Cob earthen floors

[Keith Breuker]

I was today working on my earthen floor in our earthen plastered SB home
in Northern Michigan.  We are using a mix of three parts gravel and one
half part clay and one half part sand with a dash of lime putty (no
straw).  The mix is right when after you trowel it there are holes in
the surface between the gravel.  We are applying a three inch layer of
it to a sub floor of compacted road gravel which is about three feet
thick.  There will be a coat of sandy slip to fill in the holes and give
a smooth finish which will then be sealed with a linseed oil based
sealer.  The reason you want the holes with this method is that it will
dry hard enough to walk on overnight as opposed to a week or so if the
surface is smooth.

This method was suggested to me by Bill Steen and is working out well.

Keith

Anne McMahon wrote:
> 
> hi everyone,
> 
> I need to find out some stuff about earthen floors, if you have the time
> I'll appreciate hearing about your experiences and knowledge on the subject.
> 
> There is a community garden group who wish to put an earthen floor down in
> the strawbale shed (8 X 10 metres) they are building..... What's been used as a stabiliser/hardener?
> 
> Thankyou
> Anne
> --