[Strawbale] Tashcrete again

[Stone Tool]

Now we're talking!

	Trashcrete might be formed using what are known as "raise forms" which 
allow you to form several feet deep, raise the form, and form several 
more feet.   Metal lath might be incorporated next to the waxed forming 
material for stability, and perhaps stucco applied later.   Rebar, and 
or cable bracing between posts might also be encapsulated into the 
structure.
	One might even apply a foot or so of "trashcrete" to the outside and/or 
inside of a strawbale wall.   Set up your forms a foot away from your 
straw bales, and lightly tamp in a relatively "dry" (very high solids) 
mixture of cement, shredded paper, Styrofoam, old baler twine, 
etc....followed by a stucco coating.   This would remove the bales 
farther from the elements.   One could also do the "earthbag" type of 
lay up using "trashcrete in burlap bags as "trashcrete" would be 
relatively solid with cement being primarily a bonding agent rather than 
the solids being an aggregate encapsulated in cement.
	I have yet to hear anybody suggest papercrete over bales as opposed to 
a layer of stucco....... There are lots of ways to go here.

                                  H.W.

Chris Green wrote:
> Stone Tool wrote:
>> Chris:
>>     I hadn't heard of this system...... though it appears that the 
>> blocks are 100% polystyrene (recycled) and are used as forms into 
>> which concrete and rebar are poured.  I had an interesting read 
>> checking this out...........    What I am proposing is an aggregate 
>> and monolithic which is a horse of a different color.   Bits and piece 
>> of junk..... straw, eps, shredded paper, perhaps old baler twine 
>> (which is in abundant supply here along with net wrap wet down with 
>> liquid cement enough to create an adhesive bond and hold things 
>> together.... simply dumped into forms to create a monolithic wall 
>> which then would be covered in stucco after applying a steel lath 
>> covering.  It would be light, and have a fairly decent R-value, but 
>> not a great deal of strength on it's own... mostly a filler.
> I'm pretty confident that what you propose is do-able. I have read about 
> people making blocks, for instance, out of sawdust, wood chips, 
> shavings, chopped up styrofoam, etc., and so on.  And of course, 
> papercrete and its' variants,stuff like 'hempcrete.' (Not an option yet 
> below the 49th parallel.. :-) But one of the Dakotas is trying to make 
> this fibre legal to grow, or was a few months back. )
> Charmaine Taylor's dirtcheapbuilders site might have some articles or 
> info on some of these variants.
> http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com/
> She also posted a message about "kitchencrete" on the 
> Organic_Architecture list a few days back. Kitchencrete includes clay, 
> among other things, and some artists are using this material for 
> sculpturing art and, ummm, "whimsies," as seen here:
> http://www.paverpol.com/photogallery.html
> So that is one possible additive.
> My nephew argues in favour of "pumicecrete," pumice being a good 
> additive to make concrete lighter and to add some insulating value. I 
> believe you might be close to a pumice quarry where you are, so that's 
> something to consider as well.
> 
> A hybrid mix surely must be possible, especially when used as an infill 
> panel: then the building material doesn't really have to be able to 
> withstand the 300psi minimum that is required for masonry construction 
> "to code" for a one story structure.( I should check that figure: it's 
> been a while since I read up on it...) At this moment, I think I'd opt 
> for using integral rebar. However, only experimenting will tell if it's 
> really required for, say, 2' x 4' x 8'-10' tall  infill panels. Hmmm. 2' 
> deep? Probably don't need rebar. Stucco lath should do it. The folks in 
> Alberta who make the pre-fab SB panels (Gen-X Systems) use stucco mesh, 
> I think.
> 
> Oh, I see Gen-X's  various websites are unavailable at this time...
> 
> Somewhere in my collection I have a copy of Fine Homebuilding which 
> shows how one builder in Montana made his own tilt-up concrete panels on 
> site: When finished, the exterior of the house looked like it had been 
> built out of stone. I'll look around to try to find it and send along 
> the issue number, but I don't recall seeing it for some time. Maybe one 
> of our list members has a collection of these mags and can find it?
>>     There have long been similar systems to the Rastra, made of new 
>> foam enabling concrete to be poured into foam forms that interlock and 
>> remain in place..... an expensive system.
> I haven't price compared these beyond finding out the blocks are around 
> $7.50CAD each. There are two houses built from ICF blocks within a block 
> from me, and a bunch more about 10 miles away in another location. Given 
> the choice, I'd go for the forms with the recycled material if I were to 
> use this stuff. It use to cost our municipalities $65 a ton to send 
> stuff to a landfill, but that was 10-15 years ago. The price has 
> probably doubled or tripled since.
> Recycling useful trash can save tax dollars. :-)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Chris Green.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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