The floor hardens only partially...

Hey Permies!

I am building an earthen floor in my yurt (we have ca 1meter thick floor with some pipes buried in it So... We finished the floor lately, made it nice and smooth and the time came to put linseed oil. So I did it... 3 layers right away and then the next layers with some days to let it dry a bit. Now I already did 7 layers (i've read somewhere that it's a good amount) and the floor, mainly on the edges, got nice, smooth and hard. Like, really hard - I can't scratch it with my nails. BUT in the middle.... it's still not hard. I ca put my nail in it and scratch it so some sand comes out.

I am planning to put the last layer of 50/50 linseed and carnauba but I don't want to do it before the floor hardens in the middle.. So you think I should just give it some time or put more layers in the middle part?

Let me know what you think about it!

Best,
Marta

Hi Marta,    From my experience, I've almost always had the edges dry first and work its way towards the center. It seems to me that the water is able to wick/dry away faster contacting with either air or another dry material (against a wall or form) than in the middle where up or down is its only path to dry from. Unless you made the mixture slightly different (more wet or different ratios) I'd give it more time to dry. Of course a fan or an open window providing cross ventilation would help considerably. Good luck!

Gerry Parent wrote:Hi Marta,    From my experience, I've almost always had the edges dry first and work its way towards the center. It seems to me that the water is able to wick/dry away faster contacting with either air or another dry material (against a wall or form) than in the middle where up or down is its only path to dry from. Unless you made the mixture slightly different (more wet or different ratios) I'd give it more time to dry. Of course a fan or an open window providing cross ventilation would help considerably. Good luck!

thanks! I will work on my patience then ;)))

Hello, Marta, how did your floor turn out? We've been doing a few different earthen floors at Wheaton Labs, and raw linseed oil has given the boots some interesting results!