page_title: Earth structure
section_title: Prairie sod house
hierarchical_section_title: Earth structure / Examples / Prairie sod house
caption_attribution_description: Omer Kem, Representative to the United States Congress in front of his sod house
context_page_description: An earth structure is a building or other structure made largely from soil. Since soil is a widely available material, it has been used in construction since prehistoric times.
  It may be combined with other materials, compressed and/or baked to add strength.
  Soil is still an economical material for many applications, and may have low environmental impact both during and after construction.
  Earth structure materials may be as simple as mud, or mud mixed with straw to make cob. Sturdy dwellings may be also built from sod or turf. Soil may be stabilized by the addition of lime or cement, and may be compacted into rammed earth. Construction is faster with pre-formed adobe or mudbricks, compressed earth blocks, earthbags or fired clay bricks.
  Types of earth structure include earth shelters, where a dwelling is wholly or partly embedded in the ground or encased in soil. Native American earth lodges are examples. Wattle and daub houses use a "wattle" of poles interwoven with sticks to provide stability for mud walls. Sod houses were built on the northwest coast of Europe, and later by European settlers on the North American prairies.
context_section_description: European pioneer farmers in the prairies of North America, where there is no wood for construction, often made their first home in a dug-out cave in the side of a hill or ravine, with a covering over the entrance. When they had time, they would build a sod house. The farmer would use a plow to cut the sod into bricks 1 by 2 feet (0.30 by 0.61 m), which were then piled up to form the walls.
  The sod strips were piled grass-side down, staggered in the same way as brickwork, in three side-by-side rows, resulting in a wall over 3 feet (0.91 m) thick. The sod wall was built around door and window frames, and the corners of the wall were secured by rods driven vertically through them. The roof was made with poles or brush, covered with prairie grass, and then sealed with a layer of sod.
  Sod houses were strong and often lasted many years, but they were damp and dirty unless the interior walls were plastered.
  The roofs tended to leak, and sometimes collapsed in a rainstorm.
caption: Omer Madison Kem, (later, Representative to the United States Congress) in front of his sod house in Nebraska (1886)
exif: {}