giant steps are what you take...

this thread has all four layers of meaning, although I have not found them all yet.

i bet I could lift an 8X10X26 on the moon. I could probably toss it up to you.

we may have strayed off from the literal.

Thanks for everyones comments on alternatives. I plan to look into them.

Don -

Sorry no pics, the trip was an impromptu hurried together arrangement, an aspect of the schedule conflict I made mention of in the TTRAG thread. The frame was supposed to be cut after the bridge restoration, but the schedule had to be juggled and pushed forward because of the delay.

Only cut a day or two when timber supply issues held up the scribing I was there to do, but found it nice to work but for the pitch pockets incessantly seeping sap with napalm like flammability.

I will have pics at some point in the future, as I'll be back out to teach a raising and rigging workshop to raise the frame. The I-House we scribed is the full jowled version, and there will be no hand raising without some mechanical assist.

I'll post an update on the new workshop forum when all the particulars are worked out.

Has anybody out there worked with any of these products and know if there is any US distribution network ?

http://www.lhoist.co.uk/tradical/hemp.html

Don't know if anyone was wondering besides me, but I found the US distributor for Tradical -

http://www.americanlimetec.com/

Looks like a promising product available to the general contractor for the masses. I like the combination, lime and hemp, allowing the system to breath and pass moisture. The spec's mentioned U-value, I did not see R-value used, maybe I missed that. How does U-value equate to R-value, anyone know?

Tim

looks very promising.
i'll have to spend time on the website.

wil and chris dancey (tfg members and dietrich's NA reps) used a hemp lime infill system on their home in ontario. came out wonderful... they formed up between timbers and then did various plaster finishes.

lots of labor for sure. a block version would be a big help... except for trucking across country to your local site.

i've often thought a great way to start using some of these alternatives would be to set up a hoop house and throughout the summer (whilst other building activities were ongoing) you could press blocks of hemp lime or straw clay or woodchip clay. if done well a press set up to a known PSI could get the block consistent... and then stacked to dry out of the weather. blocks would theoretically all be 'pre-shrunk' - esp if the mix was consistent from batch to batch.

as the foundation and framing moves along the blocks could move to the walls - where they would still need to be covered from rain - but you'd be able to keep working. you could mortar the blocks together with a lime or clay slip. might be able to pin them to each other and you could tie them to framing with brick ties or similar.

also, is the hemp grown stateside, or is it being imported?

Mike - as you might know, it'll be awhile and take some pressure, before we have locally grown hemp fiber as a binder for our lime plaster, or hemp hurds for slip chip, or hemp oil in the B-40 blend I buy up the road.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/medi...&m=10395114

Gotta start somewhere...

Tim - U is an inverse of R, a useful known when thinking of mass, heat sink and release.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)#U-value

sad, but true.
you can smoke some dope, but you can't really smoke some rope.

(*disclaimer - i can't actually say that i've done either...)

Hi Chris, i'm new to the forum so how do I accesss your blog to review what you have to say on this topic. I'm presently underway building a timber frame straw bale wrap around home and considering using a natural clay plaster.

Sorry, SIP's are far too expensive, contribute to poor air quality, the off-gasing is a trigger for asthmatics etc...If you want the convenience of a SIP and willing to pay for it along with the crane cost why not go for a straw SIP? I'm personally quite excited about the applications of strawbales. Anyone else out there working with straw and timber frames?