[papercreters] Re: Re-Rod or wire in Papercrete ?

Papercrete is a very inappropriate material to be making beams out of. You would be far better served using more traditional materials and methods for your beams (or collar ties in roof framing.)

Papercrete is amazing stuff, but it has limitations. This is one of them.

I encourage you to consider other options.

For your application it is difficult to beat a standard wood truss. If you purchase the lumber, they will go together quickly and should serve you well.



If you are looking for an extreme low budget roof framing alternative, perhaps you might consider the "pallet truss."
http://www.motherearthnews.com/hands-on-and-how-to/parallel-chord-pallet-trusses.aspx
http://builderswithoutborders.org/publications/pub6.htm
http://www.grisb.org/publications/pub7.htm

http://www.eric-randall.com/scrapbook/pages/pallet-truss-settrusses.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpxy2zUc4s

Using these techniques and some good scrounging, you can build an entire roof frame nearly for free, but it will cost you some extra time. The key is to make a nice jig to build all your trusses the same.


--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Alan <rustaholic777@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings Folks,
> If I want to make some papercrete beams that are ten feet long across a shed will they hold up better with a single re-rod in the center or lets say a four by four inch long square tube of welded wire in an eight inch square beam?
> I am thinking of the four inch square pattern of welded wire mesh that they use in flat concrete work.
>  
> Will a papercrete beam work like this?
> The beam will just be to keep the walls from spreading from the outward pressure of the roof.
>




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