation time.

Construction with adobe has the advantage of its formal, constructive and aesthetic similarity with fired field brick. If you have a lot of labor, specialized or not, this technique is very suitable depending on the manufacturing processes that allow the integration of a large number of people during the pressing and molding, although it must be taken into account here is the control during production to minimize the variation in dimensions and the irregular shape of the pieces. Adobe walls have very good acoustic and thermal insulation conditions due to the characteristics of the material and the thicknesses used.

The disadvantages of this technique are a function of the manufacturing process itself, which can be slow since two or three weeks are required to be able to use the pieces if production is done on site. The process also depends on the treading, drying and storage areas, which will control the continuity of production while waiting for the previous pieces to dry. Therefore, this technique requires some infrastructure planning to have clean, horizontal surfaces, and protected areas to prevent rainwater from affecting production.

Common failures in adobe constructions can be reduced by controlling the soil and stabilizers used, proper sizing of the pieces and walls, proper sizing of the structure, both the foundation and the load-bearing wall, or the beams and pillars, and protection against rain and the natural humidity of the ground. Both the advantages and disadvantages must be taken into account as data from reality, but the specific conditions of the work will be those that determine the viability of the processes.

The properties of adobe architecture are thermality, mechanical resistance, acoustic insulation and fire resistance.[7]​.

In Latin America there are examples that adobe structures have a high seismic vulnerability, since there have been inadequate results in the face of the forces produced by earthquakes - even moderate earth tremors -, collapsing suddenly. This has produced a large number of human losses and important economic, cultural and heritage losses. A specific case is the earthquake in the city of Cartago in Costa Rica in 1910, after which the use of adobe was prohibited in buildings in that country.[8] This is repeatedly observed in Latin America, where the care of heritage, particularly land, is generally without adequate maintenance or care. The main reasons for collapse and seismic vulnerability of adobe buildings are due to lack of maintenance, neglect, inadequate interventions on their structure and, above all, constructions carried out in a precarious manner or without adequate knowledge about the construction system, not taking into account basic characteristics of their construction, such as respecting height and thickness proportions, adequate proportions in the mixture, correct mortars, among others.

The biggest problem for the repair, maintenance and correct execution of adobe constructions is the loss of an ancestral tradition, transmitted from generation to generation, creating a void in the construction culture, losing know-how and generating problems that can be fatal, especially in the case of seismic countries.

According to the Argentine Standards for Earthquake-Resistant Constructions: INPRES Regulation - CIRSOC 103: "There are suitable materials to achieve safe constructions, and unsuitable materials (such as adobe), but in no way can we speak of earthquake-resistant materials."[9]​.

This situation led governments and the population in general to favor reconstruction with block, brick and concrete. However, these new homes, apart from losing their thermal quality, are more expensive and their self-construction construction becomes more difficult. For this reason, many research centers and cooperation agencies are working to develop earthquake-resistant adobe constructions that are healthy and socially affordable.

In Colombia and Peru, various studies and techniques have been developed to obtain earthquake-resistant adobe pieces, paying special attention to the appropriate composition and optimal dimensions, which can be used in both new constructions and rehabilitation.[10]​.

In Chile, in the Santiago Earthquake of 1985, many of the adobe buildings were seriously damaged and during the Chilean earthquake of 2010, various buildings made of this material collapsed or were seriously damaged, communes such as San Carlos "San Carlos (Chile)"), Yumbel, Santa Cruz "Santa Cruz (Chile)"), Talca (historic center), were practically left on the ground due to these collapses, since they are the oldest buildings in the places. accidents. However, many of them also collapsed and were abandoned due to the prejudices generated over the years, ignoring their real construction status, which has generated great alert in the population and prejudices about the material. Others remain stoic waiting for their repair and others have already been repaired, like in Vichuquén.

Currently, various universities in Chile, state organizations, and private offices are studying a way to renew adobe and give it earthquake-resistant properties to maintain the country's cultural identity. On the other hand, strategies applied in buildings that have stood for centuries without collapsing before the immense number of earthquakes in Chile are studied, to learn from traditional construction strategies and the good work of earth builders.

It is a good and cheap bioclimatic construction element for dry and desert environments, since it has great thermal inertia (heat capacity between 500 and 1000 Kcal/m³°C): it absorbs heat during the day and expels it on cold nights. That is why it has been a common construction material in the desert. Not so much in tropical climates where dryness alternates with intense rains, since on the other hand it has to be hydrophilic: it absorbs atmospheric humidity when the air is saturated, so that it loses its resistance to the efforts, even those of its own weight, which is why in the tropics, after a rain of several days, some adobe walls collapse without the intervention of any other force.[11]​ To combat this characteristic, the walls must be properly tiled.

The "superadobe" or "superblock" is a method developed in the mid-1970s by the Iranian architect Nader Khalili based on the ancient techniques of the East, which allows the construction of vaulted constructions through the use of polypropylene bags filled with compacted earth, which, joined together and stacked on top of each other using rows of barbed wire, form durable structures resistant to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and fires.[12]​.