[GSBN] earthen floor sealer in Haiti

[Graeme North]

Hi there Tina

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



cheers


Graeme
Graeme North Architects
49 Matthew Road
RD1
Warkworth
tel/fax +64 (0)9 4259305
 
graeme at ecodesign.co.nz
www.ecodesign.co.nz


On 15/03/2011, at 11:43 AM, tina therrien wrote:

> 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. 
> 
> 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. 
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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 (http://www.builderswithoutborders.org/) 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). http://strawhomes.blogspot.com/ (you'll have to skim through to find building photos & stories).
> 
> tina
> 
> 
> 
> Camel's Back Construction
> Quality, handcrafted homes
> www.strawhomes.ca
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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