# Adobe Bricks for brick walls?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/adobe-bricks-for-brick-walls/20091>\
**Category:** The Drawing Board\
**Created:** [May 17, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/adobe-bricks-for-brick-walls/20091 "2019-05-17T22:43:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LordSunder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/lordsunder/32/6007_2.png) [@LordSunder](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/LordSunder)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/adobe-bricks-for-brick-walls/20091/1 "2019-05-17T22:43:10Z")

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Hey, so I made a thing about making walls out of earth that’s currently under review, and the topic of adobe and cob buildings came up. I just wanted to be able to do something with the huge amounts of dirt I’m showered in whenever I go graverobbing or decide to dig a hole in the ground. So… I’ve been playing around with making adobe bricks, but I didn’t particularly want to add yet another wall type, particularly when we already have brick, wattle-and-daub and a host of others.

I was all set to add it to the pile, when I noticed that brick walls specifically need a metallic smoother, and something twigged. You need a full furnace setup to make one of those, or to raid a hardware store and get lucky. I’m not a bricklayer, though I have worked in the trades alongside them, but I have to wonder how all those ancient people managed to make their mud brick dwellings without a good, steel finishing trowel. Brickies work wonders with what they’ve got, and the number of different building techniques irl is staggering.

Any advice? Should I make another wall type (clutters already cluttered menu, feels wrong to me)? Should I attempt to get a change made to the brick wall entry, so we don’t need steel tools to do it? Should I roll it into the rammed earth wall idea I’ve already pulled (add new construction option that results in the same type of soil-based wall)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.

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**Author:** ![John\_Candlebury](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/john_candlebury/32/6437_2.png) [@John\_Candlebury](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/John_Candlebury)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/adobe-bricks-for-brick-walls/20091/2 "2019-05-17T22:54:52Z")

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> but I have to wonder how all those ancient people managed to make their mud brick dwellings without a good, steel finishing trowel.

With something like this:  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/2X/d/d56495b3aea2eba64b29ebdd0436af8fb88c1af6.png)

Basically the same trowel but made from wood. Harder to do work with it but it works.

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**Author:** ![LordSunder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/lordsunder/32/6007_2.png) [@LordSunder](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/LordSunder)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/adobe-bricks-for-brick-walls/20091/3 "2019-05-17T23:09:58Z")

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Heh, that was rhetorical, but thanks for finding me an image of an irl wooden smoother. I personally think it should be possible to make a brick wall with something like that, and other tools that are currently abstracted, but I’m not sure it’d go down well on github. I wish tool qualities weren’t so absolute, so you can attempt things without the _exact right tool_ as people often do in real life, just with a lower chance of success.