[Cob] floors- cob-lime

[Charmaine Taylor]

Has anyone done a cob floor with lime plaster as a finish? Seems to
me it would be better than beeswax and linseed oil

+++++++++++++
Damon- one of the most amazing floors ever is 2,000 years old in  the Middle
East.. a 1/2"  thick polished lime floor. But under it is prolly  stone or
marble, not just dirt.

Your  lime floor would need  many MONTHS or a year+  to cure before putting
weight on it, esp. feet of chairs, etc.  this is because the lime KEEPS
curing over decades getting harder all the time til it is stone again.  the
PSI is very low for years.
SO you can't   look at  thick lime - just  1/2"  or less   because you can't
cure lime  several inches or even 1.5 inches thick in short time.. it needs
air to harden back to limestone.

So it would not be practical.  But  begin NOW  and you could pre-cast  floor
squares, and CURE them all before laying down, with   wet cob/lime  as
mortar'

if you live in your house for years, why not plan a  floor that can be  put
in later as part of design/maintenance?

I made several test floor squares pouring a 2" thick clay-lime- sawdust mix
 using a  cardboard lid as a form  then laid in a thick slate, let cure 2
months. and set out  in the yard as a step stone as a test.
It lasted  4 years before the slate only  lifted off of the base, it needed
a lime mortar to grip it again. it had lain on a thin layer of gravel  over
dirt in our rainy PNW, and it lasted!


if you use the pre-cast squares you could lay the floor whenever you want, a
room or space at a time and just pour the  wall edges where it curves,  you
might even design the floor with areas that can have 'lift out' squares as
they wear from use

or 'easiest'-- why not get dark or colorful ceramic tiles (scrap/free?)  and
let the cob or lime be the grout between them.


-- 
Charmaine Taylor Publishing
www.papercrete.com
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com