Adobe construction is ubiquitous in the desert Southwest. Substantial trees are virtually non-existent and clay is everywhere. But Adobes alone will melt in a rain, so they are usually covered with a film of cement. The San Xavier del Bac church was constructed entirely of adobe and is known as one of the finest Spanish Colonial Churches in the United States. Adobe is traditionally sun dried sand, gravel, clay, water, and often, straw or grass mixed by hand and formed in wooden molds. In adobe buildings, the building material is held together by its own weight. The walls, like this gate structure, were built with the adobe bricks and mud mortar.
Adobe walls have low structural strength and tend to be massive and seldom over 2 stories. San Xavier del Bac is an exceptionally large adobe structure. To protect the surface from erosion surface coatings include mud plaster, lime plaster, whitewash and stucco (cement). Whitewash consists of ground gypsum rock, water and clay.
United States. The Preservation of Historic Architecture: The U.S. Government's Official Guidelines for Preserving Historic Homes. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2004.
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