[Cob] new earthen floor on old concrete floor

[Raduazo at aol.com]

Sabrina: Cob over concrete works well. I was required by Fairfax county to  
put in a concrete floor and I covered it over with a beautiful red clay that I  
got from a friends farm. I made a couple of mistakes. First I did not use 
enough  sand in the mix. When you put a chair on the floor and sit on it the legs 
will  leave dents in the floor. and second I did not level correctly or hard 
trowel. 
    When putting your earth finish down have someone  with a table saw make 1 
inch x 1 inch strips of wood. Space those strips  about 6 inches apart and 
apply a level strip of floor material between them.  Remove the back strip and 
fill the groove to be level with the band of  flooring material just applied. 
Reposition the removed strip six inches in front  of the front strip (the front 
strip is not the back strip) and lay another band  of flooring material. Then 
remove the back strip. Continue till the floor is  finished. let it dry till 
you can place plywood on the floor and stand or sit on  the plywood with out 
denting your floor then trowel the surface from the back  wall to the front.
    When the floor is completely dry heat some linseed  oil on the stove and 
coat the floor. Make sure you have good ventilation.  Linseed oil is not toxic 
but the solvent is.
Ed
    For pictures of the wrong way to do it together  with comments on how it 
should have been done send me and E-mail and I will  respond off of the 
Coblist.