I posted a few photos of my recent efforts in the folder labeled "Mike"--most are of the section of papercrete wall I've completed with an arch and gate.
I used cement blocks as a footing. I drove old metal fence posts through the holes in the cement blocks and then filled the holes and other spaces with concrete. The wall sets on the blocks, but also "hangs" on the fence posts. It seems very study.
I cut the planks for the slip form some thick plywood I had laying around--about eight inches tall by eight feet long--and used 2x4 "legs" to move the slip form up. There was usually a week or two between layers. The wall is about five inches thick. It all was actually very porous and uneven and ugly before I coated it with papercrete "plaster." I just more or less hand-dobbed on a layer of papercrete.
The walls of the archway are three large, very uneven papercrete blocks on each side, I drove rebar through them to hold them in place and mortared them with papercrete.
The arch was part of one of those so-called "arbors" from Wal Mart or the Dollar General--very light metal to which I attached some hardware cloth. I mixed the papercrete with vermiculite instead of sand, hoping to keep it lighter. It was thinly layered with that mix when I attached it to the wall, then heavily layered over a period of days with my regular sand mix. Again, it seems very sturdy.
I made the gate over an old chain-link gate frame. I took the fence out and wired on some hardware cloth. I used vermiculite in that mix, too, thinking it would be lighter than even just paper and cement with no sand.
I'm going to try the next section of wall using blocks.
Thanks for checking out the photos. You guys are inspirational.
Oh, yeah...there is a photo of my underpinning project, which is actually not papercrete but a mix of latex pant, cement, and sand painted over nylon window screen (and decorated with papercrete faces). They use this formula to make cheap and durable roofs for refugee shelters in war torn countries. It was CHEAP compared to almost any traditional method I researched and turned out well. There is a great book about it: Latex Concrete Habitat book, by Albert Knott. Google it to read some at google books.
Sorry about the long message.
Mike
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