08-18-2012, 11:56 AM
(08-18-2012, 11:37 AM)tvguy Wrote:(08-18-2012, 08:55 AM)PonderThis Wrote: The weathers warm enough and my helpers have some time available so we've been pouring the mud floor, at the same time I'm living in it. Most people wouldn't like living like this. I'm not even sure I do.
Where are you getting the mud. I realize this may sound like a dumb question but I know that mud you use for rammed earth type construction can't just be any old mud so I assume that's true for your floor?
I dig the mud out of a low place out in the back 40, that has mud that's about 50-60% clay and some sand and silt. I'm making a mix of 3 parts that dirt, 1 part sand, and 1 part lime.
My first test patch was done 5 days ago, and it's still easy to put a footprint in. I don't really know how long it will take to be totally dry, I've got all the doors open. I don't think lime totally hardens for something like 5 months (it has to absorb enough Co2 from the atmosphere to become limestone), but I'm figuring it probably will be walkable (perhaps with plywood strategically placed) in perhaps 10 days.
Yes, before someone mentions it, I could have used concrete which would be walkable in a week. However, I hate walking on concrete (I think it makes the body ache, and it seems like it sucks something out of you too), versus people say the earth floor remains pleasantly comfortable to walk on. It also fits in with my vision for eliminating concrete (an energy intensive product to make) from my life.