slip form masonry

[Norman Watts <Norman_Watts@zzzzzzz>]

I find this thread on building with stone interesting, and although
I've never built a wall I've looked at a lot of stone houses with
interest, especially in Nepal. To my eye the Nepalese are master
builders with stone. Certainly in the Khumbu the houses are impressive
because the Sherpa have money, but also in Western Nepal and up towards
the Tibetan border and the kingdom of Mustang where they do not. These
people build dry-wall houses two and even three stories high and there
is nothing like concrete holding the stones together. The first floor
is where the animals are kept, the second is living quarters, the third
is granary. Roofs are often flat and paved with mud. Beams, floors,
window frames, etc are hewn wood. I don't know how old the buildings
actually are but I've stayed in walled towns that seemed positively
medieval. In these places one house is mended to the next and/or the
town wall. In other places the houses are free standing and even the
untrained eye can see that everything ties together. They often smear
mud into the chinks, but that is only to keep the wind out. I once
watched some masons building a house for a couple of days and then
screwed up the courage to ask them if I could take a hand. They let me
cut a couple of stones, looking on indulgently, before taking back
their hammer and chisel. Probably these buildings don't stand up well
in earthquakes, but some have seemingly been there a long time. A
friend of mine and I used to say that if we had money some day we would
bring over some Nepalese masons to build our houses.

n

Norman Watts, Ph. D.
National Institutes of Health
50 South Drive, Rm. 1509
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Phone: (301) 402-3418
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