Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete in cold climates

Monday, April 12, 2010

[papercreters] Re: Papercrete in cold climates

Heya Ron,

Thanks for the information. That is all good to know! I would definitely consider slip forms rather than bricks. I plans on making a small test structure this summer-- I will have to see if I can try doing both.

I will be building in the Mat-Su valey, so it's drier than some other parts of the valley. I was going to pour a concrete slab for the foundation (not environmentally friendly, but probably the best option for my lot), so I was considering pourring a short pony wall to keep the PC off of the ground for safety's sake. I'm still in the planning phases so nothing is sure at this point.

We're getting beautiful spring weather in the Mat-su, hope things are getting nice in Nondalton-- I have never been out there.

Thanks,

Shana

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Ron Richter <ronerichter@...> wrote:
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> Shana,
> Good for you.Â You will find that there are some in the group that have tried both brick making and its associated workload and slip form walls.Â Montana has similar conditions to yours in Alaska and I had batches of bricks that took weeks to cure enough (not completely) to put in a wall.Â
> Your long daylight in the summer would be good but even then your night time temps will fall.Â People in the southwest that use bricks have very arid humidity AND high temps to drive moisture out.Â 100 degree days and humidity in the morning of 65 and afternoons of 35 get rid of moisture fast.Â You, on the other hand, have (if you live in the interior of Alaska) highs for a few weeks in the 90's and humidity in the 50 to 70 percent.Â If you live anywhere on the coast of Alaska then the humidity shoots up and the temps come down because they are both tempered by the ocean.
> You could, as you suggest, build bricks and store them for later use.Â There is no problem with that but you would need to protect them from the weather until you were ready to use them.
> Alternatively, you could build some slip forms and pour your slurry in the wall as you pulp it up and who cares if it takes a month or two to dry completely?Â One thing many are doing now is to build the roof first so that the walls are protected from inclement weather (both pounding rain and merciless sun).Â Buildings are built with large overhangs to keep weather off the walls, which for you in Alaska fit right into the "keep the snow off the building" syndrome.Â
> Are you planning to build a tow mixer?Â I would suggest you look at the group's pictures.Â You can access them here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/papercreters/photos/album/0/list
> There is a wealth of information in the pictures that bring lots more questions for someone new, so don't hesitate to ask them.
> By the way, I am in Nondalton.
> RonÂ
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> --- On Fri, 4/9/10, Shana <ultrashanamania@...> wrote:
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> From: Shana <ultrashanamania@...>
> Subject: [papercreters] Papercrete in cold climates
> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Friday, April 9, 2010, 6:20 PM
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> Greetings all,
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> I am new to the group (and the world of papercrete), and hoping to glean some knowledge from you wonderful experienced individuals!
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> I am consider papercrete as a potential building material for my home. I live in Alaska, so the r-value of papercrete is appealing. What I am wondering about is this-- will the short summer season in Alaska make it difficult (or even impossible) to make papercrete bricks? I have read that they do take time and heat to cure. We only get about 3 - 4 months of summery weather here. For what it's worth, it doesn't get very wet where I live, just cold in the fall and winter.
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> Also, do papercrete bricks store well? For example, if I made a bunch this summer and stored them in a dry place over winter, they would still be useable... right?
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> Sorry if I'm asking goofy questions. I think papercrete is a very exciting & green way of building and I'm hoping that it can be made to work here. If anyone has wisdom to pass my way, I'll be grateful.
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> Thanks,
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> Shana
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