[Greenbuilding] [GreenConcrete] Durisol]

[josephbecker at riseup.net]

I just finished a home out of Durasol in Olympia, WA.
Some things that made the stacking go faster were..

We worked off a slab and rented a scissor lift that helped us zip around
to stack upper courses, as well as .

We designed the building to be on a 12 inch layout where the length of
walls as well as the size of and distances between doors/windows were
complete feet. This minimized cutting of the block,

We poured the first three courses and then anchored strongbacks to the
concrete cores with a diagnal brace toward the outside of the building to
hold the stongback plumb. We then were able to plumb the walls to those
strongbacks which were every 8 ft.  This helped plumb the walls as well as
served to hold the walls steady for the final 9 ft pour.

A big electric chainsaw worked OK to cut the blocks, what would be better
would be to find a chop saw big enough to handle it.

We made the first course extra level and then did not worry about it much
until we got to the top.

When finished the wall looked a little imperfect for the detail minded as
the wall was a little wavy, however we were going for a hand made look
that was ultimately finished with traditional earthen plaster on the
interior and lime stucco on the exterior.

Good luck...The first time always takes a while.

Best Energy,

Joseph Becker
ION Ecological Building Alliance
ionecobuilding.org coming spring 2007


You said...
> I was wondering if anyone has used the product from Canada called Durisol.
> We are in the middle of a project using it and it is going very slowly.
> Much of it might be in the details we are incorporating but I am surprised
> we are still stacking blocks as the new year approaches.
>
> Ken
> Whitefish, MT
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