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Hi Rikki
My house here in Yorkshire is built on clay. It's
300 years old, is built of stone, and has no artificial foundation. By this I
mean that if you dig below ground level by 150mm the stone of the walls stops
and there is only the clay underneath. The stones at the bottom of the wall are
wider by 150mm either side of the wall, thus enlarging the surface area that
takes the weight of the stone wall above. In a climate like ours, there is
virtually no risk of problems associated with shrinkage due to drying. Many
hundreds of thousands of our oldest houses are built this way.
So if you're building with straw walls, which are
about 80% less weight than stone, there is no problem about building from the
clay upwards, it's a wonderful foundation. But as Jolien says, make sure you
raise the straw itself up from ground level. There is no need to use concrete or
to dig trenches, just take away the growing part of the earth and go down to
something solid, probably only a few inches.......Lucky you!
Watch out for the book: Building With Straw Bales
available from Green Books in April!
Warning! Strawbale building can
seriously transform your life!
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2002 12:41
PM
Subject: Re: Odp: [strawbale] a technical
question about foundations
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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