Dale's Sawdust Floor - Jay isnt going to like this one bit.

It has been my plan for over 20 years to experiment with a flooring system that uses compacted sawdust and wood chips coated in clay, to create a floor slab that is sturdy enough to support a wooden floor with no joists. I'm now in a good position to do this. 2x4 or 2x6 sleepers set into this insulating, cob like material will provide a nailing surface for the floor boards. A rubber pond liner will prevent moisture from coming up.

Good drainage and grading of the surrounding landscape will ensure that standing water is never an issue. The rubble trench will drain to daylight on the downhill side.

A cedar mill one mile from my door has free piles of the waste wood and sawdust for the slab.

As it dries, the material may crack. I'll fill the cracks. A rocket mass heater will be installed before the floor slab is placed. This will be run with lots of ventilation in order to shorten dry time.

The floor will sit atop a layer of gravel that connects to the rubble trench. The sawdust portion will sit about 6 inches above the terrain which is on well drained glacial till near the crest of a valley, and is not prone to flooding.

This is the same little building that will use the post in a bag post system. I intend to test that along with my gabion pebble wall, aquaponic roof, and several other innovations. Less than $2000 will be spent.

I'm waiting for someone while on a cell, so I can't do the links right now. Here's the view and a couple of potential locations. More tonight.

Hmmm...all and all, I like this one Dale. I will have to wait for more info on the plan. Any more pictures and diagrams...I like those a lot.

Regards,

j

All we are is cedar saw dust in the wind

Brian Knight wrote:All we are is cedar saw dust in the wind

--- I wear an asbestos grade mask whenever moving sawdust or milling dry cedar. It takes a long time to break down inside us as well. I remember a few years ago there was an explosion at a cedar mill. The fine dust can explode just like flour dust. Once on Halloween, I entertained the kids by shoveling very fine sawdust from floor sanding high into the air, upwind from a bonfire. We didn't have any fireworks, but with flames that shot 30 ft up were a crowd pleaser. It was quite a show.

Here's Kansas live in 78 --- Dust in the wind --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiD5No_JJWo --- Some really nice violin. I wonder how he controlled that hair in a stiff wind ?

I know you're a busy guy Dale, but.... Where is the floor?

I came across a mineralized woodchip floor leveling product earlier this year, Cemwood. Unfortunately, it is a German company, so it would be prohibitively expensive to ship. Anyway, I was thinking that if Dale installed the coated mix pre-dried and loose, he would avoid the problem of cracking. I assume that such a system requires a floating floor, as is shown in their how-to video.

Dale : I didn't know if you had seen this alternative Floor ' Finn'ish technique ! It gets interesting about 16:40 by clicking on the gearwheel in the lower Right

you can end-up with Closed Captions in English !

My neck of the woods attracted some finnish 'hard rock' miners who built cabins in the 30s and then went back to fight in the Russian- Finnish war and never

came back. mostly about 20' by25' some of these structures survive with multiple layers of cheap linoleum on the floor if built onto and some are tool or

wood sheds ! Link below :



For the Crafts ! Big AL