Thanks Neal. The last time I went to the pumice plant the guy pulled out a little chart listing and comparing the insulative value of each grade of pumice. It's on that info that I have based my "pumice adds to insulative value of papercrete" theory. I would never put a papercrete wall directly on the ground. I always argue for it being at least 8" above grade and ideally I believe it should be at least a foot. We have huge gully washer downpours here. I noticed after one particularly intense one the about 30% of my pumice pile had been washed away and the water had come up to almost a foot high on the back wall of the building. That wall just happened to have been built only about 4" above grade and got pretty wet. It did dry out quickly but I don't think it would have been very good for it to have gotten that wet if the finish plaster had already been in place. On the new project, a very small studio, I will use a rubble trench foundation with a concrete grade beam reinforced with #4 rebar. The first couple of courses of papercrete blocks will be painted liberally with latex paint then I think I will slip form the walls the rest of the way up. (may need some sort of barrier between the latex painted blocks and the poured slurry or would painting the top of them protect them against water soaking in?) I wonder how much it would cost to ship perlite. Do you live in Texas or NM? I'm in Abiquiu, NM, about 40 miles north of Santa Fe. Does perlite just come out of the ground as is or is it processed somehow? Interesting stuff.
Sincerely, Judith
Visit my papercrete website at www.judith-l-williams.com.
"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals, on the other hand, built the Titanic." Author unknown.
To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
From: sire@comcast.net
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:34:24 +0000
Subject: RE: [papercreters] Water Resistance
Judith,Generally from past messages latex paint has far more effectiveness if it is painted on or otherwise present in the outermost layer.The post you are commenting on needs some clarification. Papercrete requires no foundation? That is a brand new assertion. Overhang and drainage does not always keep water away from the wall base.The insulative value is improved with aggregate? Not if it is rocks, which aggregate usually means. There is a world of difference between perlite and rocks. Incidentally I can get a truckload of perlite shipped to anyone from Arizona if they would pay shipping."Purists insist lime is better"? Better than what? Are purists those people who study materials that have been used effectively for thousands of years but have gone out of fashion, and then point out that there are good reasons for them to be used again?Neal-------------- Original message ------------ --
From: JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@hotmail.com>
If I want to use papercrete blocks as your stemwall and you want them to be water resistant you say to use latex paint. It just so happens I was given many gallons of latex paint. Do you mean to add the paint to the mix (in what ratio?) or to paint the blocks. I was thinking of adding it and also painting the wall after it's set. Am I nuts or what? Also I agree with you about the aggregate. I've been using pumice fines and feel they are a great improvement over sand. I understnd there is also a perlite plant not far from here. I'd love to try that too. It's the light weight and insulative value that are my favorite things about papercrete. Once you have your mixing method and equipment, working with papercrete is a whole lot of fun.
Sincerely, Judith
Visit my papercrete website at www.judith-l-williams. .com
"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Profes sionals, on the other hand, built the Titanic." Author unknown.
To: papercreters@yahoogroups. com
From: clyde@evesgarden.org
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:00:19 +0000
Subject: [papercreters] Water Resistance
This is a subject that comes up regularly - Maybe this will help -
where the paper in papercrete does take on moisture, it also gives it
up very fast . The culprit for holding on to that water is the excess
lime (calcium carbonate) left from incomplete crystalisation of the
Portland Cement. Later the lime will unite with water and carbon
dioxide, from the atmosphere and cause efflorescence on the surface of
the papercrete. This can be ameliorated by combining Pozzalon in your
mix , making the papercrete give up the water easier, when it does get
wet. Concrete stem walls defeat the advantage of insulating all the
way to the ground. In fact papercrete generally requires no foundation
at all, as it is monolithic and self supporting. Most important is to
keep water away to start with (wide overhangs, drainage away from the
base and in my case LATEX (( MEANING ACRYLIC PAINT)) Once I began
using pozzalon I could no longer use Dr ylock masonry sealer, it reacts
with lime and the pozzalon had already used it all up.
There is another problem worth mention here- that of TOO MUCH WATER TO
START WITH- Regardless of your brick mix, all bricks should be dry
before they are used - Mixes can be enhanced radically with the
addition of aggregate (without loss of insulation value,as proved by
Barry Fullers tests of my brick) I am an old fart and sand got heavy
so I switched to lightweight aggregate (Perlite), which is hollow and
insulating also. I shipped the perlite 600 miles with less footprint
than moving sand- P.S.- Do not be misled by purists insisting that
lime is better - not in this case -Clyde - www.evesgarden.org
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