I haven't tested this theory, but I think the amount of water
reabsorption of cured papercrete is related to the amount of original
water in the mix as poured/used. As the water evaporates from curing
PC, creating airspace voids in the pC, rewetting will tend to permit
water back into these itsy spaces. The fibers are probably encased
in portland and don't absorb much, which is why a block that is
rewetted dries so quickly.
I'm guessing that if you took two identical just-poured pc blocks and
squeezed all the water out of one of them and let them both dry, the
one with the water squeezed out is smaller and of higher density and
probably won't absorb as much water. It contains less air space,
even though they both contain the same amount of paper and other
material.
On the other hand, if you don't put in enough portland to coat the
fiber, then the paper fibers themselves will saturate and become part
of the equation, and in this case, I think you're right.
In situations where you expect to have PC exposed to a lot of
moisture, based on this theory, it would be wise to compress the
blocks while wet to eliminate water. Obviously this could impact the
insulative properties of the finished product. And this is just a
theory, so don't do anything based on this untested crazy idea.
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "slurryguy" <slurryguy@...>
wrote:
>
> Interesting.
>
> I've never tried to measure absorption or the drying time after
> papercrete gets rewetted.
>
> Your post reminded me of some anecdotal incidents where I've
> accidentally rewetted papercrete or rewetted it for strength
testing
> of wet papercrete. My subjective memory parallels your experience.
>
> My subjective experience also suggests that the higher the paper
> content in a recipe the more water it will tend to absorb and the
> longer it will take to redry. This seems logical and inline with
> your analysis.
>
> Great observations. Thanks.
>
> --- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "mdumiller" <mdmiller1@>
> wrote:
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