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

[secondfiddle at baymoon.com]

The little 20ft diameter mud house floor here had a serious mold problem last 
winter. We received quite a bit of rain 40 inches or so which is common here in 
the winter. This past summer I did quite a bit of shovel work around the 
structure hoping to move water away from the house. There are french drains in 
but I put in something that looks like small dry creek beds in the summer. This 
winter we are having more rain than last year and the mud floor has no mold at 
all. The cottage is two levels two steps difference in height and it was only the 
lower level that was having the mold problem.  


> I've used these instructions (more or less) for a floor.  That I haven't 
> finished yet.  No signs on the sample of mold. These guys are in Missouri 
> somewhere.  Not at all near the Dancing Rabbit river (creek?) in Arkansas).
> 
> http://www.dancingrabbit.org/newsletter/Newsletter0701-floors.html
> 
> At a guess, keeping water away from the building.  Having the floor raised 
> from ground level on well-tamped gravel.  Drains to daylight both under the 
> foundation AND farther out have probably saved me from some problems.  When 
> we put hay down on the floor to slow the drying, it molded (of course it 
> did, it was collecting moisture from the floor).  Although checking humidity 
> levels--dehumidifying if necessary--is probably going to be a necessity 
> anyway.
> ................
> Chuck Learned wrote (snipped a lot!):
> 
> 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.
> 
> 
> 
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