Re: [strawbale] a technical question about foundations

[Harald und Margit Wedig <avantgarden@wxs...>]

rikki nitzkin wrote:
> 
> 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?

Hello Rikki, 
to make a good construction material from your 100% clay, you will have
to mix it with a lot of sand and additional with straw clippings or
other finer fibers. If you take the clay as it comes from your ground,
the same will happen as what you can observe in a hot dry summer in your
soil: Cracks all over the place!
So, my advice: mix your clay as I told above and make some tests to find
out the best mix. Its good to have a "fat" clay plaster for the first
layer, the second ( and last) layer should contain more sand and fibers.
I have no experience with adobe floors, but it cant be very much
different if you want to avoid to many cracks.
Harald