[GSBN] Floods in Queensland, Australia

Wed Jan 5 09:46:26 UTC 2011

Hello Chris

I would also sugest a wait and see policy. My experience has not been in hot humid climates, but here in the temperate humid southwest of England I have had experience of saturated walls successfully drying out over time (3 to 4 months). If the straw hasn't already started to go black and sticky, which happens within hours if left saturated, then it may also pay to reinstate the render - I have some evidence of a hygroscopic render increasing the speed of the drying process. Using a 'Balemaster' or similar probe will allow you to monitor the drying process through the render.

Good luck

JIm

Jim Carfrae
PhD Research Student (nearly finished!)

Room 119, Reynolds Building
University of Plymouth
Drake Circus
Plymouth
PL4 8AA

jim.carfrae at plymouth.ac.uk
07880 551922
01803 862369
________________________________________
From: GSBN-bounces at greenbuilder.com [GSBN-bounces at greenbuilder.com] On Behalf Of Chris Newton [chris at newtonhouse.info]
Sent: 04 January 2011 18:50
To: GSBN at greenbuilder.com
Subject: Re: [GSBN] Floods in Queensland, Australia

Thanks Lance

Timber bottom plates with gravel. You may pick up the the bales are laid on
the flat edge, but they were baled with the straw vertical - it is what we
had to work with when we got there. I am hoping that would have reduced the
wicking of moisture to the centre of the bale, but at the same time it may
reduce the drying capacity. They were lovely tight bales and well compressed
with threaded rods. The neat fluid level seems to reflect that the last
person to leave work locked the doors so the internal walls did not have the
water pressure that the external walls had. No pics of the external lime
walls yet  - I've just sent Col off to the airport this morning. We were
told that this looks like it was water blasted for 3  days.

None of the walls were sealed. The internal clay was great. We could not
sieve it so it went through the towns old bone mill then off to the cement
mixing company. 3:1 with and fungicide in the final coat. The external
render is lime. The temperature in Emerald at present is approx 20 - 32 C
with post flood high humidity. Attached typical January. The town is 500 km
inland, and somewhat dry and hot - but all norms are out the window this
year with more rain on the way, and the wet /cyclone season at the end
January - Feb.  So I guess we are calling it hot and humid at present.

Web site shows the simple passive solar designed building with the extended
awnings  http://www.newtonhouse.info/emerald.htm

Chris,

From: Agency Development Pty Ltd
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 8:34 PM
To: 'Chris Newton'
Subject: RE: [GSBN] Floods in Queensland, Australia

What are these bales sitting on?? Do you have a timber rack above the
concrete with a gravel bed???  You may be surprised how well these bales
will withstand this event if they are well compressed.  The big challenge
now is to get these bales dried out,  I would not start removing anything
until I had given them a chance, and a helping hand to dry out.  I have seen
bales absolutely saturated and allowed to dry and lost little structural
integrity.  What is the outside render and has it been sealed??  Where is
this building??  Injection of anti-bacterial and anti-fungal chemicals may
slow the breakdown of the straw which may give you more time to dry them
out.  You need to research what the breakdown process is (biologist) but is
this environment I think it will be an anaerobic (no oxygen) process in the
middle of the bale.  Please give me as much info about construction as you
can.  Not sure if I can help.

Regards,

Lance Picton

Mooloolah Valley

From: Chris Newton [mailto:Chris at newtonhouse.info]
Sent: Tuesday, 4 January 2011 8:13 PM
To: (private, with public archives) Global Straw Building Network
Subject: Re: [GSBN] Floods in Queensland, Australia

Hi all

We have some photos today, tomorrow we will see it. No moisture meter
required. That is water you can see on the straw. Surprised with the neat
line the flood has left us on the inside. The full height walls were
compressed with threaded rods. The walls under the windows have the slab
sills sitting on some ply. The ply top plate was compressed using wire and
gripples.

Chris

From: Chris Newton

Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 8:30 AM

To: larskeller at gmail.com ; (private, with public archives) Global Straw
Building Network

Cc: Lance Kairl

Subject: Re: [GSBN] Floods in Queensland, Australia

Thanks Lars

We are bouncing ideas over breakfast. The bottom one or 2 bales are gone –
given. There is a new flood level. We are considering that we should replace
the bales with another material such as Hebel blocks (aerated concrete).
Still waiting to eyeball the building.

Any word on the SB you did out outside Rockhampton John.

Chris

From: Lars Keller

Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 4:52 AM

To: (private, with public archives) Global Straw Building Network

Subject: Re: [GSBN] Floods in Queensland, Australia

Dear Chris,

I have no experience equalling this.

I have 2 experiences with water:

- water seeking down through very localised areas.

Then what happens always is that the water follows the "flakes" within the
bale. And moves  straight down. Creating a black, bad line that can be as
thin as a few centimeters, stretching from the leaking point to where the
water can run out in the bottom.

What we have managed to do when we have found such a place very early on is
drilling holes through the plaster to the wall, from both sides, and that
way created a draft, which has dried it up so we didn't have to do more.

What is probably more relevant is the following:

- a workshop where the bales had been put straight on a concrete footer
(bad), with a piece of tar-paper in-between the footer and the wall (ok),
but the tar-paper had been folded up, app. 200mm on each side, creating a
huge water-catchment device (BAD), and the house had no eaves for a long
time (BAD), located in very windy and rainy Denmark, and no plaster (BAD).

The result was that the bottom 200mm went black and slimy. Absolutely
utterly useless. And from exactly 200mm and up everything was fine.

There was earthen plaster on the inside.

What we did was the following:

we took one bale out at a time and replaced it. As it was the bottom bale
and it was plastered on the inside it had been compressed a fair bit, so it
was hard to get the new one in place. We did this by sliding it in between
to sheets of aluminium with handles on. And then two persons on their backs
kicking it in. The earthen plaster on the inside flexed and shook but did
not crack. The length of the wall app. 40 meters.

All the best,

Lars

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