Xander Saddler

Hi there,

I'm not well versed in these materials but from what I've picked up elsewhere, incorporating the right amount of fibrous material, such as straw, in your clay dung mix can strengthen the wall/surface you're building. As for sticking to the building, using thin chicken wire (think stucco) on the exterior before applying your mix should help bind the material to the presswood and give it strength to hold together.

Definitely double check on these suggestions, as again I haven't worked with these materials, but when reading about cob I picked these things up.  

So I've spoken to a local building inspector about building with cordwood in my area. He's open to the idea, and says people can submit plans for any kind of material. As long as the walls conform to energy requirements, we just need to meet State energy code (currently R-21).

We plan on a couple bottle art formations and the occasional random bottle end. Has anyone had problems with code enforcement and glass bottles? I would think they're analogous to double-pane windows, but I'm sure an inspector would disagree.

Our jurisdiction follows international building code.

I will be building a cordwood house in NW Washington in the next couple years, so I'm starting the process of gathering boatloads of materials for it. Most publications and discussions list sawdust as the insulation choice, occasionally spray foam. Sourcing enough sawdust might be tricky for me... But what about microshredding waste paper? If I apply the same pest/mold treatments as sawdust gets, wouldn't it be awful similar? I could also mix in some of the finersoftwood sawdust I get from my miter saw. Has anyone else used paper they processed themselves for insulation?

Also, this is kind of off the wall, but the previous owners of the land were kind enough to leave about a dozen old tires in the forest. Since rubber is used as an insulator, would there be any harm in chopping them up into pieces and sprinkling some in the insulation cavities? It would be nice not to pay to dispose of someone else's trash, and might put them to good use...