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[Rob <becida AT comcast.net>]

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Date:   Fri, 19 Jun 1998 21:08:57 -0400
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From: tvoivozd <tvoivozd AT roanoke.infi.net>
To: homestead AT listserv.oit.unc.edu
Subject: Earth floors
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Sutton-III, James M wrote:

> tvo, you obviously like earthen floors. Could you
> elaborate a little: why you like them better than
> other types of flooring,

tvoivozhd>>>the only cheaper floor is wall-to-wall carpet over
polyethylene sheet over sand over polyethylene sheet vapor barrier.  I
hate unsanitary, uncleanable offgassing carpeting.

My introduction to earth floors was in a friend's house in Jamshedpur,
India.  His brother built and ran the biggest steelmill in the British
Empire---he could afford anything he wanted.  What he wanted and what he
got was a gorgeous, wide-walled adobe house with beautiful dirt floors,
and filled with a couple hundred thousand dollars of furniture.  I was
fascinated by the appearance of the floor---the look and feel of
Cordovan leather.  Asked him what it was.  He said dirt mixed with goat
urine and several coats of linseed oil.applied as finish coat. It
probably had some lime in it---he didn't know.

Earth floors are the next cheapest to the carpeting I despise.  They are
good at transmitting heat (or coolth)  wear well and are easily repaired
or replaced.  One exception would probably be high heels---too small an
area for a person's weight to produce a reasonable loading.

Earth floors do not crack or powder

John Swearingen, "Skilful Means Builders", is one of the best
contractors in the U.S.  Here's his account of one version of earth
floors.  http://www.snowcrest.net/smb/mudfloors.htm

Athena and Bill Steen are the foremost U.S. experts on earth floors.
Buy their booklet "Earthen Floors" for $10 (including shipping)  E-mail
for purchase details at <absteen AT dakotacom.net> or their Canelo website
has order forms (and a lot of stuff on strawbale)
http://www.deatech.com/canelo/order.html

I vaguely remember an article on earth floors in Fine Homebuilding in
the last year or two, but the issue I was looking for is hiding in one
of the many piles that resist close inspection..

An article on earth floors in Designer/Builder, a Journal of Human
Environment (August 1997)  Article, "How to make a mud floor"---shows
one of Steen jobs.

Read about the Monk floor here
http://www.crest.org/efficiency/strawbale-list-archive/9606/msg00402.html

http://www.crest.org/efficiency/strawbale-list-archive/9606/msg00407.html
(opinion of Monk floor)

Another Swearingen comment
http://www.crest.org/efficiency/strawbale-list-archive/9606/msg00392.html

http://www.crest.org/efficiency/strawbale-list-archive/9606/msg00389.html
(Shelter, 1973, page 46)

Not germane to dirt floors, but here's a URL on stamped concrete
floors---mostly for information, it's UK.
http://www.kerrial.com/rplpave./stamp.html
```````````````
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Date:   Sat, 20 Jun 1998 09:59:45 -0400
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From: tvoivozd <tvoivozd AT roanoke.infi.net>
To: homestead AT listserv.oit.unc.edu
Subject: Re: Earth floors
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tvoivozhd>>>most common finish treatment, and the one that produces a
leather-appearance, is several applications of linseed oil---first 
one mixed with
turpentine for penetration.  Many possible additives in the mix.  Swearingen
favors psyllium.  In Southwest U.S. and Mexica various plant juices 
are sometimes
incorporated.

Now probably deceased, Jack Bays (Bays Laboratory, Cedaredge, Colorado),
originated many mixtures which were very successful in floors and walls.  His
basic formula (Rub-R-Slate) was 12 quarts of asphalt (bitumil) 
emulsion purchased
from a road-contractor supply house, 8 pounds of cardboard or paper 
shredded in a
garden-type chipper-shredder hammermill with a half-inch opening screen.

This was mixed with a propellor-mixer in a fifty-five gallon barrel, 
adding to the
above 12 gallons of clay-water mixture---varying the amount of water 
depending on
whether ith result was to be sprayed or trowelled on like cake-frosting.

There are three, (four counting calcium sulfate aka gypsum) common earth
stabilizers, i.e., asphalt emulsion, Portland cement, and lime which 
are used in
the base material of clay/sand dirt floors. Gypsum produces a quicker-setting,
softer material---less resistant to water , though asphalt emulsion added will
provide necessary water-resistance.

Where sawdust is plentiful and cheap it is an alternative to an 
earthen floor.  A
sawdust floor used in South Africa is comprised of two parts sawdust (don't 
use
any containing a lot of resin), one and one-half part sand, one part cement 
and
one-quarter part lime.  It should cure for ten days and then finished 
with linseed
oil or floor wax.  This is as hard and will wear as well as a hardwood floor.

Whatever mix is chosen---make up lots of samples to be tested 
first---see what the
material looks and feels like, how it resists abrasion, impact and moisture.

Another question I forgot to answer related to a sheet of 
polyethylene under the
four to six inches of poured and screeded flat clay/sand base 
material underlying
the subsequently-added finish layer.

It serves three purposes.  Blocks infiltration of radon gas, blocks 
capillarity
(wicking action), and blocks vapor-transmission.  Except in desert 
areas, humidity
under a finished floor approaches one hundred percent.  Room air is, 
or should be
much lower, and since water vapor tries to equalize pressure, it continually
travels upward through the floor unless a vapor barrier is interposed.





MAMATURTL1 AT aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 98-06-19 21:13:53 EDT, you write:
>
> << Earth floors do not crack or powder >>
>
>  How are they kept smooth and not powdery? I read about the urine and lime,
> but seriously doubt that is done here. What do folks in the US use 
to keep the
> floor from cracking or powdering?
>
>  I appreciate that you included the websites, but currently am using a
> dinosaur processor that only allows me web access if and when it decides :o(
>
> Thanks,
> Beth