The Insulation Layer Begins

So yesterday I got ambitious and decided to go outside and get some work done. I looked at the oven and found that the winter rains had done more damage that I had previously thought.

As you can see there was a lot of damage from the winter rains. I learned that you need a big tarp so that everything is covered and well protected. My tarp wasn't big enough which is why there was so much damage. So I needed to figure out how to repair everything and move this project forward. So I came up with the idea of making adobe bricks that would only be three or four inches wide and using them to build an outer case for the base and then fill in any open space with cob. This seems like a good idea so I had to figure out how to get things done by myself since my boys were busy with school.

Well we have just gotten some tools from my wife's folks. In these tools were a cement mixer and chipper/shredder. So I know most of what I've read and seen all says that cement mixers are bad. All the experts agree that working the cob/adobe with your feet is the best way to do it. Well that has been what I believed also until now. Being as I am unable to mix a batch of cob very well and there is no way that I can mix more than one batch I figured maybe the cement mixer was worth a try.

I also wanted to give the chipper a try at cutting up the long straw since much of the straw in the bale is almost a foot long. I saw YouTube videos of people using scissors and blenders to cut up the straw and I knew that wasn't going to work. So I spent about an hour fixing the chipper. Once I got it working I tested how well it cut up the straw. This worked great. I can put a 5 gallon bucket under the blower opening and just fill it up. The straw is perfect for the adobe mix this way.

So I moved on to the cement mixer. I just had to clean it out a little and oil it. So I began by making a test batch. I used the same mix of 2 buckets of sand to 1 bucket of clay. I found that I do have to add just a little extra water than mixing by foot so it can release from the sides and mix well. I just let the mixer run until I thought it was done. Then I checked it and it seemed good so I added the straw. I added 2 buckets of the chopped straw since I needed to add the insulation layer and ran the mixer some more until all of the straw was mixed in.

Here you can see the chipper and cement mixer that I started using. I used the kiddie pool to empty the mixer into and hold all of the cob/adobe mix. This process worked so well that in 3 hours I was able to mix and apply 3 batches of cob with the extra straw. When my kids used their feet to mix the cob it would take about 5 hours to mix and apply 3 batches. Here I did 3 batches by myself in 3 hours.

As you can see in this picture I was able to add about one third of the insulation layer. So now I'm thinking if I can mix one batch and then start the next batch mixing while I'm applying I can almost double the amount of batches in about the same time frame. This should make brick making go very fast, I hope. I actually ran out of sand after the three batches so this afternoon we have to go make a sand run. I'm hoping to get the insulation layer finished and get the bricks started by the end of the week.

The bricks will definitely be the next test but so far the chipper and cement mixer is working better than I could have hoped. The only thing that I noticed is that the cob comes out better the longer it mixes. I will follow up in the next post how well this all works.