[GSBN] Lime plaster and expansion joints

[Paul Olivier]

It was this problem with the cracking of the exterior stucco that drove me
to seek an alternative to strawbale, especially in hot and humid climates.
http://www.esrla.com/pdf/RiceHull.pdf

Thanks.
Paul

-- 
Paul A. Olivier
27c Pham Hong Thai, Ward 10
Dalat City
Lam Dong Province
Vietnam

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 0906941573 (in Vietnam)
Mobile: 84-906941573 (outside Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 6:07 AM, John Zhang <J.ZHANG at uws.edu.au> wrote:

>
>
>
> Dear All
>
> This is my first post over a long period of time. One way to overcome
> the problem as Jeff described is to have steel posts or any type of
> posts embedded into the bale wall either in right in the middle or away
> from the exterior face of strawbale wall. Of course cross bracing then
> become tricky, but still can be achieved by careful detailing.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Dr John Zhang, MIEAust, CPEng, NPER (Civil and Structural), RPEQ (Civil)
>
> Senior Lecturer in Construction
>
> ================================================
>
> Head of Program, Bachelor of Construction Management
>
> School of Engineering, University of Western Sydney,
>
> Locked Bag 1797 Penrith South DC, 1797, NSW, Australia
>
>
>
> Voice: (02) 4736 0908      Fax: (02) 9852 4300 or (02) 4736 0833
>
> Mobile: 0449 254 709  Email: j.zhang at uws.edu.au
>
> ==================================================
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: GSBN-bounces at greenbuilder.com
> [mailto:GSBN-bounces at greenbuilder.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Ruppert
> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 4:09 AM
> To: (private, with public archives) Global Straw Building Network
> Subject: Re: [GSBN] Lime plaster and expansion joints
>
> Laura,
>
> The horse arena that we built near you has had more cracking on the
> exterior walls than I expected.  We placed regular expansion joints on
> every post, which were roughly 20 feet apart.  The frame was steel.
>
> In looking at the cracks it seems that the expansion of the frame in a
> vertical direction places the panel in tension and creates the cracks.
> The vertical expansion joints don't do anything for this action.
>
> The interior plaster on the same walls do not show many cracks.  The
> frame is against the exterior face of the wall and the mesh was attached
> to the frame.
>
> The interior bale walls on the same project which are not exposed to the
> extremes of the weather have not cracked.
>
> In doing it over I would have found a way to not attach the plaster to
> the frame.  I am not sure how this could have been done easily, but
> steel frames expand and contract with temperature so much that attaching
> a rigid material like plaster to it can be problematic.  Maybe
> horizontal joints would have helped a little, but I doubt it.  From the
> appearance of things the magnitude of expansion and contraction was just
> too much for any type of plaster to deal with.  I would expect the same
> to happen with both earth and lime, unless you make them elastic or tell
> the to stretch when it gets hot.
>
> If your frame is wood these issues are going to be easier to deal with.
>
> Jeff Ruppert
>
>
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