[papercreters] Re: Combustibility -- was Paperceret Smell

Donald,

Your project is your own, to do as you please. But --- there is a real problem with combustibility. Even though a block may only smoulder slowly, eventually it will become all ash, with no structural strength. And it will set the one next to it on fire. And the next. Then your whole wall has no strength. No big conflagration with dramatic flames, but the building collapses. If I remember right,even back then, Gordon was concerned.

I would suggest you do fire tests on some sample blocks. And leave it overnight in a safe place. The next day, if there is a small area of ash, that's OK. But if the whole block is ash, it needs some help,

I believe there are inexpensive borax or boric acid sources. And it only takes a small percentage. A month or so ago there was a discussion about borax.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid>

(For those using clay or cement; in sufficient quantities, they also retard fire.)

Bobby

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Donald Miller <donald1miller@...> wrote:
>
> Well, the cost of the papercrete blocks as I have been building them is only the labor involved in making them. And I suppose a little fuel for the truck to pull the tow mixer although I run it on reclycled cooking oil and only use a little diesel fuel to start it and warm the oil in the auxillary tank. Combustibility? Well, the blocks will smolder and burn but they don't burst into flame. Plywood, OSB board, particle board and 2 by whatevers burn also and will go up like a torch when they get going enough. I am going to do some fire retardation on the blocks before I start to stack them for my house. That will add to the cost of building them, of course. I will post some pictures of my progress on my house when I get started with it. I stalled this summer for various reasons. I feel that I have learned a lot of things about papercrete from Gordon Solburg's? book and from this forum as well as from many on line sites. I do not advocate that the way I do
> the blocks is the only way or the right way, only that the cardboard is what I have and the blocks I make without cement or any other additives work for me. I experimented with cement mixes and clay and gravel and sand but I found out that the cardboard only method worked the best. I don't think that newsprint would work in the same manner and I'm not terrible worried about potential fire danger even if I didn't do any more to them as the smolder is very slow and in a stacked wall they  would only get air for combustion on the surface. As I stated previously, a conventional stick frame structure, especially with trusses made with the cute little metal clips, once started, will burn much faster. I have no issue with Mr. Curry's building methods and I am actually quite impressed with the structures he has built. It is just not what will work for me. Also I have never been much of a record keeper but I know what I have to work with and it really doesn't
> matter what the final cost will be because I know for sure that it will be much cheaper than any other method I could use. Once again, what and how I'm doing this may not be for everyone but it works for me.
>
> --- On Fri, 10/26/12, JayH <slurryguy@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: JayH <slurryguy@...>
> Subject: [papercreters] Combustibility -- was Paperceret Smell
> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Friday, October 26, 2012, 10:24 PM
>
>
>
>  
>
>
>
> Clyde,
>
> Many here are very much interested in doing research and learning from the research of others. Not only for our own projects, but to pass along what we learn to others. Only in this way can everyone learn from each other. This is the way any technology advances. Whether it be Galileo pointing his telescope at the heavens, Louis Pasteur sterilizing and preserving food, an experienced Master Carpenter taking on an apprentice to teach the next generation to build houses and fine furniture, or even a Mom spending time teaching her kids how to bake Chocolate Chip cookies, each person only helps advance understanding by trying things and sharing what they learn.
>
> Thankfully, Galileo and Pasteur wrote about their efforts so everyone could learn from them making our world a better place today. Tradesmen of all types take young headstrong youth who think they know everything under their tutelage to guide and mentor them in the hopes that at least some of them will not only reach their level of craftsmanship, but to exceed and surpass it to advance their trade to another level.
>
> Thanks to my Mom, I know how to bake Black Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies. What would be the point in life without Chocolate Chip Cookies? Hunh? I dare say life would suffer a great deal. Oh the agony! Oh the humanity! Thankfully, I was able to expand on my Mom's cookie tutelage and tried freezing raw cookie dough in logs in the freezer rolled up in waxed paper, then wrapped in Aluminum Foil to avoid freezer burn and freezer funk. My Mom frowned on the idea. Said the cookies would come out stale and flat. I persevered and tried it anyway. One day when she visited me, I made a fresh batch of cookies, and at the same time took a log out of the freezer and sliced off a few cookies there too. Both got baked off together, and I challenged her to figure out which was which. She couldn't tell them apart.
>
> Now, when my daughter visits me, we can cut slices off the log, pop them in the oven, and we can enjoy fresh home baked Black Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies together, even if it is just a short visit. Not crappy store bought preservative laced cookie dough, but cookie dough like my Mom taught me to make. I call that a technological advancement worth sharing. Now my daughter is doing the same thing and freezing dough. Hey, it may not be an advancement that will end terrorism or around the globe or cause peace to break out in the middle east, but it's a start. I bet a batch of cookies is a pretty important item to have at a peace table. It's hard to be angry at someone while eating a warm fresh cookie with them.
>
> So... in the spirit of Galileo, Pasteur, Master Craftsmen, my Mom's cookies, and WORLD PEACE, I have a request.
>
> Instead of inflammatory statements (Yeah, I went for the double entendre joke. Go ahead, groan and roll your eyes. I won't be offended. Deal with it. The opportunity was just burning to come out of my firey fingertips.)
>
> I know you have posted previously various aspects of your recipes and techniques for the amazing construction projects you have undertaken. However, I think it would be worthwhile to go through some of it again.
>
> This time, I would much prefer to hear specific details and facts about exactly what you do and why you do it, as well as what you have attempted that didn't work as well as you might have hoped, and why it didn't work out. That detailed information is much more useful and drastically more productive. It also happens to be why this group was created. As you review your efforts, please highlight:
>
> 1. Cost per finished Cubic Foot for various mixes.
> 2. Combustibility experiments you have conducted on the finished papercrete in those mixes, including the ones you tried but rejected. (include photos if you got 'em)
>
> DonaldMiller?
>
> Same thing for you buddy.
>
> I think you're doing some very cool stuff too. Please give details about the different mixes you have tried.
>
> Cost per Cubic Foot of finished papercrete.
> Results of any combustibility experiments you have tried.
> Include photos if you've got 'em.
>
> For that matter, perhaps each of you can take one block of COMPLETELY DRIED AND CURED papercrete you have laying around and conduct the MikeySklar test:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVipiNDaBYU
> Post your own version of the video?
>
> This is an exchange what will help everyone learn more.
>
> I promise fresh home baked cookies to each of you when you come to visit my house some day.
>
> --- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, clydetcurry@ wrote:
> >
> > So know one wants to be realistic and spend the money and time to properly research things. So my question is who gets to explain to families the lost of life from catastrophic failure of structures built with incendiary bricks. Being poor, as I am right now , is no excuse for irresponsible behavior!
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
>




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