Dustcrete
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 พ.ย. 2022
- In search of a super cheap, super energy efficient infill for timber frame walls, I came up with an idea to use sawdust like hemp is used in hempcrete. This worked quite well, so I used this technique for the addition on our little cottage. This video show everything you need to know to try it, yourself!
- แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Having carried probably 100 loads of saw dust from my local saw mills over the years, I can give you a tip about keeping it in the truck and not blowing half the load out on the way to your destination. I lay a very large tarp down in the bed of the truck and over the cab of the truck. It goes all the way over the hood and to the ground in front of the truck. Once you are full, fold the tarp over the top of the saw dust and secure with straps. It saves you from loosing a bunch of what you paid for. 😉
In the state I live in, covering your load is the law.
@@AFMR0420 Instead of making it illegal to do idiotic things, it might be easier to simply make it illegal to be an idiot
Yep, where I live, it's illegal not to cover the load while transporting.
I do this with mulch in my trailer
Yeah yeah....in Scotland if you drop sawdust in the street you get 3 years in jail , Unless your a transvestite pedophile, then you get "work in the kindergarten"
Sawdust is SO SO DANGEROUS...it what make 97% of AMERICAN OBEASE ...and has links to "BIG HEAD SYNDROME" and "KARENITIS" 😘
Very cool, I’m interested to see the longevity of this idea.
But as an electrician I would like to offer you some advice. If you’re going to do walls with a masonry fill like this, don’t use those kind of boxes and wire. They make actual masonry boxes. Also don’t embed NM wire in the wall like that, run pipe from the box to outside of the masonry wall and run the wire in the pipe. Just some friendly advice.
Thanks! I’ll do that in future builds.
@@radicalgastronomy He is right about the masonry boxes, however I would say you can bury the wire, just use conduit through the walls like we do when putting in block or concrete walls. To be fair, This is coming from a commercial masonry laborer, not an electrician. But I have worked with electricians to do this all the time. Looks way better than when they install the conduit on the outside after, that makes the inside look like a garage.
why cant you embed nm wire in that kind of wall?
@@garyweber6413 not code
@@garyweber6413 I believe because the lime is caustic to the wire, moisture may dampen the the paper around the ground wire in the romex as well.
With all the earth tones and the gentle explanations, this guy is like Mr. Rogers for grown men. I'm tripping.
This is so cool!
What-a-hoot-!---great-humor-
My late Dad who was born 100 years ago said that my grandparents never had a refrigerator but instead built a ice box out of cypress lumber. It was a box inside a box with about a foot of sawdust between. Kept a 50 pound block of ice for more than a week.
That would be over a ton of ice each year.
I’ve heard about this but had not seen one.
@robertclark2714 depends where you live, the seasons, family size, how often you use products that need freezing.
60 years ago a group of guys got together to build a hunting lodge. One of them was a master mason. They built the lodge next to a brook and used the stones from the brook to build the walls. The floor was on top of gravel, rocks and boulders, the floor was a mixture of sawdust and concrete, an old trick masons used to add insulation qualities to the concrete. The floor also had channel in it to draft the cool air from the back bedrooms to the fireplace where it was heated and forced back out into the room, therefor making a circle of warmed air to flow through the inside of the building. This building still stands solid as the day it was built.
Personally I would make shredded Styrofoam mixed concrete blocks. Then coat the walls inside and out with concrete mixed with fiberglass fibers for structural integrity. This would have more insulation value than the sawdust and concrete mixture. The draw back of this is the wall is very thick. The good thing is that the wall is very solid and strong.
I think his slip form technique is a unique construction method that has some possibilities and easier to keep the wall straight and plumb. I would add some kind of wire fence into the concrete mix on the wall.
Awesome
Pics?
Where can I see more information on this technique? This process you mentioned has intrigued me. Thanks!
> The floor also had channel in it to draft the cool air from the back bedrooms to the fireplace where it was heated and forced back out into the room, therefor making a circle of warmed air to flow through the inside of the building.
I would really like to see a diagram of these channels.
@@NoahNobody Easy to visualize, Just a main wide channel under the floor coming from under the fire place going back to where it splits in a Y to go to the back of the two Bunk rooms into air vents on the back wall. Air is sucked into these these vents by the rising hot air in the channel that goes under and behind the fire place then comes out the two vents on either side just above the fire place mantle. It is a conduction system driven by the fire in the fire place, This was designed by a Master Mason and Chief of the fire department when it was built. I think I was about 12 at the time and I helped my dad gather rocks to build the walls of the building, it was an amazing time when things were simple and we did not have all these environment laws.
this reminds me so much of my dad working on things... a lil genius, a lil mad, a lot of broke, a lot of creativity, & very few women had long-term patience for it all. thx ;D
never stop learning/growing/bettering yourself!
As an engineer interested in innovation, you have my attention. What a creative set of ideas. Fireproof or nearly so. Enough mass in the wall to provide thermal inertia and the sawdust provides the insulation. This would be an ideal form of building in the tropics where insects are a constant problem. Where high winds destroy typical frame construction. The manner of building permits curved walls that can be designed for very high wind resistance. The heavy beams are very efficiently used. As a structures engineer, I am delighted to see this innovative method of building. Add curved glue-lam beams for the roof and the aerodynamics create a building that is hurricane proof. If needed, corners of reinforced concrete could be added to give the rounded shapes needed for aerodynamic efficiency and strength. Amazing set of ideas. Thank you.
A friend gave me a load of Sawdust for making fire balls which I did but being a mainstream and alternative den builder I binned some cement into it and made bricks a gravestone( one of my dogs died old age) . I repaired an Adobe wall with it ( bad boy) that was when my plastering demon got excited, the rear of the barn where we are renting had been neglected and the lime wash had fallen off , no one sells hydrated lime locally so I tried just dust and water, binned it on like adobe and trowelled flat , left it to dry, didn't Crack or fall off I didn't use a mechanical key or chemical sealant, just threw it on.
I then limewashed it which puts a mm protective coat on. I only coated half because I was building a coop. The raw coat is on after winter, some minor cracks but nothing a coat of wash wouldn't finish. Water,Sawdust elbow grease. Some dust works better, the finer the smoother , mix smooth with rough to get a good workable sticky mix, even mdf dust works. I've used it all over this property in Ukraine, render patch ups. Hole filling, even stands up to floor repairs!! Chuffed to have stumbled on this video because I have my house to finish down south when the Russians have fkd off, then I want to expand to help others. It's a cheap to free material, super strong, water proof and insulating. I soaked a brick in a bucket for four days, no swelling distortion or deep penetration. The render does shrink a little but no more than any expensive acrylic planet killing mix. Good work fella, sorry for the essay, but I'm excited about this stuff.
I always love a good novel. It sounds like you are doing some great innovating. Hopefully these politicians will stop waving their dicks around so you can get back to living!
@@radicalgastronomy ain't that the truth. from usa
Twenty modern engineers won't touch a man like you!
I embrace the KISS method.
Excellent tutorial and thank you for sharing Sir.
I love that he's provided through instructions on how to do this system.
Only thing, seems kind of labour intensive but will say it's cleaner (no mess) or little mess to deal with than concrete.
Besides learning about dustcrete, I just liked the fact that the air-conditioning unit is installed face outside and back inside for heating..
I seen a simlar cabin in Colorado 1990's built back in the 70's this was a timber frame cabin with cedar shakes siding outside but interior was made a cedar saw dust and lime mixer and set in a similar fashion but they use a mold to shape it like logs on the interior once cured it was stain and painted to look like the real thing! I stay there for several days before I realized it! Thanks for sharing
Very informative vid. Your invention is simple, sturdy and not complicated. Less is more!
Thanks. I’ll take 4 ingredients over paint, siding, house wrap, sheathing, insulation, vapor barrier, drywall, mud, tape, texture, and paint, any day. I wonder how many ingredients go into each of those layers…🤔🤮
When time isnt money I guess
@@chucknorris277 Chuck I chuckled at your retort! Well, some folk will have more time than money and can benefit from the concept.
Even if time is money, this combines several steps in one with unskilled labor. Seems it could be competitive.
@@radicalgastronomy it looks breathable too... a very good thing for a healthy indoor climate. How is it keeping up with say fixing things to the walls with screws or hanging picture frames once it's fully cured?
When I saw the consistency of the dustcrete early in the film, I immediately knew it would be pretty strong, insulate well, and be easy to work with. I have a feeling this will take off!
The price is hard to beat, and the performance (so far) validates the case.
@@radicalgastronomy any guess at the R values? You definitely have my interest in using it.
@@krissfemmpaws1029 probably very similar to styrofoam in 3-4inch thickness. lots of micro air pockets and about the same mass just far more dense
What about a sawdust wood chip mix .see any advantages dis./ with it it I'm thinking like what you see in osb board size chips ?
Sawdust and cement was the magical recipe used by the British in the construction of the 'Mulberry Harbour' caissons towed to Normandy for D-Day +1.
The fact so many of the structures still litter the beaches of Northern France to this very day is testament to the durability of the material.
Cool. I did not know that!
Seems like I read recently that it was discovered that sea water was the secret ingredient to the ancient Roman concrete that's is still viable a couple thousand years later. I know it's been known to contain a significant amount of biomass for quite some time too. That makes me wonder if, in either case, the wicking and retention properties of those fibers acted to pull in distribute salts and other minerals through the curing process?
@@andrewdunlap5130 misconception its not just saltwater, it helps but its also a very specific way thry add in limestone that allows the concrete to repair itself over time
@@kiyosenl.3889 Right, I forgot, the particles are far larger too, right? Or some of them, so they're never fully hydrated unless the concrete fractures and allowed water to and air to penetrate? Something like that?
@@andrewdunlap5130 p8
Just when I thought I'd seen every type of wall out there..........you go and blow my socks off! This is going to be what I build my greenhouse out of. Thanks
Right on!
This might have possibilities for the back wall of a Chinese greenhouse.
What a beautiful structure! Thanks for teaching us how to do this.
Nice use of all of that sawdust! Looks great! 😎
Thanks!
That looks real good. Looks faster than earth bags, and slip forms. Good idea.
Soviets called this stuff "arbolit", and the hemp variety was called "kostrobeton". There's a plenty of 50-70 year old buildings made from this stuff still in good condition all over the ex-USSR.
Great video! This is a great way to use an byproduct what is affordable and more than manageable to work with. Looking forward to seeing the lime coat going on. And thanks for the recipe!!
Hey thanks! That plaster video will be up soon.
Any update on that lime plaster vid?
Great idea and thank you for putting together this clear instructional video. I like how you've come up with a way to allow the timber frame to be revealed inside and out, one that uses mostly local materials and is something an owner/builder with some time and energy can do on a budget. I'll keep an eye out for your plaster video too!
Editing it, as we speak!
@@radicalgastronomy Have you tried wood chips instead of sawdust? We have an inexhaustible supply of free wood chips here in Maine, with sawdust costing a bit more than you paid at Todd. I'm also wondering about just using a clay slip instead of the cement and lime. I've done that before with straw for light straw clay with good results, but that was in Paonia where it's dryer than here.
@@jeanneandlinchergenrothera8708 I have tried both wood chips and clay slip dust. Wood chips are a bit coarse to make a sturdy wall. Though clay slip straw works well, the saw dust lacks the long fibers and tends to crumble when plastering.
Thank you for having the patiens to record so others can see. Great job!
From where I am, it is an old technique (from ancient times) to build with all kind of sawdust wood with natural lime. The right mixt depends of what you find localy. Are some materials that you can't use because are not fiabile with lime. But here are barns and houses build with this principle over 500 y.o. and are stil standing, regardless that are in the mountains and in seismic area.
I love when someone use it and try it with what it find în his/her area.
It is saying that nothing is new invented, but only rediscovered through' self ADN memory.
Good job!
What country are you in??
This is amazing - thank you for taking the time to make a video of this for us
Well done for creating the product and the method of construction - your presentation was also very good and clearly demonstrated. What struck me is that it is still labour intensive. I think the idea could be capitalised on by having a mechanised production line for creating the dustcrete sections or blocks that would interconnect. You could even have specialised sections with channels and box holes for electrical wiring.
Oh, I missed this intro referencing hempcrete! Really cool invention!
Wow! Thank you SO much for making this video. (And for making the dustcrete.)
Wow. I am impressed how one can use such simple materials to build and insulate at the same time. I feel like trying it on my stone walls for more insulation! Thank you very much! Appreciated! 🙏
That would be cool! If I were doing it, I'd add the dustcrete to the outside of the stone wall, keeping the thermal mass inside the building.
Brilliant!❤ ingenuity in action right there! Thanks for sharing👍
Excellent idea and demonstration! Thanks!
Great process and technique. A wonderful use local materials too.
Reminds me of old medieval wattle-and-daub construction. Very energy efficient and low-budget. I worry about its viability in high-humidity environments (I live in southern louisiana, humidity rarely drops below 60%), but in dryer climates, this might be a fantastic walling option.
Wattle and daub buildings have stood in England for hundreds of years.
The clay prevents any air from touching the wattle, so it basically preserves it. A Archeologist friend of mine has helped dig at Birka, and he mentioned that viking age wattle still incased in clay basically looks new when you dig it up.
It isn't likely to mould with that high a pH.
Yep, Ludlow.
This is a great option to form walls. Thanks for sharing this type of information
Thank you for all the hard work making the video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This structure using the 2x3 in the center is very clever. Thank you for sharing your genius and creativity
Thank you!
This looks amazing. @13:07 I would have like to see you work around the outlet box. @16:30 the snowball part was very helpful of you to mention.
TimberCrete is the trademark for many "sawDust concrete" products in Australia and the British Empire. Very fine material and extensively used in housing and commercial construction.
Thanks for the workshop on how to make this great product, I have a machine shop in Bulgaria and make windows and doors open for clients, I have just started insulating between the posts with this, can't wait to skim it with pure lime plaster to finish
Nice! Window and door require great craftsmanship. I wish you great success.
It is a good life that is being well lived when you find time for projects like this.
tHanks for the video, very interesting.
Great content , dude . I have been interested in foamed cement and aircrete and now dustcrete . I like the look of the final product .
Foamed dustcrete, the next step.
I'd been looking at using sawdust and lime for quite a while as we've a local sawmill. But I grow a fair amount of willow too, for various uses. So, I bought a small forest chipper to process the waste, and found it too binds well together with lime or clay, although I'd only trust the clay version as an infill. My lime sample went like stone in a few months, so that's my choice for a free-standing wall. I'm in the UK, so we have non-dolomitic lime and the grade I used was NHL3.5. I try to steer clear of portland, but your results are impressive.
I’d love to get away from the portland, for sure. Lime/clay versions coming!
So with NHL 3.5 you substituted S lime and portland w/ 3.5 in the recipe?
@@radicalgastronomy I’ve heard mixed reviews about the use of Portland cement in this kind of technique since I came to France. The pros are it cuts the drying time drastically, and makes a much sturdier result, the main downside is it makes the mixture non “breathable”.
@@angeloalessi9378 what do you mean? Do you want the wall to be breathable? I would think not?
yes, this is what i was going to ask.
Excellent job from the use of local materials and application. What a cool process.
I like both the look and the color to it as well, GREAT JOB!!
Consider using tex screws for shuttering instead. They can be taken out easier, without occasional broken bits our rounded heads slowing you down. Great video, thank you!
I like the process. I do have couple of suggestions you might want to look into. 1) Run your wiring through Conduit before adding the concrete, in case you need to replace it at some point. 2) Consider adding Bonding Agent to your Concrete mix as it will hold up better over time. 3) Consider adding a small amount of Plastizer to the Concrete mix as well. The concrete will not only flow better, but will add significant strength to the walls, consider you dont use a lot of water. 4) you might want to consider using a 3/4 Fiberglass or Basalt filament to your mix for additional strength.
Overall I love how you've done this!
What would be a good bonding agent? And what would be a good plasticizer?
@@SilentSaladSika makes many good concrete additives including bonding agents
Fusioncrete
Beautifully done, this gets my noggin joggin on some ideas I can implement locally. Excellent video!
Man I really like this technique, cheers from México.
I like that you used the PEX tubing - it will afford mounting points for the lathe/stucco wire mat as well.
Not wire or lathe is required to plaster these walls. the plaster keys beautifully into the dustcrete, on its own!
Incredible sir.
Very inspiring ❤
Many thanks! 🙏
Its a great idea to save $$$$. The only difference I would do put a radiant barrier and no sliding door.
you are a true engineer, and your execution is excellent
What a brilliant idea! Thank you!
I think I would add some type of texture to the outside. Maybe Wainscoting? Or stone texture? Similar to how concrete pads are stamped.
I really like this, very creative concept, very nice design, great technique that accommodates normal skill levels! Kudos.
Awesome technique! Really love how it looks.
Thanks. I'm super happy with it.
Oh, started watching it.... Don't know about you "inventing" it, but you were smart enough to take an old idea and put it to good use.
This looks like a great product, I wouldn’t have thought about this but it makes sense and appears to work really well. Thanks for sharing this
I'm loving it, so far.
One thing I am not sure about in this mix is the need for lime. Portland cement is made from limestone and clay to form a synthetic mineral that forms rock like crystals when wetted that can stick other rocks, or in this cases chunks o sawdust together. The other way to make concrete type materials is to use quicklime or hydrated lime to “activate” alumina, silica and iron containing materials like clay, rocks formed from volcanic ash (like the Romans) or power station fly ash. This is how the special French lime works. In both cases, high silica content plant materials like straw, hemp or some sawdusts will get stuck to the binder due to the silica they contain. I think this might work with just cement powder although the lime may help with ensuring the bond to the sawdust. In a very dry mix like this, regularly wetting the surface with a fine spray for the first week or so should help long term wall strength. I would also leave the wall exposed for 3-4 weeks before plastering. Great idea, I’ll look out to see the final result.
Yes, I too am confused about type S lime being a separate ingredient from portland cement powder.
Our big box store only carries "portland limestone cement" and directed me to the garden center for just "lime".
Question then would be ... Can I substitute 4 parts "portland limestone cement"?
@@lst854 Type III Hydrated lime, bag the size of Portland cement. One shovel to four of portland. Slows drying to help in hot regions.
One thing about the difference between lime and straight concrete is that lime mortars are less brittle and crack less easily. With cordwood and sawdust they have more expansion when wet, especially hard woods, and because he's doing cordwood, he probably knows that straight concrete like Portland can cause problems in cordwood mortars, from expansion cracking. Cordwood mortars are usually an adaption of lime based mortars, with sawdust also added.. I've seen the mess from even ordinary brick walls made with just Portland cement as a mortar... That's a bad idea even then... I doubt a bricklayer would use pure Portland as mortar, for that brittleness reason. Just saying.
the lime helps the wall breathe dissipating moisture humidity, cement will feel cold and damp.
Masonry type S cement already has the hydrated lime in it, and is composed of portland cement and hydrated lime. The mix will absorb the water as it cures at an optimum temperature of 48° F over 28 days. As long as you keep the walls below 70° F, mold will not form. Mold needs temps above 70° F, moisture, and somthing to eat like wood or paper. Take away any one of those, and mold can not grow.
Very nice! I've seen talk of the hempcrete and the styrocrete, but it always seemed more bother than not since you have to buy in those oddball components which only drives up the costs. Sawdust, though, is available locally and for pennies. Thanks for the quality tutorial. Definitely something I'll share around.
Thank you. I appreciate that!
@@radicalgastronomy Any thoughts on how it'd work with the newly discovered Roman Concrete recipe? It'd be nice to build something lightweight and self-repairing.
@@threeriversforge1997 the lime already does this, to some degree, but so bet the larger chunks in that Roman method could be handy. From my understanding, it takes about 30 years for lime to fully “cure”. It keeps absorbing CO2 for that entire time. In other words, it forms crystals over that whole time, hence some self-healing.
Worth a try, for sure.
@@radicalgastronomy From what I'm reading, the lime can't be slaked before being added to the mix. Something about "hot mixing" changes things for some reason and is why Roman concrete can last for thousands of years. Of course, the temps generated while you're mixing the concrete might be problematic if you have wood dust in there with it! :D
@@threeriversforge1997 As I understand it, lime rocks in a camp fire will shed CO2 and become “hot” lime. Slaking this begets hydrated (type S) lime. Mixing that with water creates lime putty which reacts with atmospheric CO2 which causes it to harden. I don’t know if chunks of hot lime in this mix would reach dangerous temperatures, or if the formed material would have enough O2 to ignite. Experiments are needed.
Thank you for sharing this priceless knowledge. I greatly appreciate it.👍
Take Care
You did the best job on the video that I've seen in ages!
Nice! Sawdust improves acoustical. There is a proprietary sound barrier sawdust-cement formulation used somewhere in Europe that is very successful at not reflecting sound. A kid made his master's thesis on trying to duplicate the effect with aircrete and unfortunately could not.
Wow, shares the actual formula, Thanks !
At 10:32
15 parts sawdust
2 parts Portland cement
2 parts type S lime
4 parts water
Please don’t talk about inventing this technique- it’s pretentious unless you are sure. I’ve used this process for14 years for a start, and I’m sure there’s plenty of other people who use it. On the other hand, great that you are sharing your experience.
Great idea, I have land in pike national forest and have researching different building ideas. The cord wall and dust crete will look beautiful together. I am going to try this Thank You.
Beautiful & brilliant. I really love it! I only wonder if it might be best to enclose your wiring in a metal conduit before closing it into the dustcrete, in case it ever had to be redone...
I'm very intrigued with your technique. I've purchased a property with plenty of eastern red cedar and I'm anxious to try cordwood. But your dustcrete method would definitely be quicker. I may first try it on a shop or garage space. Glad to see you back and look forward to more of your great content!
So nice to have red cedars! They will be great for cordwood. Yeah, if there is a mill around, the dustcrete is hard to beat. I’ve thought about trying it just filling the voids of a 2x4 stud wall, and siding the outside with board and bat. That would make a toasty shop!
@@radicalgastronomy I have an old house I was wanting to do with cordwood. But the house has walls already. So I had the same thought. What-if, instead of building true cord-wood, I simply used small pieces 4" thick cordwood and build that with a bout a 1-1/2 gap. then just fill in the gap with dust-crete. The original idea was to tear it all out down to the studs. But I don't think I need to so all that if I'm just looking for aesthetic and a little tighter construction. if I want bottles for the lighting effect, I have boring bits, I can just cut those in as i go.
I think the r-value is important. the insulation currently inside my wall exceeds some of the other hard-fills I had in mind. The current fill is R-13. I think instead of re-doing what's already there, I'm better off just adding. If your walls are already insulated, it probably has a minimum of R-13 for the 3-1/2" space. that's not too shabby. dustcrete won't give you R-3.7. So replacing insulation with dustcrete isn't going to be an improvement.
Cordwood will give you R-1.7 x 4" cordwood thickness. sawdust give you 1.4. so add it all up. Cordwood @ 4" x 1.7 + dustcrete @ 1.5" x 1.4. So you add about R-8 to the existing wall that is already R-13. So approx. R-21. Then add the same cordwood on the exterior and you're adding another R-8 for a final R-value of approx. R29. not too damned shabby
@@michaelyoung1892 that could work. 4” may be a tricky to set, but might work. Perhaps some experiments are in order…
Yea it’s a great idea for cordwood infill …
I love the look ! The board forms leave a nice look 😊
Thanks once again,
Greatly appreciated and all the best to you too :)
I haven't seen it in the comments yet, but has an r value been calculated yet? Love the concept and thinking of using it in my next passive solar project. GOD Bless.
What a fantastic idea! I wonder if you can mix sawdust into aircrete? The paste consistency seems nice to work with.
Thank you, I’m happy to learn something new and this is a great idea. Thumbs up from Portugal!
Yes sir 👍🏻
I actually thought about this probably thirty years ago.
Glad to see it works.
I figured it was worth a try. :)
@@radicalgastronomy for sure 👍🏻
Looks pretty cool, it could make for great construction projects, low-cost sheds walls and chicken coups and many other uses. I wonder what the R value would be? Could be a great alternative to rockwool insulation from a price point.
The price point can’t be beat. I’m assuming R value is like hempcrete (2.3-4.8 per inch). May do some tests…
I know that your intention with this material was for infill, but do you have any plans to test it out structurally? Maybe a project similar to a rammed earth wall? I am curious as to how it might perform used in that way.
Your building style looks near like my house Where i live it's red hardwood and red clay gold area. These old heritage cottages of the era are a challenge to maintain. Although the photographers love snapping B&W photos of them all weekend round
Love the process and the ingenuity of cresting a Hempcrete cousin Sawcrete!
Thanks!
Next he is going to add water and freeze it. Nobody ever tried that lol
This is an excellent video, on many levels. I see great potential in this wall system. It obviously works well as presented. Do you think there would be any advantage to painting the exterior ply forms for easy release and durability? Maybe just not necessary. Mesh sheeting could go down before plastering, if you need more strength. Mix some thinset with type S mortar for a rock hard scratch coat. You could add color pigment to that if you want an adobe look that ties the structure visually to the earth.
I ended up using some fiberglass reinforcement in the plaster, and have very little cracking. There is a video on my channel showing my process. Glad you liked it!
I absolutely loved your video. Plus your explanations are so complete and clear. THANK YOU!!! I do have a few questions, though:
• Would the dustcrete mixture ruin the concrete floor if it gets on the slab - especially if the floors will eventually be finished using an acid wash method?
• What’s the maximum height the walls should be to ensure the walls remain stable?
• Should all exterior wood be covered with the lime stucco?
• Will the wood eventually rot from the dustcrete mixture?
• Do you use hydrated or hydraulic lime? If it’s hydraulic lime, what’s your source?
• Do you have a cost estimate per cubic foot of the wall? And do you recommend a 10” wall thickness?
• What method would you use for internal walls??
• I will use a hydraulic lime stucco on the outside, but can I use an earthen/clay stucco on the inside - and does it adhere to the dustcrete very well?
Should the lime stucco be applied BEFORE the clay stucco on the INSIDE if I needed to repair a crack?
• What do you do to ensure the clay will stick to the walls on the inside of the dustcrete walls (lath, mesh?)
• Do termites go after the sawdust?
• What about thermal mass... and what is R-Value of a 10” wall, more or less?
• Since you had trouble with a cold joint on the wall you demonstrated in the video, have you figured out how to prevent the problem? I assume unless I build an entire section, from bottom to top, I would have problems with cold joints as well…. but THEN, wouldn’t there be a problem with joining two sections that were side by side?
• Would the final stucco using the hydraulic lime mend the crack?
Again, thank you for coming up with this wonderful idea! 🙏🤗👍
"A few questions"? You just asked him to write a book.
Is it farther to New York, than by bus ?
Thankyou so much for sharing your techniques and recipe with society!
My pleasure!
This is incredibly beautiful work. I am amazed. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you dig it!
Interesting. I recall about 30 years ago a neighbor of mine tried making concrete using sawdust. He experimented and abandoned the project. His was much wetter in the traditional way concrete was made. He ended up with a material that was not very strong and came apart easily. It was sort of like a sandstone concrete. I wonder how water infiltration and freeze thaw cycles effect this? Wood can absorb water; and water can freeze and destroy concrete. I always support experimentation, but don't really know what is going to happen. Hardy board is a similar type of concrete wood mixture. There is no chicken wire or other metal reinforcement in the wall. If historical research could show how similar materials have stood the test of time, or how this is just a minor change to an existing technique that might be beneficial. Obviously, you plan to keep this dry, sealed in a wall. Walls are great places to keep things dry. Some portions of the country are going to have freezing temperatures reaching deep into the walls, (at least occasionally in extreme weather events) and moisture, in both condensation, floods, and plumbing leaks is a real pain to home builders. Both wood and concrete have done ok in this regard. Historically, sawdust has been used as an insulation, or to fill walls before modern insulations became available. Today, cellulose insulation, (generally from newspapers), is basically a wood product with a few anti-bug products added. Good luck. Neat project.
Old house in France, in my Town (Troyes) used this kind of material, more rudimentary and that can last 400 hundred years
And Im talking about this material on the outside wall, but yes there wood cross every 2 meters or so on 3 meters high
Cement is too hard/ brittle for this. Lime is the business with a small amount of cement to help set early, and eventually the lime cures to a more flexible and long lasting binder.
Very interesting. I would be concerned about shrinkage where the dustcrete meets the structural members. Have you had enough time to test for shrinkage? Any thoughts about adding reinforcement or some kind of membrane to the field? Thanks
I had about 1/64" shrinkage from the timbers. A complete cleat of 2x3 around the void with a bead of caulk behind it would stop drafts from developing. I'm thinking that forming past the frame and having a monolithic skin on the building is a better move. As far as membranes, I prefer a breathable wall system to a waterproof one, but other climates have other requirements.
@@radicalgastronomy Friend, in 13:05 : you put the "dustcrete" on top of a wood beam "foundation", where generally you put the wood beam on top of a concrete foundation. I don't know the weight of your wall, but if it is heavy enough or if the wood beam deteriorates it can sink your wall (or even part of your house), etc... I suggest you either use concrete foundation or "treat" (hardens) the wood beam with cement (1:1 cement + water) before constructing the wall. It also helps with termite, etc... Also, before plastering, it's better to put a coat of cement (cement + water) to reinforce the wall. Just "paint" the wall with cement, also helps using less plaster, etc... Just a suggestion 👍
I love this idea , great job
Thanks!
Wow! This is great! 👍
Wow, dustcrete is genius brother. I looked into the hemp crete but sawdust is much easier to get and a whole cheaper. Is it holding up well? Did you all ready plaster? What material did you use for the ceiling?
It’s holding up great. Interior plaster is complete (video on my natural building playlist). Some exterior plaster done, too (can be seen behind me in that aircrete video). Even the un plastered sections are holding up great, exposed to the elements. I have some hair line cracking, but nothing serious. The lid is pine 1x6 with fiberglass bats in the void. I don’t love it, and wish I had gone heavier, up there. The ceiling is lovely, though.
Little concerned about all those tube spacers as penetration points. Is this material similar to Perves concrete ? Do you use a vapor barrier between the Dustcrete and the OSB sheeting on the outside ? Does it have an estimated R- value per thickness ? Looks like a time-consuming prosses but if it's an efficient cheap wall insulator and it works great. Great Video !
OSB was only used for the outside form. Walls would be plastered in and out. NO OSB
Greetings from Ireland. A lovely, well made video and you found a use for a byproduct of another industry.
When I was 12 years years old we built on a kitchen and a bathroom.
I like the way that you mixed the dustcrete.
When we mixed concrete using shovels, the mantra was mix it twice dry and twice wet.
Thank you.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
A few questions.. What is your gut feeling about the insulative ability of the Dustcrete compared to the cordwood? I understand the need to plaster the exterior.. but do you think it would be possible to attach foam board ( to improve the R Value?) to the interior using the hole from the slip form, and finish the interior with drywall, or another surface? Lastly, what roof overhang do you think should be a guideline to prevent excessive wetting of the plaster over time?
Lastly, thank you for doing these videos, your professional presentation and production values are a wonderful compliment to your ability to get the information out.
Having one cordwood space, and one dustcrete space, I can say that the dustcrete has vastly better thermal performance than my cordwood. R-value is less of a factor in the presence of thermal mass. Also, wall insulation matters much less than ceiling insulation. If you wanted to add a foam layer, the outside of the wall would be the place to do it. That way, you contain the thermal mass of the walls within the structure. You would then need to wire and stucco/plaster the exterior. Honestly, 8” dustcrete with R-30 (or better) in the roof would perform exceptionally in almost any location.
I’m so glad you find all of this interesting. Let me know if you have further questions!
I would consider putting the foam on the outside, like you see done when commercial buildings are going up.
I had a house on the Pacific Northwet coast with a daylight basement. The walls were all concrete. I'd fire up a wood stove, in the basement, and the concrete acted like a flywheel for storing heat.
Since the outside surface works like any heatsink, constantly losing heat to the atmosphere, insulating it would crank up the heating and cooling efficiency.
This stuff looks really great! Can you fast forward 25 years, I’d love to see how it ages. I gather it does well as long as it stays dry, the foundation is stable and there’s no seismic activity.
@@chaosplan I have a new video coming soon that covers what happens to it when there is a slow pipe leak in the wall. Stay tuned…
Is there a reason you do it in such small lines? Or is there a drawback to doing larger sections at a time?
To get the proper compression about 6 to 8 inches is what works best. Much more than that and you can have loose, crumbly parts after you tamp it down. Or, the material at the top will be too compressed to insulate well is you tamp too thick of a layer.
The combined power of wood and concrete, you got me wanting to try it.
This solves so many problems. Thank you for sharing.
It sure is a good fit for my situation. Glad you like it!
Brilliant. Can't wait to see the longevity. I'm reminded of sand walls/rammed earth made from 10% Portland, local dirt and sand heavily compressed as you build up. Your method looks faster. Here's the video where I learned about rammed earth. th-cam.com/video/TjyGOOtOFik/w-d-xo.html
Just as a hint from a master of construction: If You have the consistency like that, You propably would'nt need the boards as a mold at all. I think You could just have the exterior chip board and then jam pack the stuff until you are in the correct thickness. You could propably do it a lot faster.
In some cases, it might be possible to build panels horizontally and fill and even plaster and then put them in place.
...in a word "Brilliant"...thank you👏
Excellent skill set brother.
I spent a few years living in western Montana and saw lots of homes with compacted sawdust as insulation. Seemed to work really well.
Very nice! I’ve been brewing on your method for quite a while now. Going to use it. Thank you Sir!
Thanks mate. Really enjoyed your preso and learnt a few more tricks for hempcreting.
Sweet! And thank you.
I enjoy your videos and thank you for sharing this information with us.
Thanks for watching!