When considering what material to use for a floor, few people look beyond a concrete slab, with something like tile or carpet as a finish. For us, however, there were several factors that made a stabilized compressed earth brick (SCEB) floor far more appealing, including cost, skill, and time required.
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/velacreations/sets/72157622051279853/
More Information: http://www.velacreations.com/cebfloors.html
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/velacreations/sets/72157622051279853/
More Information: http://www.velacreations.com/cebfloors.html
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials
MATERIALS
Compressed Earth Blocks
Screened sand
Sealer – acrylic or oil based concrete sealer or varnish
TOOLS
Circular saw with masonry blade (optional)
2 levels, one small, one longer
Rubber mallet
2 boards to stand on. You do not want to stand on the sand as your feet will make large dents. If you stand on a board, your weight is spread out and the smooth surface of the sand is not compromised.
Surgical tape. The person laying the brick should consider taping their fingertips with surgical tape. This helps protect them without compromising dexterity.
Roller and brush
Compressed Earth Blocks
Screened sand
Sealer – acrylic or oil based concrete sealer or varnish
TOOLS
Circular saw with masonry blade (optional)
2 levels, one small, one longer
Rubber mallet
2 boards to stand on. You do not want to stand on the sand as your feet will make large dents. If you stand on a board, your weight is spread out and the smooth surface of the sand is not compromised.
Surgical tape. The person laying the brick should consider taping their fingertips with surgical tape. This helps protect them without compromising dexterity.
Roller and brush
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I designed a built an off-grid house for Design Build Bluff where we used compressed earth blocks. They are quite a bit larger and were not the cheapest solution, but we were able to find a guy in town with his own block compressing machine and we were able to use local sand.
If you haven't heard about the program you should visit our blog. http://www.designbuildbluff.org/blog/?cat=109
The programs founder, Hank Luis, designed the program after The Rural Studio and has a lot of influence from Mike Reynolds stuff.
For the subfloor, if you have a nice, even subfloor, then you probably don't need sand. We used sand to help even out imperfections in the bricks and to provide a nice level surface to start with.