Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: wire mesh/burlap spray house- RE walls

Friday, November 5, 2010

[papercreters] Re: wire mesh/burlap spray house- RE walls

Too bad about the pics on his site being gone..... there was a lot of information and his recipe but I didnt save it :(

As for the RE, I have read that the commercial people doing it are giving it a bad name because they try to compact several feet at a time and it does create voids. I have read that it should be compacted in no more then 4" thick runs and that if it is compacted when it is only 4" thick that it holds up better even if done with a pole and steel plate attached.... But yes, it would be a lot of work. The reason I am considering it is because of it being load bearing whereas the papercrete wouldnt be unless I wanted to build a dome which although I like domes..... one just would not work for the space I have and the turning radius and stuff here. I have to allow for a 65' turning radius for a drive thru garage (I have a 40' bus Im turning into a motorhome with a VW bus that I am making run off electric and will be towing). And I prefere the old fashioned humdrum rectangle shape. I dont know, maybe if I add enough cement to the pc mixture it would be load bearing? Again too, I would like to do a pc (maybe made with styrofoam) roof and have it span at least 12'... or figure out something else for the roof.

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Charmaine Taylor <dirtcheapbuilderbooks@...> wrote:
>
> "I once saw something online where a guy built a house with wire mesh and
> metal fence posts. Then he sprayed some mixture on burlap and draped the
> burlap over the metal which made him a monolithic form for a house. "
>
> Iv'e seen that too, *Burlap-Crete photos.* *Posted by: "John Annesley" *
> *John@... * *Thu Mar 6, 2008 <<< posted to papercreters
> then, NONE OF THE LINKS WORK NOW, MAYBE THESE PICS ARE IN the ALBUM?*
> *
> *
> *John's TEXT"
>
> Two days ago I made a long post regarding my experiments with burlap and a
> variety of
>
> cement and non-cement materials. Here are some photos of the house I'm
> building with
>
> burlap. Put away the hammer, and pick up the clothes-pin.
> **
>
> Here's a photo of the house before burlap: a ferrocement ring at the base,
> encasing steel studs, covered in stock panels.
> http://www.annesleyphoto.com/Building/ferroring7511.jpg
> *
>
> Here's the structure from another angle, partly covered in burlap-crete.
>
> http://www.annesleyphoto.com/Building/burlap7516.jpg Here is a close-up of
> the coated burlap, held onto the stock panels with clothespins. The
>
> seams blend together so well you can't really tell that you're looking at
> probably ten or more
>
> seams. Makes a wall about as strong as 1/2" plywood over studs covered in
> stucco-- and its
>
> only an overlapping layer of burlap soaked in modified fast set, high
> strength grout.
>
> http://www.annesleyphoto.com/Building/clothespins7517.jpg
>
> *
> *
>
> *I kept a copy of the images in PDF, ( SHOWN ABOVE) but they are not on his
> website now.*
>
>
> I also know an artist- Michael Collins at www.biotectures.com- who made a
> 700' running foot privacy fence around a local Inn parking lot, and they
> converted it to a wedding and party center, with a wedding gazebo of free
> form sprayed papercrete onto more burlap and mesh with metal stakes.
>
> As for rammed earth. there is a lot alot of work in it, and all it is as
> a big cube of dirt when all is said and done. easier to do bags filled
>
> One man who built a large RE home in N. CA. told us he'd make his walls of
> ANYTHING, but not rammed earth again. He showed how pricey all the forms
> were ( when hiring a pro crew) the hydraulics for tamping all the planning,
> and details and they STILL have many voids and failed spots to rebuild. he
> said do a 'trash wall' and coat with clay. He said it was way too much
> work to just see the pretty rammed earth part on the inside ( maybe a faux
> 4" thick interior wall made with fine sands, colors, and tamped perfectly
> as wall art?)
>
> then an adobe inventor from Berkeley, CA back in late '90s did the same
> thing-- independently.. he made a two running walls as the 'form'-- like
> the metal stake and wire mesh-- say 24" thick, and he put in junk
> -plastic milk jugs, cans filled with sand, trash and odds and ends, and
> then it was all packed solid he sprayed earth over it, and kept it up until
> the wall was as thick and smooth as he wanted. that was a garden wall, not
> a home,
> But He proved how the Tire /earth ship method of using trash to fill in the
> space/voids was efficient, and gave a dense wall. Planning ahead for where
> to put "dead men" wood posts to hang cabinets, or picture in walls. or use
> the bond beam at the top with as the 'hanger'
>
> --
> Charmaine Taylor Publishing
> www.papercrete.com
> www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
>