Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: rafters and beams and tying foundation into roof

Friday, November 5, 2010

[papercreters] Re: rafters and beams and tying foundation into roof

What mixture did you use for the 2nd roof? Do you attribute the difference in rigidness to the reed fencing? How far apart are your vigas? Im going to be spanning at a minimum 12' but sometimes used metal oilfield pipe comes up for sale real cheap on craigslist. It would be real nice if there was a good recipe out there for making rafters or trusses with pc..... I just want to make sure it is strong enough to be load bearing even in 100mph winds and the earthquakes we get here.

I was reading your site, both of us are drawn to pc for the same reasons. But how in the world did you get those heavy logs up on your roof beam???

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@...> wrote:
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> I did papercrete roofs and so far they are doing great. In one I laid a double layer of chicken wire over the vigas that are about 30 inches apart. I spread a layer of papercrete, some old papercrete blocks and another layer of papercete over that. The roof is solid but you can feel the flexiblilty of it when you walk on it. It has no leaks.
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> The second roof I did a little differently. I laid some of that inexpensive reed fencing over the vigas. On top of that I put some of that foil bubble insulation and about 5 inches of papercrete (with no blocks). This will require much less finishing (it is done inside while the first ceiling still needs to be plastered). This roof, although not as thick as the first one is completely rigid when you walk on it. I am not sure if it has leaks since it has not rained but I think I may have one where the insulation comes together and I failed to tape the joint. Stupid mistake if I have a leak there. I will probably have to apply a waterproof layer to the entire roof just to solve one leak. Time will tell.
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> The Making of Papercrete DVD now available on Amazon.com
> http://www.amazon.com/Making-Papercrete-Judith-Williams/dp/B0040ZNE9A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1283998627&sr=8-1
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> Follow progress on the new project at http://www.papercretebyjudith.com/blog
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> More papercrete info at http://squidoo.com/papercretebyjudith
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> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> From: ablueprincess@...
> Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 05:01:21 +0000
> Subject: [papercreters] Re: rafters and beams and tying foundation into roof
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> Thank you. I guess mostly I am thinking about the roof. I really dont want to use lumber. Out here wood and plastic dont do well. The things that last are metal or concrete, but concrete cracks with our earthquakes. Ideally I would like a papercrete roof to span the 48 feet width and 50' length. But it will have interior walls that would be spaced every 12' apart.
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