In the spirit of Slurryguy's admonition to help others, I'll add a few comments to his excellent commentary on dad's questions. I admire someone who is able to itemize his questions and logically address the various aspects of the project. However, coming from someone who has read about papercrete till his eyes hurt, it seems to indicate that the general public has quite a few misconceptions about what papercrete is and how to use it in construction. There are others in this group more qualified to comment on this project than I am, but hopefully I will reinforce the points that SG made and add a few thoughts from my own understanding.
Dad, when you say you are building a "pole barn", I thought this would literally be a barn, but it turns out that it will be a dwelling, more like a getaway cabin for your wife and kids (without you?). Getaway places are usually for the summer, but the mention of wood heat implies winter use also, so perhaps this will be a year-round second home? The structure seems to be basically a timberframe with papercrete infill.
Latex on the inside is optional but not necessary. Latex on the outside would be far more beneficial almost required a part of the waterproofing. As SG writes, borax or boric acid would best be applied in a way that it would not drain away with the excess water, perhaps a spray coat on the outside after the walls have dried. Borax is commonly used in laundry and boric acid in the garden, so this will not be a danger to the boys unless they are eating the papercrete for dinner. :)
Slipforming the walls and pouring them up to 8' would be fine, but it must be done in stages, as slipforming implies, probably 2' at a time. You will have to wait at least a few days between courses for drying. Like adobe, stawbale, cob, etc., papercrete walls should be thick. I would say they should probably be at least 1' thick in order to provide insulation and stability. Thick walls will also make unnecessary any reinforcement in the walls, which SG has already mentioned would be problematic anyway with papercrete shrinking away from metal. Do not make the plywood forms waterproof and remove them as quickly as feasible to allow the walls to dry out as quickly as possible.
We have recently discussed again the advantages of papercrete as a floor, but if it is necessary to have this structure "just above the ground", this may not be practical. In any case I do not see the reason you are thinking of using a plastic liner when pouring the papercrete floor, nor can I imagine why you would want to cover the floor with plywood because that seems unnecessary.
There are very many reasons not to attempt a papercrete roof. Perhaps now you can intuit some of them, but if not they could be detailed in a separate post if desired.
Neal
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From: "dad8now" <mark_bal_christian@sbcglobal.net>
I am new to PC and have been reading until my eyes hurt.
I have a 17 acre all forest in Missouri, with little or no building
codes.
The floor will be just above ground with skirting around the
perimeter.
I want to build a small pole barn for seasonal use using Six inch
beams and 8 FT tall walls
So my PC wall will be 6" thick and 8" tall. And 10 FT wide between
beams
There will be no load on the walls.
I will latex paint the inside walls and leave the outside natural.
Here is the PC recipe I'm considering using.
1 part news print (DRY) by weight
1 part Portland (DRY) by weight
1/9 of a part hydrated lime (DRY) by weight
????? boric acid for bug/ rot / fire retarding ???
I want to pour the wall up right between the beams with removable
forms on both sides.
We will heat with wood.
My wife and three small boys will be using this new get away.
Here are my ques tions so far:
1) Will chicken wire fastened in the center of the 6" beams be
enough reinforcement since the walls bare no weight? Or should I add
vertical rebar every 2 ft??
2) Do I need the boric acid? And if so how much to be effective
but not be hazardous to my little boys?
3) How many days should I leave the plywood forms on to minimize
shrinking until walls cure?
4) Would making the forms watertight prevent shrinking until
cured 5 days and then remove the forms?
5) What R factor would this wall recipe probably have?
6) Could I attach 6mil plastic liner to inside all around the
walls down to he ground and then use this same PC recipe as a
subfloor and then cover with ½ plywood?
7) Would a 6" thick PC 2/12 pitch roof need to be waterproofed
or left natural? Or water proofed with marine grade polyurethane
varnish?
thanks for this group,
Dad8now
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