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Re: [Strawbale] earthen floor sealer in Haiti (linseed oil)



On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 06:16:21 -0400, Juliane Derry <julianederry@hotmail...> wrote:

We use linseed oil for many things here in Norway, and unlike my Canadian "weather-brother", I would recommend
using linseed oil, as I have seen beautiful results!

Juliane Derry
Oslo, Norway


Just to clarify so that my newly-found sister (the daughter my Mom never had (five sons. Eh ?)) doesn't get the wrong impression ...

I like linseed oil (immensely) as a sealer for wood. Many (many) moons ago, as a cabinetmaker years, I was pretty much weaned on linseed oil/turps/beeswax finishes when making softwood pieces (not so much for hardwood pieces).

My concerns were about using it in an interior building application, in large volumes, on a floor surface, in a tropical island locale ... conditions that may not be amenable for proper drying (ie for polymerisation to take place) -- shade, poor air circulation, high humidity.

With furniture or framing timbers, applying in thin enough layers and wiping it dry between coats to facilitate proper drying is quite do-able. When applied to an earthen floor in a situation where there is some urgency to get a building completed so that hurricane victims may be housed ? Mmmm...

And in my mind's eye, I don't see a whole lot of acreage in Haiti with fields of golden flax waving in the breeze... but I do see mental images of sheltered lagoons where boatloads of seaweed are lapping at the shore. (But I'm not going to make a trip to Haiti to find out which mental image is accurate. It'd take *forever* to pedal down there and back).

--
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Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a >
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