Re: [papercreters] papercrete gravel

Hi Jennifer, My experience, and others can agree or disagree, is that your idea although novel would not be the best use for PC.  PC basically does not hold up under prolonged exposure to moisture.  It works as a building material because of  the protection afforded by the roof and with adequate technology applied to the foundation to wick away moisture.  Even pure Portland cement "gravel" would have a pretty quick half-life in your gravel when being smashed by your car.  You would have better luck just pouring a large PC slurry amount into the hole (during dry season) and waiting for it harden up and then passing a sealing paint over it to "weatherize" it.  Depending upon the hole and other factors it might just last a good amount of time.  If it doesn't then, oh well, it was practically free.  The best thing would be to just play around with it and have a go at it. Hope this helps, Tomás Enrique --- On Sun, 3/22/09, Jennifer <Gnni4@aol.com> wrote: From: Jennifer <Gnni4@aol.com> Subject: [papercreters] papercrete gravel To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009, 6:47 PM Hello all, I joined this group the other day and have been looking through the archives without any luck finding an answer to my question. I am a papermaker, and have a Hollander Beater to pulp plants and old clothing into paper slurry. I get rid of some of my junk mail into my paper, but I hate not being able to use all of my paper waste. papercrete seems like a great opportunity for me to use up all those boxes and mailings other stuff that would not make good paper. I plan to soak and pulp my boxes and then mix with the portland cement and sand in my wheelbarrow. I am looking forward to mixing some papercrete up and playing with some molds, making some pavers and garden stuff. My landlord has promised for 6 years to repave the driveway and is still making promises, in the meantime, the potholes are small ponds in my driveway when it rains and then for days after. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and endure plenty of rain. It's like the watering hole in the Serengeti here in the back, the wildlife love the pond driveway. My questions: Can I make papercrete gravel for the driveway? I figure that once I make a batch of papercrete, spoonfuls of it set out should make small oval stones that could be tossed in the drive as gravel. Would the papercrete rocks crush to powder when driven on? (Or) Break and be sharp and flatten tires? Will the papercrete withstand my moist area or will I have lovely moldy pots and gravel? I read a bit about adding borax to retard mold, this leads to my next question. Will the papercrete be toxic in any way to my wildlife friends in a birdbath or driveway? Long post with lots of little questions, but all my research online seems to focus more on large building projects, and I just need many little ones! Thank you all in advance for any answers you can toss my way. Jennifer

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