Flooring is actually the process which is often misunderstood with some element. It is the process of providing clean, smooth, durable and impervious levelled surface to the occupants of the house. “To understand the reasons, you must first look at the origins” said Anthony T. Hincks. Among all the flooring materials mud flooring is the ancient flooring material and hence knowing about mud flooring will acknowledge you with the basic things a flooring material should have. Once you know the basic things about flooring material, you will have ample of options for flooring material.
If flooring is nicely done, it increases the aesthetic view of house. The mud flooring is a natural type of flooring. Mud has been the easiest form of material available for construction of building. The method of constructing a mud floor is quite simple.
· Good quality and clean mud is first selected.
· Then small quantities of chopped straw are mixed in it along with water to make a consistent paste.
Chopped Straws are mixed to prevent the mud floor from cracks during drying.
· Then about 25cm (10”) thickness of this paste is applied on already prepared floor bed.
· After that, the floor is rammed properly to get a compacted, even and level surface of about 15cm (6”) thickness.No water should be used during the process of ramming.
· Mud floors have to be maintained at least once or twice a week.
Sometimes, cow-dung is also mixed with earth and a thin layer of this mix is spread over the compacted layer to give texture.
· Mud floor is maintained by giving a thin cement cow-dung wash (1:2 to 1:3) once or twice a week.
Mud flooring is one type of flooring that is most commonly used in rural areas even today. It has following advantages:
· Mud flooring is cheap and hard.
· Easy to construct.It does not require skilled labour.
· It has good thermal insulation property. It remains cool in summers and warm in winters.
· It is environmentally friendly flooring.
· It is fire resistant.
· It is noiseless.
The only disadvantage of mud flooring is that it is not moisture resistant.
