Speed of Building.—“Besides the advantages of strength and cheapness, this method of building possesses that of speed in the execution. That the reader may know the time that is required for building a house, or an enclosure, he need only be told that a mason used to the work can, with the help of his labourer, when the earth lies near, build in one day 6 ft. square of the pisé.”
Rendering.—“To prepare the walls for plastering, indent them with the point of the hammer, or hatchet, without being afraid of spoiling the surface left by the mould; all those little dents must be made as close as possible to each other, and cut in from top to bottom, so that every hole may have a little rest in the inferior part, which will serve to retain and support the plaster.
“If you happen to lay the plaster over them before the dampness is entirely gone, you must expect that the sweat of the walls will cast off the plaster.”
The wall surface having been duly hammer-chipped, the work must be scoured with a stiff brush to remove all loose earth and dust, and to finally prepare it for rough-casting. Rough-cast consists of a small quantity of mortar, diluted with water in a tub, to which a trowel of pure lime is added, so as to make it about the thickness of cream.
One workman and his labourers are sufficient; the workman on the scaffold sprinkles with a brush the wall he has indented, swept, and prepared; after that he dips another brush, made of bits of reed, box, etc., into the tub which contains the rough-cast, and throws with this brush the rough-cast against the wall.
“Rough-cast, which is attended with so little trouble and expense, is notwithstanding the best cover that can be made for pisé walls, and for all other constructions; it contributes to preserve the buildings. It is the peculiar advantage of these buildings that all the materials they require are cheap, and all the workmanship simple and easy.”
Local Testimony.—At the end of the article just summarised, an instructive letter from a former rector of St. John’s, La Rochelle, is quoted:
“Sir,—
“My having been an inhabitant for some time of the town of Montbrison, capital of the Forets, enables me to give you some information concerning the mode of building houses with earth, etc.
A Pisé Church