----- Original Message -----From: TrevorSent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 10:18 AMSubject: RE: [papercreters] Re: my first posting
Hi Josephine,
Unless you're from Tassie, I reckon a papercrete path on the ground would last about a month because of the termites, unless you put enough cement in it to turn it into concrete, which kind of defeats the purpose. They'd eat the damp underside.
I realise to people in the US papercrete is said to be insect proof but Australian termites are something else, they can and do sometimes chew through mortar (and bad concrete) to get at wood! It's a real issue on mainland Australia, if you were to build a house with rubble foundations and papercrete walls you'd have to make the roof framing from steel or treated timber as the termites would tunnel up to get at the untreated timber. They love anything with cellulose in it.
Trev
From: papercreters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:papercreters@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Josephine
Sent: Sunday, 23 January 2011 11:43 AM
To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [papercreters] Re: my first posting
Ben
Thankyou so much for your information.
I will go to the site now ...can't wait to have a look.
I wasnt sure if anyone was getting my emails or even caring about them as I am from Australia.
Thankyou so much
Josephine
----- Original Message -----
From: Ron Richter
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 2:30 AM
Subject: Re: [papercreters] Re: my first posting
Hi Josephine,
On the bottom of most posts to this forum is a link to Photos. This the real "learning area" as far as I'm concerned, especially if a picture is worth a thousand words. One of our members, Bob the Builder, has posted some really explicit photos of his experiments with Papercrete (PC) as far as sidewalks are concerned. I believe he used adobe (mud) in some instead of (or in addition to) portland cement like many of the rest of us use. He will jump in here and explain it I'm sure.
Anyway here is a direct link to his sidewalk "stones" and then you could look at all the other cool pictures as well.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/papercreters/photos/album/1000048770/pic/list
CAUTION: Visiting this site of pictures may steal your life from you! Your time may not be your own and all your friends may think you've suddenly changed nationalities with this new language you speak.
Have fun.
Ron
Hi Ben
Thankyou for your reply
I dont know if I was expecting anything...but that was great. If you have a pic of the sidewalk for me that would be wonderful..
Josephine
We had some extra papercrete and put it on the ground as a sidewalk. Amazingly, it has held up even though: 1) it is directly on dirt with no provisions for drainage; 2) we are NY, a more humid climate than some; and 3) it is under trees. I am not sure it stays truly hard, but it has not disintegrated.
I will try to attach a pix "Papercrete Sidewalk" to this. Just as an aside, the irregular appearance of our little test house is because we were trying different finishin coats.
Ben Viglietta
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "Josephine" <josephine15@...> wrote:
>
> Judith
>
> This is my very first message.
>
> I am fascinated with Papercrete and want to know if you can apply it directly to the ground to make slabs to walk on or to have under a patio or make a path with it. This would save a lot of time leveling the ground etc.
>
> And do you think Papercrete would be suitable for this application in all environments ...like rain and hot sun that we have here in Australia?
>
> Cant wait to hear your reply
>
> Many thanks
> Josephine
> Australia
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: JUDITH WILLIAMS
>
> I agree with Spaceman that the simple form of papercrete should be all that is needed. However, if you have something lying around that you would throw away anyway you could consider putting it in the mix. I ended up with thousands of woven polypropylene bags a few years ago. When I tried to fill one to use as an earthbag I discovered that they had deteriorated and are not strong enough. So I'm thinking of using some of them as an underlayment for a papercrete floor or just cutting them up and throwing then in the mixer. I know I am tired of moving them every time in neaten up. I haven't deviated much from the original "recipe" but I think anything that has fibers would be fine in a mix. They must be kept short though or they will tangle around the blade.
>
> They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
> ~ in Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin
>
> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> From: Spaceman@...
>
>
> For what purpose? Papercrete is fine for building just the way it is, plenty of compression strength. I don't think anyone wants to build a bank vault with it. IMHO if you are looking for a material with high tensile strength, you want something other than papercrete. My experience with putting metal into papercrete is that the pc shrinks away from the metal leaving it rattling around in a void. I don't have a source of cuttings to try in a batch, but since you do, how about doing some tests and posting the results?
>
> Rope would add some nice fibers, would probably need to be cut into short pieces and then shredded so that the fibers can mix with the paper. Just throwing rope into a mix won't work too well. Again, why would you want to do this since pc works great without it? It seems to be a lot of extra work for possibly a marginal improvement.
>
>
> spacemanAll opinions expressed or impliedare subject to change without noticeupon receipt of new information.http://Starship-Enterprises.Net
> On 1/14/2011 4:52 AM, derk wrote:
> The reason i ask is i watched a tv programme about safe bank vault building and in the concreting process they use stainless steel cuttings which make the finished concrete slab amazingly strong in both compression and tensile situations. For papercrete i imagine you need a scrap product that would adhere readily to it. IF you used old rope how long would the strand of rope have to be , when in the process would you add them to the papercrete mix , how else would adding rope effect the other qualities of the finished product... derk
>
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