Earth mortars stabilization: A review

Abstract

Earth as a building material has been gaining a renewed interest due to current environmental and eco-efficiency concerns. Indeed, earth is an ecological and economically efficient material that can also contribute to increase indoor comfort. However, earth mortars have a limitation: their susceptibility to water. In order to implement a more comprehensive use in indoor and outdoor environments, where there may be contact with water, the inclusion of stabilizing agents has been studied. This article presents a critical literature review of the effect of the most common stabilizers used in earth mortars, specifically: vegetable fibres; binders such as calcium sulfates, air limes and limes with hydraulic properties, cement; and oils. It appears that some of these stabilizers seem to improve the earth mortars resistance to liquid water. However, in most cases, this improvement occurs at the expense of other important properties, which are also discussed.