Saturday, March 17, 2012

Re: [papercreters] Re: Experimenting



Oh, you're near Havasu.  We're about 60 miles north of Kingman near Lake Mead / Skywalk at 4000 ft, it's a lot colder here.  I bet the alpacas would like it better up here.  There was a time when I seriously considered getting alpacas and I did a lot of research.

Anyway, I heard about the papercrete house in or near Havasu.  Out in the country there were no building inspections until 2008 and people could build however they wanted, only had to pay for the permit and submit a site plan. Now everything is inspected and we're lucky we got all our permits in 2007.  At the rate we're building, it'll take decades to finish.

Regarding the tires:

Also, I didn’t stagger them like you would for building, I’m setting them one on top of the other and then filling with alpaca manure/old hay from the alpaca pens, soaking it, then topping off with compost. 

That sounds like you're making compost.  I don't think I'd want compost inside a wall since the volume is reduced as it composts and you get all sorts of critters.

We've been building with adobe and the one thing that keeps us from using papercrete for above windows, doors, etc. is that we don't have a tow mixer and are too mechanically challenged to build one.  Would be happy to chip in a few bucks to have one built and share or buy a tow mixer.

Christine

At 04:41 PM 3/16/2012, you wrote:
 

Yes I’m close to Kingman, I’m in Havasu (actually just north of Havasu in Crystal Beach).  Also I’ve found online that there is a completed papercrete house here (Havasu – outside city limits I’m surre, either Donkey Acres or the Heights), I have the owner/builder’s name and plan on contacting him soon to see how he got through the building permit process etc.
 
The wall - I’m starting with a small section, in case it doesn’t work out.  I have newspapers soaking in my mixer and am trying to figure out the best mix for this.  Seems like it should be heavier on the cement side.  What about the mix used to spray onto the big metal containers? That seems to stick pretty well.
 
I originally was looking into building with tires – earthshipss – but quickly found that pounding dirt into all those tires was a bit much physically for me!  So I still have these tires and thought this might be something I can use them for. 
 
Also, I didn’t stagger them like you would for building, I’m setting them one on top of the other and then filling with alpaca manure/old hay from the alpaca pens, soaking it, then topping off with compost.  I board about 17 of alpacas and needed a place (besides the compost pile) to get rid of this stuff so the plan, if it works, is to also use the wall for plants by leaving the top holes uncovered where I can put plants – maybe veggies, mayybe cactus (natural security), or whatever.
 
I was also thinking about the possibility of using a slipform to pour papercrete between the form and the outside of the tires.
 
Terry in AZ


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