Once the Indian family had selected a cave, they did very little to enlarge it. Most of the cliff cavities are rather shallow and extend back into the cliff no more than 10 to 12 feet. The cliff dwellers closed these cavities with masonry walls and partitioned off the rooms. Walls were constructed from rough chunks of limestone gathered wherever found. Apparently there were no quarries. The stones were laid up to form a double wall with the straight faces turned to the outside and the center filled with rubble. Mud was used for both mortar and plaster; in fact most of the mortar and plaster seen in the cliff dwellings today were produced by the Indian builders. Because of humus and foreign matter in the soil there is little suitable material on the canyon ledges. However, a layer of clay is found about 100 feet above the stream bed. This, when pulverized and mixed with water, would produce a satisfactory mortar and plaster.

The rooms vary in size, according to the amount of space available, with an average of about 170 square feet of floor space. The outer wall was set back far enough under the ledge so that rain water running down the cliff would drip outside the wall. The floors were made from hard-packed clay used in sufficient quantity to produce a fairly level surface. Some rooms examined in 1948 were found to have as many as 10 thin layers, none of which exceeded three-eighths of an inch in thickness. Each layer was separated from the other by accumulations of ash and household refuse. The impression is gained that it was easier to lay a new floor than it was to sweep. The back of the cave was sometimes higher than the front, and often was floored separately to form a slightly raised platform or bench.

Little wood was used in the construction of a home, since the cave shelter had a solid rock roof. There were pole lintels over the doors, and apparently a few pegs were set into the walls for supporting garments or other paraphernalia.

Construction tools included stone axes, hammers, and picks. In those tools that were hafted, a groove was made three-fourths of the way around the stone to retain a stick bent in the shape of the letter “J” and lashed to form a handle.