Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: Thoughts needed

Friday, November 5, 2010

[papercreters] Re: Thoughts needed

Spaceman, Im at work and I still cannot see the photos of the pallets :( Is there a link I could follow to see them?

Judith, the reason I am starting to question the earthbags is simply because I would not have to buy bags. Essentially it would be the same dirt and cement. But I have to admit, using barbed wire instead of rebar is appealing. And I dont like the idea of trying to ram earth around verticle rebar (though I have yet to confirm that rebar is indeed needed or even benificial and there are conflicting opinions about it online). As for the moisture getting into the papercrete, Im thinking a wide trench filled with 3/4" rock for the foundation and then rammed silty sand (my native soil) with about 5% cement (or putting this mixture into bags) about a foot high from grade level. I was thinking pc could be formed direct onto the bags or rammed earth but I guess not so I dont know what to put down as a bond or maybe just seal the course with latex paint (I have a whole bunch that is older) or ????...

Clay soil unfortunately is not something I have access to.

You have an interesting theory about rebar sticking to pc. It is the same kind of thing I have read about using rebar in rammed earth. Im curious though, in your other post you said you put a 5" layer of pc over the foil insulation and you put some on your vigas and the reed and chicken wire..... how did you make it stick? what did it stick best to? what was your mixes?

About my paper, thank you for your concern. Here the humidity is nonexistent (normally in the low teens). A very few times a year it climbs to about 33% or a little higher, for a short while. I dont believe mold is really much of an issue here, but the wind WOW yes!!! The wind here is real bad, I have the paper secured in wire bins and weighted down.... so far I havent had to chase much paper around the yard but would really like to use this paper quickly. My tow mixer is just an axle with no tires, tongue, blades, bucket or anything else at this point and I dont have a pressure washer. In front of buying stuff like that I have an electric engine for a VW electric car conversion and a mig welder to buy. It will be past the holidays before I can spend the money on developing the tow mixer or buying a pressure washer and trash pump. On the other hand, I can start today on trenching and filling in with 3/4" rock and making forms and earthramming or even wire and pipe framing.

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@...> wrote:
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> I did the bottom of my walls with earthbags filled with pumice. The idea was to provide a capillary break between the papercrete and the ground. I'm wondering why you would want to do a rammed earth course. If you have earth for that then why not use it in the earthbags? I really enjoyed making the earthbag foundation and it came out nice. If you do rammed earth or anything that will conduct moisture you will have to put something to keep it from migrating into your papercrete.
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> I am not sure how adding cement to sand would work. I guess you will have to experiment with it. Keep in mind that cement is about $12 a bag now and you will need a few bags. If you have access to some nice clay soil, such as at a road cut or excavation site, you could get it for free and it would work just a well as cement. I just finished a kiva fireplace using just clay and sand and it is nice and sturdy.
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> I know a lot of people use rebar in papercrete. I never do. Maybe I should but what I have observed is that papercrete never really sticks to anything but itself. I deduce from that that if there were an earthquake the rebar would cut through the papercrete and not really be very effective. That is just my speculation and it may be wrong.
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> Regarding using different materials in your walls keep in mind that they may not bond well which means you may have cracks where the joints are. What I have done (and I'm not saying I know the best way to do things) was to make the structure as monolithic as possible. I continued the walls without any breaks right around the corners. I had a 4' opening so we could get into the building but other than that all openings will be cut out with the chain saw. So far the only place I see a little settling is at the corners of the opening. I am not concerned about that because I have an overbuilt lintel there for a 6' french door.
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> I would also say, don't worry about accumulating a great paper supply before you get started. If you leave it sitting around it may get a little moldy and in the windy season it's hard to keep it in one place. I have a store nearby where I get cardboard any time I need it. I try to never totally run out though. If you are using another type of paper see if you can make an arrangement to pick it up regularly.
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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 04:56:23 +0000
> Subject: [papercreters] Re: Thoughts needed
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> For some reason my computer wont let me see the pictures :( Tomorrow I will try it on another computer and hopefully see your set up. I've been reading up on this forum and WOW what a great forum this is with tonz of info!!! You people rock!!! Ive also found out that my sand here is round and is why my car sinks when we get a good rain. Sooo now Im thinking I should add cement to my soil in the earthbags or even do without the bags and do rammed earth. I have been chatting with someone who has plans to build a home with rammed earth and I am now considering doing the bottom of the walls with rammed earth as well as rectangular columns for strong support of the roof and the corners. I dont know that I really want to tamp earth in around verticle rebar though and there is some speculation that rebar might not be appropriate for rammedearth even in an earthquake zone like mine..... I do think the papercrete should have metal tied into it for structure and strength in the framing or even just pvc pipe filled with sand??? Also I inventoried my present stash of paper and I have about 16 cubic feet, spaceman said I needed about 3100 cubic feet of slurry so how much slurry would 16 cubic feet of paper make?
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