#2 ~ Looking into NE corner

Tim Pye Copyright 2001

#3 ~ Looking South ~ future BR & LR

Tim Pye Copyright 2001

These two pictures are from April 2001.....this is the pouring of the papercrete insulating layer which is under the slab. The slab and floor actually went in AFTER the walls, because this process is so watery, and if the slab had been in place first it would have been more difficult for the water to drain out of the walls. The papercrete was made in a giant homemade mixer sort of like a food processor, and then pumped into forms, like a monolithic concrete pour. (It can also be made into blocks, like adobe, and then stacked and mortared.) It is a mixture of paper (mostly newspaper and our junk mail) and dirt (clay and sand) and portland cement, resembling oatmeal when it is first poured. Then the water drains out and the small amount of concrete causes it to solidify into a sort of "fluffy" wall with good insulating qualities. It reminds me of a giant sponge turned to stone. After this layer dried pipes were laid for the in-floor radiant hot water heating system, and then approximately three and a half inches of concrete was poured over the pipes. We will stain the slab and live with it as our floor for awhile. Eventually we want to put in flagstones, and/or Mexican tiles.