DURABLE LOW COST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

Durable and Low cost Rural housing development in developing countries can be addressed using simple low cost materials like sand and mud bricks. Out of these two materials sand bricks are easier to produce using a mix of sand, gravel, portland cement and water. A mix of 1:3 (cement to sand) is used for load bearing bricks and 1:4 for general purpose. The bricks can be made using simple steel mould that can easily be fabricated in a local welding shop. Although large moulds for making up to 1000 bricks do exist but because bricks are too heavy to be moved to remote locations, a portable mould is preferred to address rural housing needs. Several versions of portable brick moulds exist.