Leka soils from LEHMAG are made from individual regional rammed earth and, depending on the customer's requirements and the demands of the application, with the addition of lime.
DEVELOPMENT: Loam is a mixture of clay, sand, silt (very fine sand) and, under certain circumstances, stones. It is mainly formed by weathering, erosion and sedimentation of rocks. Clay is therefore available almost everywhere in the world in different colours and compositions.
HISTORY: Along with wood and stones, clay is one of the oldest building materials of mankind. Even today, more than a third of the world's population lives in buildings that were built partly or entirely of clay, using various techniques. Even in Central Europe, centuries-old buildings are still made of clay, although the building material here was mostly used by poorer societies and almost completely displaced by concrete with the advent of cement.
Photos: Philip Heckhausen
Processing: Leka floors
PRODUCTION: Depending on the requirements of the architects/builders, loam is prepared with gravel (composition of the colouring can be selected), water and possibly lime to form an earth-moist mass. A layer of approx. 12-17cm is then poured onto a load-bearing substrate and compacted by hand tampering or by means of pneumatic tampers or vibrating plate (7 - 10 cm). After drying for approx. 1 week and possible reworking, the floor can be sealed directly with natural wax.
Alternatively, the floor is sanded down and the selected stones become visible. The final sealing with natural wax or oil follows here as well.
PROPERTY:
- Can be used as flooring indoors and outdoors (lime as a binder in outdoor areas)
- Own aesthetics and haptics in different tones
- Natural ecological binder - Low grey energy demand
- Completely recyclable - Directly reusable
- Natural building material - free of chemicals or aggregates
- Absorption and release of moisture - Pleasant indoor climate
- Initial product inexpensive, but still time-consuming processing
- High density and thus mass - Potential storage capacity
- Can be combined very well with underfloor insulation and underfloor heating.
PRODUCT:
The LEHMAG AG produces individual Swiss Leka-mixtures, which depend on the requirements (colouring, used aggregates etc.) of the customers. The mixtures produced are used exclusively by LEHMAG AG itself.
Projects with rammed earth
