[Cob] Re:earthen floors-linseed and related earthen floor conversations

[Chuck & Linda]

I don't have an informed opinion on the linseed oil with the floors as I
have yet to do a complete floor. However when we work with it on wood we
wait till its no longer tacky. I also have questions regarding performance
issues with linseed. See below

I have been meaning to see if anybody has any thoughts related to earthen
floors as I will soon be starting mine and I am hoping to minimize mistakes.
One concern is mold with utilizing linseed oil in an upper midwest climate.
One of my neigbors did a clay, lime, straw, sand floor. In his sunroom he
has had mold form under anything that is in direct contact with the floor.
He does have a covered hot tub in there though. The gal in the
correspondence below also had bad experiences with Linseed oil. I am
wondering if other people in cooler non desert climates have been successful
with linseed oil or have had similar problems.

I am mainly focussing on a 1/2 to 3/4" top application over a firm
substrate.
I will soon be making some samples to see what is what.
 samples:  A.  clay, sand, straw, Gypsum (Does anyone have a percentage
suggestion here for Gypsum?)
 B. Psyllium, clay, sand, straw (Anyone have a percentage suggestion for
Psyllium?)
c.  Clay, Sand, straw, wheat paste, borax
D. Clay, Sand, lime, straw
E. Other suggestions or combinations of the above?????

Chuck Learned

Earthen floor problems-correspondence:

 Hi Chuck
I'm not sure what the climate is like and what your situation is like, but
our earth floors turned out to be a disaster for us. We built them in the
summer and they looked great. But once winter came they became wet and have
stayed wet. They also molded.
Arkansas is quite a humid climate. This year our rainfall will reach rain
forest status.(over 50 inches)  So, I wouldn't necessarily say to abandon
the idea. My parents lived in New Mexico quite a while and I know of earthen
floors there that were really nice.
There were a couple of things that may have caused our disaster. One is, our
home is earth sheltered at the back wall (north) and tapers down to be open
on the south (passive solar). Even though we have french drains around the
perimeter, just the ground moisture may be wicking up into the earth floor.
We did line the ground with a couple of layers of 6 mil plastic underneath
before building the floor, but I guess there's still enough moisture to wick
up into the floor. So, if you built your house on a raised area, you might
not have that problem.
The room in which I did the pavers did not become damp like the full earth
floor did. I am not sure why. I did have trouble with the surface molding
where I used the linseed oil finish. I wouldn't do the linseed oil finish
again.
I stabilized mine with mortar, I've forgotten what percentage, but I think
went by the guidelines in the Strawbale book.
What we've done is covered the earth floor with several layers of plastic
and put pergo over the top of it. That has worked out fine. it seems to not
be wicking moisture up to the pergo.
The rest of the house is poured concrete, which I eventually tiled over. I
would have to give a real thumbs up on that. We designed our house passive
solar and in the winter, if it is sunny, we don't run our heat at all during
the day. In fact, some days we open the window to cool things down. It's not
as cold here I'm sure, but we do have single digit days. That has been our
most successful "natural" home strategy. That concrete really absorbs that
sunshine and lets it back into the house. I'm a tile nut, myself, cut
remnents into some really neat patterns. But now the concrete stains that
are available are pretty nice and attractive. I know a few people here where
I work who've done that.
We also did some of our exterior walls in cordwood. We were quite pleased
with how that was going. However, our living in house sold and we had to
move out pronto, so we quickly finished out the remaining walls with studs.
Anyway, those are pros and cons from our end. If I can be of any more help,
let me know.

If anyone is still reading this, have any of you tried or have direct
knowledge of using the method described below?

Hi Charmaine
I meant to say tamped on the earth floor. We sprinkle in a layer of mix,
mist it real good, sprinkle a dry layer on top of that (to keep the tamper
from clodding up) and then tamp. Keep repeating till get the depth we want
and then wet the top well and trowel smooth.
This is SO much easier than making the adobe pavers, and since the final
trowelling is the hardest part of all, I would think easier than troweling
the entire floor. Also, low level of skill needed, my kids were able to
help a lot.
P.S. We would also screed between every few layers to keep it fairly level
along the way.


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