Most homeowners who leave adobe cite maintenance load and resale liquidity, not performance failure. Traditional adobe requires annual or biennial plaster re-coating, careful drainage around the wall base, and a watertight roof. Deferred maintenance accelerates wall erosion quickly. Architectural Digest notes that contractor-built adobes typically run $350,000–$400,000 for 2,000 sq ft, comparable to a stick-frame house. That weakens the cost-savings argument. In California, the long-standing seismic prohibition on new unreinforced adobe made existing adobes harder to insure and re-permit. Dwell reports the rules are now relaxing after the 2025 Los Angeles fires. Qualified adobe restoration contractors remain scarce outside New Mexico and Arizona.
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