11-12-2013, 11:58 AM
aramis,
I have been playing with the soils and other materials to see what can be used for wall building. The soil I have in mountain vw is not 'clay' like adobe but its a thick enough muck to make not cob, but mud walls. They are more erosive but you might find a way to tame it with some experimentation or mixes. You can find dry hills of almost pure clay down south, saddle rd and other areas but i havent spotted many around puna.
some prefer concrete but i find it cold and unpleasant to live inside, and it does not breathe well in this moist environment especially together with any timber causing rot and collected moisture. An alternative to cob or concrete but still very natural is lime plaster. You can buy 50-100lb bags of hydrated type s lime in garden stores in hilo etc. Lime plaster and mortar have been used for hundreds of years in moister climates like Ireland for the very reason its a breathable material and can transport moisture out like clay plasters. they even used it on the old churches around here, but they harvested the coral back then to crush it into lime powder and coral harvesting is illegal anymore so..
anyway you may want to look into it. the lime mortar recipe is general 1 part putty (lime mixed with water) to 3 parts sand, but you can use any gritty slow degrading material like silt or crushed cinder, etc. You can add fiber (dried grass, coconut husk, your dogs hair..) to make plaster for walls, floors, and so on.
I have been playing with the soils and other materials to see what can be used for wall building. The soil I have in mountain vw is not 'clay' like adobe but its a thick enough muck to make not cob, but mud walls. They are more erosive but you might find a way to tame it with some experimentation or mixes. You can find dry hills of almost pure clay down south, saddle rd and other areas but i havent spotted many around puna.
some prefer concrete but i find it cold and unpleasant to live inside, and it does not breathe well in this moist environment especially together with any timber causing rot and collected moisture. An alternative to cob or concrete but still very natural is lime plaster. You can buy 50-100lb bags of hydrated type s lime in garden stores in hilo etc. Lime plaster and mortar have been used for hundreds of years in moister climates like Ireland for the very reason its a breathable material and can transport moisture out like clay plasters. they even used it on the old churches around here, but they harvested the coral back then to crush it into lime powder and coral harvesting is illegal anymore so..
anyway you may want to look into it. the lime mortar recipe is general 1 part putty (lime mixed with water) to 3 parts sand, but you can use any gritty slow degrading material like silt or crushed cinder, etc. You can add fiber (dried grass, coconut husk, your dogs hair..) to make plaster for walls, floors, and so on.