Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: pumice-aggregate leave out?

I have made some blocks with just cardboard pulp and paper and outside of the fact that they take longer to dry I feel they work quite well. I think the cardboard may work better than newsprint for this as the fibers are longer and stronger thus in my mind better at binding things together. I have a broken 400 gal. water tank that I soak the cardboard in. I have it patched where it holds probably 250 gallons of water and it works quite well although it gets smelly if I leave it in the tank too long. I have a 160 gal. mixer and I fill it approximately 2/3 full and then pile the cardboard into it until it makes a mound slightly higher than the top of the tank. Not very scientific and I'm going to do some measuring of formulas when I get going on the block making process again, which will be in a few days. I tow the mixer from where my tank is around to where I have my clay piled which is maybe a hundred yards and then I add 20 shovels full of clay. I use a standard square shovel for this and I don't know the proper term for it but you can get the idea of how much clay I use. I really like the color of the blocks made this way and I also made some 16" wide by 4 ft. long by 3.5 inch deep forms and made panels using only the cardboard pulp. These turned out amazingly sturdy and of course quite light. I have a piece of heavy white plastic tarp about 7' by 30' pinned to the ground to place the forms on and the side against the smooth plastic makes a very nice finish which would negate the need for a plaster finish if used for covering interior wall. Of course one could make these panels thinner, perhaps even an inch thich and they should work well. I like the idea of using as little commercialy prepared products as possible to build with and I believe it is possible to do so and still have an attractive, durable and of course very green structure.

Donnie Miller...............The Outback Man!

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@...> wrote:
>[
>
> So you just use clay dirt and cardboard? I wonder if I should do that in stead of cement. When I first made blocks a few years ago I did a batch with soil and paper but found they took a very long time to cure and were heavier than the ones made with cement. How much soil do you put in? I have reduced my cement to 1/2 bag per 200 gallon mix. I'm sure that if I used soil I would have to put more in. But I do like the idea of using soil because it's free and green. I am also now using cardboard since the newspaper plant locked up their bins. I cram them into a 55 gallon drum and soak them for a day or so. Is that how you do it? I am starting a new project in a couple of weeks and plan to slip form the whole thing. I would like to use the soil so I guess I'll give it a try. I'm also thinking that the color would be nice and if the walls come out nice and even I wouldn't even have to plaster them. What do you think?
>
> Sincerely, Judith
>
> Check out my new Squidoo Lens at http://www.squidoo.com/papercretebyjudith
>
>
>
>
> EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD
> Join me
>
> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> From: donald1miller@...
> Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 17:08:00 +0000
> Subject: [papercreters] Re: pumice-aggregate leave out?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I believe that Eric Patterson made his PC with just cement and pulp and it seemed to work well. Also in Solbergs Building with Paper Crete and Paper Adobe book he described Shorty Ingerhalls PC logs as being made only with pulp and cement. What I have found in my mixtures using the cardboard pulp and the very fine clay soil that I have on my property is that when I add aggregate which is road base screenings with small gravel and very little sand and some clay dirt is that the aggregate tends to settle to the bottom of the mixer and the resultant blocks from the bottom of the batch have more agg. in them and are heavier and the ones made from the top of the mixer load have less aggregate and are therefore quite a bit lighter than the ones from the bottom of the batch. The lighter blocks seem to be just as strong and are lighter and much easier to handle so when I get my mixer tweaked a little more I'm going to make a batch with only clay and pulp and no cement to see how that works. These aforementioned blocks were made with no cement. The blocks that I made with cement in the batch were softer as the cement and the fine clay that I use don't seem to do well together and I really feel that I don't need cement with them. Greener and cheaper blocks but very durable and strong.
>
>
>
> --- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > I was just wondering what would happen if I mixed the papercrete the usual way except to leave out the aggregate. I have a whole bunch of perlite now so I have plenty to put in. It was just a curiosity question really.
>
> >
>
> > Sincerely, Judith
>
> >
>
> > Check out my new Squidoo Lens at http://www.squidoo.com/papercretebyjudith
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD
>
> > Join me
>
> >
>
> > To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
>
> > From: dirtcheapbuilderbooks@
>
> > Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 23:10:32 -0700
>
> > Subject: [papercreters] pumice-aggregate leave out?
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > are you talking about adding just portland cement to the pumice, with
>
> >
>
> > no fiber or sands?
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Don J. in OR is building using pumice as underfloor insulation for
>
> >
>
> > his SB home. and was planning to bag it up for the foudation perimeter
>
> >
>
> > to support the bales.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > I tried mixing limeputty- just a thin mix of limewater and putty with
>
> >
>
> > teh pumice, after two weeks it had not joined well enoough to stick
>
> >
>
> > together in cvlumps or in a form. so it was a waste to add lime in
>
> >
>
> > that case. if you mean pouring into bags or as a form made with
>
> >
>
> > cement, yes you can use no sand, and get one kind of fragile- no
>
> >
>
> > tensile strrenth block. with fibers- straw or nylon will add greatly
>
> >
>
> > to it staying together, and not crack as easily.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Inventor Tapasananda builds in a community group in MI with his
>
> >
>
> > ParaCrete** uses EPS dust ( styrofoam dust smaller than pumice bits,
>
> >
>
> > ) also larger EPS beads, + OPC, fibers, chopped twine etc, and since
>
> >
>
> > pumice floats in water easily you can add a surfactant like latex
>
> >
>
> > paint, dish soap and commercial "wetting" agents to keep the pumice
>
> >
>
> > from clumping & not dispersing
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > **-- read more on his mix here: http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com/pabubooncd.html
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Ms. Charmaine Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
>
> >
>
> > Toll Free Order: 1-888-441-1632
>
> >
>
> > www.dirtcheapbuilder.com www. papercrete.com
>
> >
>
> > PO Box 375, Cutten CA 95534
>
> >
>