norishouse.com

I’ve been reading and rereading information on tiltwall construction and want to take just a minute to give credit.

In my initial reading of Elpel’s page on Nick’s tiltwall stone faced house I missed the bit regarding setting the walls on pier blocks. This is the second reference I’ve found to making tiltwall construction monolithic by pouring the foundation after the wall is tilted into place.

I have now found a second reference to using a tilt table to support a wall into the upright position. Interestingly enough, the reference is for the front wall for the Zion Methodist Church in Illinois built by Robert Aiken in 1908. I found an image showing the tilt table in a Brazilian PDF on tiltwall construction. The PDF is 85 pages long, and the tilt table can be seen on page 15.

There is a wealth of interesting stuff in the above PDF. Look at page 69. Beautiful! Look at the innovative use of half-pipe roof tiles on page 71. And page 81 shows tanks being constructed using tiltup construction and the panels being joined by rebar and poured in place concrete! This is SO totally cool!

One of the really great sites I’ve found is Mason Greenstar. Conversations with the owner, Zack Rabon, have been both helpful and illuminating. He has developed an admixture for enhancing and improving papercrete properties. His company is currently working on developing papercrete panels to compliment the blocks they already produce. This is definately a company to watch.

In my conversations with Zack I have had a couple epiphanies. I’d like to extend my thanks to Zack for allowing me to babble in his direction.

I think having a porous floor in my form will be sufficient. I don’t think the sides of the form need to assist in the draining and drying.

I need to include the headers for doors and windows in my pour. (Duh! Why I didn’t think of this sooner is beyond me.)

I found a contractor who pours his tiltwalls (rc with insulation) with the windows and doors in place. I’ve got to go look and see if he does so with bucks installed around the windows . . . I think that’s what I remember. I’ll have to go back and look.

I do have a question. Keeping cement hydrated increases the strength. Papercrete, by its very nature, dries out more quickly than rc. How much stronger will papercrete be if it’s allowed to remain hydrated longer? Should I wrap the wall in plastic and keep the moisture in for a couple weeks? Must research . . .

I ran into a site with beautiful and thoughtful architecture. I’ve always liked the appearance of rammed earth, and the poured earth this company uses is as beautiful as the rammed earth walls I’ve seen. What this site offers is beyond just the technology of using earth to build homes by ramming or pouring. These homes are both thoughtfully designed and functionally engineered with elegant spaces. I did find the “affordable” base price of $225/sf amusing when I’m trying to build a house at ~$10/sf, but realize the price they’ve quoted is with top end everything with specialist contractors doing floors, heating, et al. The homes do look richly designed and decorated, and I believe I’d be happy to live in any one of them (as long as someone else footed the bill for construction). The spaces are open and airy and feel warm and inviting. Ideal, in my opinion.