<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi guys. I am leaning towards trying some blood for the sealer of the earth floor in our straw house, at least for part of it- does anyone have an actual old-time recipe? I don't have any of my old school plaster books here- if you can help me along, I'd appreciate it!<div><br></div><div>thx,</div><div>tina</div><div><br><div><div>On 16-Mar-11, at 10:10 AM, MARK SCHUENEMAN wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div class="hmmessage" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; ">Greetings All,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br> <br>Has anyone noticed any adverse or positive effects of oils applied to floors with additives in the mix...such as casein, dung, blood, wheat paste, whatever? And, I would guess that warming the oil, whatever oil, would help the penetration. Heating it to too high of a temp may not be recommended. I have some cob window sills that look beautiful but they need a sealer to be most effective. All of this chatter (I say with all due respect) has helped me with my future experimentation with finishing these sills. I look forward to hearing how the Haiti project turns out. Thanks all. <br> <br>Gratefully,<br>Mark Schueneman<br>Colorado Straw Bale Association<br><br><br> <br><hr id="stopSpelling">From:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:graeme@ecodesign.co.nz">graeme@ecodesign.co.nz</a><br>Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:11:58 +1300<br>To:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:GSBN@greenbuilder.com">GSBN@greenbuilder.com</a><br>Subject: Re: [GSBN] earthen floor sealer in Haiti<br><br><div><br></div><div><br></div>Hi there Tina<div><br></div><div>My painting genius friend has offered to carry out some trials with various oils on unfired clay tiles to help with sorting this out - so any pointers to readily available oils over there would be very welcome I am sure<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>cheers</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); word-spacing: 0px; "><div>Graeme</div><div>Graeme North Architects</div><div>49 Matthew Road</div><div>RD1</div><div>Warkworth</div><div>tel/fax +64 (0)9 4259305</div><div> </div><div><a href="mailto:graeme@ecodesign.co.nz">graeme@ecodesign.co.nz</a></div><div><a href="http://www.ecodesign.co.nz/" target="_blank">www.ecodesign.co.nz</a></div><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></span></div><br><div><div>On 15/03/2011, at 11:43 AM, tina therrien wrote:</div><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"><blockquote><div style="word-wrap: break-word; ">Thanks for all of your suggestions & input for the sealer- Jean Louis, one of our Haitian builders, is going to try to procure coconut oil from the market, which we'll test, although he just arrived, and as with many materials here, the coconut oil is proving more difficult and expensive to find than originally anticipated. If we do the finish floor today or tomorrow, there should be enough time for it to cure by Saturday. Apparently they slaughter a cow just down the laneway every Saturday, so we may even be able to use some cow blood to seal the floor. <div><br></div><div>I have found reference to molasses before in terms of finishes, and am now even more curious about it, but don't think we'll have time to try it out here, at least not for this project. </div><div><br></div><div>Any other tips for earthen floors, either finish coat or for sealing, are welcome. I'll stay in close touch with Andy Mueller regarding the floor- I know he wishes he was here to work on it! Pics to come.</div><div><div><br></div><div>In reply to André (and hi, André, by the by!), the BWB website has a page about this project- both a blog and a photo gallery (<a href="http://www.builderswithoutborders.org/" target="_blank">http://www.builderswithoutborders.org/</a>) Apart from that, both Andy Mueller & I have blogs. My personal blog is about various natural building projects I'm involved with here, and personal impressions of being in Haiti...certainly not all about building, but there are a few segments dedicated to building (including compressed earth block, earth bag, and soon to be light clay/straw if all goes well). <a href="http://strawhomes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://strawhomes.blogspot.com/</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(you'll have to skim through to find building photos & stories).</div><div><br></div><div>tina</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div><br></div></div><div><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: normal normal normal medium/normal 'Goudy Old Style'; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; "><div><div>Camel's Back Construction</div><div>Quality, handcrafted homes</div><div><a href="http://www.strawhomes.ca/" target="_blank">www.strawhomes.ca</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br></div></span><br class="ecxApple-interchange-newline"></div><br></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>GSBN mailing list<br><a href="mailto:GSBN@greenbuilder.com">GSBN@greenbuilder.com</a><br><a href="http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN">http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN</a><br></blockquote></div><br></div></div><br>_______________________________________________ GSBN mailing list <a href="mailto:GSBN@greenbuilder.com">GSBN@greenbuilder.com</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN">http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN</a>_______________________________________________<br>GSBN mailing list<br><a href="mailto:GSBN@greenbuilder.com">GSBN@greenbuilder.com</a><br><a href="http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN">http://greenbuilder.com/mailman/listinfo/GSBN</a><br></div></span></blockquote></div><br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>Camel's Back Construction</div><div>Quality, handcrafted homes</div><div><a href="http://www.strawhomes.ca">www.strawhomes.ca</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></div></body></html>