Now, if we could track down the rumor that Mike McCain managed to get papercrete accepted as adobe in NM IF he used magazines which have clay content, mixed with local soil, making it meet the definition of amended soil. With confirmation of that rumor it seems that papercrete meets the code in NM. Good news for Judith and our other NM members, and possibly this could be used as a precedent in other states.
spaceman
countryatheartok wrote:
Its amazing how all we human beings think alike! I was searching around on the net to see if I could find something about ICC experimental acceptance of papercrete, when I found the message below posted on an Adobe Group site in 2001. I have never seen this information before and last year I did the exact same thing to make papercrete blocks. And to bet, all unclejoe(okla) is a member of that site also as well as this site. Itfs really a small world.
http://quentinwilson.squarespace.com/storage/adobecode.pdf
From: Leonard Jones Monday, November 26, 2001 10:13 PM
OK, folks, here's how I built my block press... Total cost was ~ $225
@
Shop press 12 T - new cost $119.95
Air/hydraulic jack 12T - new on sale 79.95
Scrap channel iron plus nuts, bolts,
welding rod, etc. for mold box 25.00
Total cost ~ $225.00
Could have done it for less. I know I could have found a used shop press for substantially less than than the $119.95 I paid... or, I could have welded/bolted together an equivalent frame out of a few bucks worth of scrap angle and/or channel iron... As a bonus, I also have the 12T hydraulic jack that came with the shop press. I'm gonna use it around my place - but I could probably sell it for $15-20 and reduce the cost of the block press by a few more $ I'm using my existing 3HP shop compressor to power the press - it's a little slow, but the only required effort for pressing is holding the air valve open. I could, I suppose, operate the press manually with the manual hydraulic jack - but that would be REALLY slow... As it is, I have to load the soil mix into the press manually and remove/stack the finished blocks by hand. Which is laborious enough. For a few hundred $ more, I could mechanize the loading of soil into the mold box and install a used air ram and some roller conveyor to remove the blocks. This, along with a bigger compressed air supply, would greatly increase production. But right now - I'm getting the same kind of production as a manual press with a lot less effort. Which suits me fine at present... I think a poor person with lots of time on his/her hands might be best served by using traditional adobes - which can take advantage of a large amount of "free" labor... But - - part of the time could be easily spent scrounging around for the parts and labor to make this press - or an equivalent cinva ram manual model - something like Paul describes below. Which you could sell at the end of your project - or go into business making blocks for someone else... or whatever...If you can somehow come up with a small lot to build your house on - and you can economize all round and maximize the use of your own labor, I think it's entirely possible to build a minimalistic earthen house (2 rooms + a bath) for a very modest amount. Not ready yet to say just how much... It wouldn't be the Ritz, but it would sure beat the Hell out of sleeping in a cardboard box stuffed with newspapers out under a bridge along the So. Platte River here in Denver like some folks will be doing tonight... (expected low ~0 deg F!!) . The future belongs to the creative...!!
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