Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: Recipe Ratios

Friday, June 26, 2009

[papercreters] Re: Recipe Ratios

Well said, Judith.

I think Rabon and company have severely hurt their reputation and their business by distancing themselves from the DIYers.

It also hurts them that there are practically zero publicly known "customer" houses that have been built with their products.

I know they have built some structures themselves, for their own use, but I have yet to see any house built for a paying customer. They've been at this for several years. They could easily have built many houses by now, or contractors could have built many houses using their products, if they had any real desire to prove their product to consumers. Their website should have a big photo gallery of thousands of detailed pictures of various houses getting built with their product. All they ever show is that one building that is their showplace for potential investors. The lack of customers is glaring by it's visual absence. Combine that with their constant search for more investors, it just makes them look bad.

Let me be clear... I am not saying whether or not M-G is doing anything shady. I have no real knowledge of the inner workings of their company. My point is that the image that they are projecting appears that way to many people, whether they like it or not.

The truth is ... DIY builders are absolutely no threat to M-G's business model. Most average people have absolutely no desire to get their hands dirty. They either hire contractors to build it or simply buy an already built house.

There are significant areas where commercial papercrete companies and DIY builders share a common interest. Sadly Rabon and company refuse to acknowledge that and have made no attempts foster a mutually helpful relationship.

I remain hopeful that Zach will wake up and see the possibilities, but I'm not holding my breath. He clearly has own ideas and seems very reluctant to allow anyone to see what he is really doing. That's his right. He can do what he wants, but that attitude has consequences. The reaction you describe at the meeting is one of those consequences.

Judith, I wouldn't worry too much about the reaction that happened. You clearly were not the only person that had concerns at that meeting. Many people have concerns about their business. M-G has brought it upon themselves. It's not something YOU started.

I invited Zach to join this group over two years ago, and the offer still stands. I would welcome him warmly as I try to welcome any other member. As long as neither he nor his representatives try to SPAM the group, they are more than welcome here. I would expect them to answer questions and genuinely attempt to help others that want to build, whether they happen to use M-G products or not.

That kind of goodwill would go a long way in improving their reputation.

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@...> wrote:
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> I think it is fine to have this scientific information for the benefit of those new to papercrete who may tend to question its strength and durability. However I also appreciate that one of the greatest attributes of papercrete is that it is simple and can be made by virtually anyone who has the materials (very basic - paper and cement) and a vessel to mix them in.
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> This seemed to be the general concensus at the papercrete seminar we went to in Tuscon back in Oct. Kent Rabon was there to represent Mason Greenstar, his son's enterprise. He explained that they had spent a lot of time on R & D and on the manufacture of special mixing and pressing equipment, also that they had a secret ingredient which allowed them to successfully patent their product. I think I was the first to comment that this represented the antithesis to our reason for loving papercrete. It takes something simple and easily understood and drags it out of reach of most people who would be inclined toward this sort of DIY activity. I felt sort of bad about starting this because Kent is a really nice guy and then several more attendees sort of jumped all over him, which was not what I anticipated when I made the comment.
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> What it comes down to is this: there is room for everyone in this creative environment. We can all learn from each other. That's why we are part of this sharing group. I choose to keep things more simple than most. I have my formula that I constantly tweak, but not very much. Kent and Zack and their group are at the other end of the spectrum. It really is a blessing that we have people doing work like that. My dream is to design and consult on papercrete projects. I realize that many who see the great benefits of using papercrete are not in a position to make it themselves and are probably going to build with a permit, which would make the Greenstar product the perfect choice. Mason Greenstar's work on their particular product benefits all of us and helps to push papercrete more toward the mainstream of alternative building materials. It gives us credibility, which is important to promoting the use of papercrete.
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> They run workshops occasionally. I would love to go sometime and if I do I will personally inspect their blocks to see awhat they look like and how much they weigh. My blocks, made with 1/2 bag or less cement per 200 gallon mixer, come out very strong. I haven't done any formal testing but I have driven over them with my 2500 HD and not made a dent. I think they weigh about 5 lbs for a 1 square foot block about 5" thick.
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> Sincerely, Judith
> Visit my new website at http://www.papercretebyjudith.com
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> More info at www.judith-l-williams.com
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