Pack McKibben

John Elliott: I live in NE Georgia. Is there a place I can go (in/near Sandersville) to dig my own kaolin out of the ground? I'd like some for future plastering projects. And I can't find it here in NE Ga. It would cost me less for gas, than buying it somewhere, if I can dig it for free. thanks

R Scott: I'd like to do a metal roof, but that's out of my budget. Covering the existing roof with elastomeric or a ceramic layer is more cost effective for me....

Gosh. I see this post has been here for weeks and no responses.

I was hoping to get some feedback on "Cool Roofs". Is it worth the money verses the savings. If you have an existing asphalt roof, what's the best Eco-friendly upgrade?
The roof is fifteen years old and needs replacing soon.

I've been upgrading/renovating for the last few years to make my MH eco-friendly. Added straw/clay insulation all around the exterior walls, additions are paper adobe and/or sawdust clay/slip, and more.....

Now I'm finally getting around to the roof. I want to make it as earth friendly as possible. A MH roof is crappy 2 x 2 trusses, with 1/2" plywood, and asphalt shingles. My thought was to put a cool roof coating over the existing shingles. not finding a lot of info about this online. Most sites do not recommend painting a cool roof product over shingles. I talked to ANVIL (makers of roofing products) and they said it's okay, but you must clean, and then seal the shingles first, to make them less porous and for a better seal between coating and surface. Does anyone on this list have any experience with "Cool Roofs"? Is it better to use elastomeric? or a ceramic coating? I've seen some sites that say it's all a waste of time and money.

E. Henderson: Did you seal the roll roofing? What white coating product did you use? Is a fibered elastomeric better? I live in the Southern USA. Hot from May to Oct.
My building renovation design philosophy has been to use natural insulations as much as possible. I'd like to the same with the roof.

Just found this thread, thanks to Rich....

anyone who wants to come by and help, look, or whatever....
I'm in NE Ga near Toccoa

There is a meetup group in UpState SC that's getting into Natural Building: http://www.meetup.com/naturalbuilders/
that has a Georgia addition

Jay C,
thanks for your reply. Your comments will help me much-ly. I'll be sure and use natural oils you talked about. The poly was from a post I had seen elsewhere.

I have a bunch of earthen floors under my belt. I LOVE them! I just want to try something different. and, I have some cordwood left over from another project that I hate to see laying around unused...

I'm going to build some type of wood floor over an earthen floor. Plywood? Laminate? Hardwood?

I've seen the pictures on-line of some nice looking cordwood floors. I'd like to do the same over an earthen floor in my utility room.

I need some input from you's guys. The earthen floor in question is insulated. 4" of crusher run, plastic vapor barrier, 1 foot of earth/stones,
and,
I hope a beautiful cordwood floor. I don't think there's much of an issue with dampness, so

1) Should I still place a 4-6 mil plastic vapor barrier, the the wood cut-offs for the cordwood floor?

And I'd like to get some ideas about finishing the cordwood floor (if this is appropriate here).
I was thinking about mixing sawdust with polypropylene as the fill between the cordwood cut-offs.
Whad'ya think?

Brett: the RMH is not in a basement. It's in a new room I built on the south side of my house. All I do is open the door to the house, and I get plenty of air for the RMH.

Jim: thanks for that info. I have Roxul's rockboard 60 on my list. And you're right about different names, etc. I went to Lowe's today to place an order. Thanks again for your help.

Great comments from everyone! I may be jumping the gun on my smoke problem. Several things have changed. I'm getting better at loading wood into the feed tube. All I had in the beginning was large wood (for my Fisher Grand Dad Wood heater). Now I'm cutting and splitting smaller, more manageable wood for the feed tube. I've noticed that when you start at burn, it's important to fill the feed tube up with small to medium sticks. This starts a good rocket effect. Then, as you can, you can add larger wood. Tonight I had a fire for one hour. The temp in the house went up from 62 degrees to 72 degrees. Also, today I added 25 feet of flue pipe which include's 8 feet of chimney. I had a short chimney while I was having the smoke back problem. Tonight's video is below:


http://youtu.be/GFZq3s9qDnc

Brett: this weekend I'm going to make some changes to the stove pipe and chimney configuration. Your air back flow suggestion is most likely the answer. A few others have come to the same conclusion. I'm going to make the flue longer and add an H shape with TEE's for the chimney cap to prevent any air back flowing into the flue pipe! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I appreciate your detailed comments and help