Actually, I have read "A strawbale house" and "Earth floors" by the Steens, but i missed the bit about the clay slip.
What really worried me is building on land that is pure clay. A non-expert said that I could have problems with the whole house moving on a clay site, a i don´t know if the rubble trench foundation will be enought to avoid that. . .
MAY THE wings OF LIBERTY NEVER LOSE A SINGLE FEATHER!
love , RIKKI
----Original Message Follows----
From: "henryk czachor"
Reply-To: strawbale-l@eyfa...
To:
Subject: Odp: [strawbale] a technical question about foundations
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 09:48:50 +0100
Hi,
Clay shrinks when drying and swells when wetting. that why it should be mixed with other materials. I advise you to read The straw bale house by Steen A.S. Steen B Bainbridge D ,1994 White River Junction, Vermont, pp182-187. You can find there some practical notices concerning adobe floor making. Amoung others I found " European tradition calls for a mix of 5 parts sand to one part of milky consistency clay slip made from soil that is 50% clay". If you want I can send the copy of those pages.
Henryk
-----Wiadomość oryginalna-----
Od: rikki nitzkin
Do: strawbale-l@eyfa...
DW: stawbale@crest... ; absteen@dakotacom...
Data: 11 lutego 2002 22:58
Temat: [strawbale] a technical question about foundations
Hi!
I have been thinking about changing my plans of making my strawbale hut on pilars, to doing the extra work of leveling the ground, and doing a "rubble trench" foundation with an adobe floor.
After doing some soil tests, I have discovered that my land doesn't have A Lot of Clay. It IS Clay, 100%. Does anyone know if this will cause me problems?
Also, the clay comes out of the ground quite clumpy. Is there any best way to "unclump" it so as to use it for the floor and walls? Can I use clay slip instead of dry clay for this?
please forward this message to anyone who can advise me.
love , RIKKI
"Understanding is born from humility, not from the pride of knowledge."
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