he ‘greenest’ underfloor
insulation option we could come up with. They are
also one of the few parts of the building work
that the kids have really got stuck into!
The only problem with them is that they are designed
for concrete floors, which don’t need to
be able to breathe, whereas we are laying limecrete,
and so need them to be porous. We therefore had
to puncture each bag on both sides, a rather time
consuming process. This would have been avoidable
if there was a limecrete version of this product,
in breathable bags..are you listening out there
Optiroc people? Ah well, one step at a time…
Once the bags were in place, we laid limecrete
in 2 layers of 2 inches each. The second had to
go down while the first is still ‘green’,
i.e. within 24 hours. We chose to use limecrete
firstly because it is in keeping with our cement-free
approach to building the house, and secondly because
it is breathable and more healthy. It is also hard
work (unlike a concrete screed which arrives in
a lorry and is all just poured in through a big
hose thingy), as it all has to be mixed in a mixer
by hand. With a few volunteers (thanks guys) and
the usual suspects we got through it in 2 weekends
(we probably would have done it in one but the
mixer we hired was RUBBISH and slowed us up considerably
- it had to be started with a crank handle which
kept falling out just when you really needed it
not to, and it also had about 3 years worth of
cement in it, so it didn’t mix properly).
The roof is all felted and battened, the windows
are due by the end of February, and we are now
on the look out for sheepswool for our roof. The
stream of visitors increases steadily, partly due
to a recent appearance on the Pat Kenny Radio Show
and also to the bright blue roofing felt (I didn’t
know it was that colour when I ordered it!) being
visible from the road. Once the floor is done,
it’s upstairs and on with the insulation
and the laths. Hey, we know how to enjoy ourselves!
Thomas and Ulrike’s roof is really taking
shape and it is really starting to look like a
house now. It is beautiful, very curvy and interesting.
Who needs square houses?
Building Diary
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