Riverstone, Ontario
The interiors of this home is made of wattle & daub. Wattle & daub is an ancient building technique used in Asia, Europe and Africa. Wattle refers to wooden staves or lattice work which is then covered with a straw-clay mix (daub). Wattle & daub is similar to more modern lath and plaster work. For this project, the owners wanted to go with a system that revealed the timbers on both sides of the room partitions. Conventional stud framing with drywall would be one option, but the curved pieces presented a challenge. We decided to go with wattle and daub between the timbers which used young cedar saplings from the surrounding forests. It took some time to perfect the technique, but now I am more than comfortable with the system I have in place.
Wattled walls exposing timbers within building.	Detail of intersection of wattle into door frame.	Daub being applied to wattle.
Wattle with 2x4 nailers for hanging mirror.	Wattle to the outside of room; stick framed inside for cement board.	Finished wall (first coat).
Airlock entrance way.	Detail of airlock wall. Wall is 8ft high and consumed approx. 160 cedar saplings.	Detail of corner. Entwined cedar harvested from other side of drive way. Earth plaster will encase the tree.
Airlock at finished stage; Sept. 2008	Upstairs walls plastered and painted with silicate paint. You can see the wattle truth window in the far right.
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