[Strawbale] Strawbale Plaster Question

[Michael K. Lough]

Mark PK  said: Basic generalizations can be made about soil types in a 
given area, but that's about it.  

Well one can pay an engineering company to analyse your soil composition which would likely give you a clue as to how much clay you have. This analysis is a requirement prior to the installation of a septic system in Ontario to indicate drainage potential and dictate septic  leech field size. (I dont know why this could not be used to establish the necessity or type of any mechanical drainage under a building in Ontario )

My ground (below the top soil) is  sandy loam with about 30 % clay (and some large rocks ) without looking at the report again. One of my earlier experiments was to slap on some of this mixed with water onto the bristle end of some bales just prior  to  a winter a few years ago.

 It was not a success. It dried crumbled and flaked off by Spring. My conclusion at the time was that it would be a poor  primer coat for lime/sand only plaster. This is not to say a thin sprayed slip coat of clay only would not provide tooth for a first coat of lime/sand only plaster but time has shown that as has been advocated by those before me on this list one does not need anything on a bale prior to lime/sand only plastering.

A different story inside though. I cobbed the interior walls with top soil/sand/straw the soil had a bit of redness to it  (presumably clay but this was not  what was tested by the engineers ) off and on over a Summer, sealing the bales in between the post and beam frame (non load bearing) the straw mixed mud  was a delight to work with by hand and has become rock hard and seems to hang onto the the straw well.  A few hairline cracks . Not sure about "joyful" but if I kept the memory of the smeared walls of the Maze prison out of my head the process was not without its groove.

Michael Lough


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs