Cob: Too much linseed oil

Thu Aug 21 19:13:17 CDT 2003

Hi,

I have an traditional adobe (sand, clay, aged horse manure and linseed oil) earthen floor over a rammed earth subfloor in the basement of my strawbale house that a tenant damaged with water. They thought it was cement so it was no big deal to keep it wet for 3 months watering plants with no drip trays. I put a good thick layer of boiled Linseed oil on it. Over a month later it is still sticky even with the hottest and driest summer in that last 40 years. I was wondering if anyone here knows how to cure or remove some of it. 

What I've tried:
1. I tried heating a small section with a propane torch, no good as it burned the linseed oil and it didn't remove the stickiness. 
2. I tried a bit of paint thinner and rubbed a section with rags, still sticky.
3. I tried methyl alcohol and rubbed a section with rags (cold on hands), still sticky yet better than the paint thinner.

I welcome suggestions as I really don't want to rip out that section of the floor. 

Regards,
Will
-
-------------- next part --------------
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 6.0.6396.0">
<TITLE>Too much linseed oil</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<!-- Converted from text/plain format -->

<P><FONT SIZE=2>Hi,</FONT>
</P>

I have an traditional adobe (sand, clay, aged horse manure and linseed oil) earthen floor over a rammed earth subfloor in the basement of my strawbale house that a tenant damaged with water. They thought it was cement so it was no big deal to keep it wet for 3 months watering plants with no drip trays. I put a good thick layer of boiled Linseed oil on it. Over a month later it is still sticky even with the hottest and driest summer in that last 40 years. I was wondering if anyone here knows how to cure or remove some of it.

<P><FONT SIZE=2>What I've tried:</FONT>

1. I tried heating a small section with a propane torch, no good as it burned the linseed oil and it didn't remove the stickiness.

2. I tried a bit of paint thinner and rubbed a section with rags, still sticky.

3. I tried methyl alcohol and rubbed a section with rags (cold on hands), still sticky yet better than the paint thinner.

I welcome suggestions as I really don't want to rip out that section of the floor.

<P><FONT SIZE=2>Regards,</FONT>

<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Will</FONT>

<BR><FONT SIZE=2>-</FONT>
</P>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Rethink Your Life! Finance, health, lifestyle, environment, philosophy	The Work of Art and The Art of Work Kiko Denzer on Art