Resurfacing and Protecting My EARTHEN FLOOR | Building with Natural Materials

[@jameskniskern2261]

I love our wood stove... Same as yours. It more than heats our 1000 square foot straw bale house. I'm watching the snow fall out the windows as your video plays. Great job on the floor. It should give you many great years!

[@carolynclark588]

Enjoyed this I've been interested in an earth bag home and making a pizza oven out of clay thank you for sharing.

[@dadgad68]

Great channel. Inspired me to try some clay paint. Think i'm hooked haha. Thanks very much.

[@lotuswhitetara]

good medicine. artful. thank you.

[@jaredthibodaux6796]

I love it when people can use natural materials and make them look that good. Liked and subscribed.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked the results.

[@TheChicagoCourier]

it looks so smooth 😍

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It's amazing the smooth and level finish you can get if you do it right.

[@loveisthekeythatwillsetyou4648]

Enjoyed this video very much ..... I wish we had more of a free license here in the uk ..... but considering you could fit us in one state .... we're pretty much controlled .... but I remain hopeful lol

[@kengagnier5839]

Beautiful work! I love your attention to detail.

[@PaulBodyBuilder]

What about compressed Earth Blocks and Hempcrete for home remodeling Wyndmoor PA

[@michaelrodman6646]

way to go for it, brother. looks great.

[@maryrock7698]

Wow! that looks like a lot of hard work. I say that because I have done some natural building but this floor looks great. I am glad you are feeling better. It has been a hard winter. Take care.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Hi Mary. Yes it was a lot of work, and next time (I hope there isn't a next time) I'll do it a little differently and it's be less work. I'm enjoying the winter here in Florida, but I guess there's still a little winter left. Hope you are well.

[@jasondevine6014]

Good job. Just finished my earthern floor. I used a clay alis paint on top to burnish. This means that any minor cracking is filled. Beeswax/linseed finish.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I love clay alis. I did that on the walls of my other house. Didn't really have time to do it on my floor but it would have been nice. I could see it scraping off in a short time though since it would be a thin layer.

[@mikeycbaby]

I live low impact vicariously through you ;-)

[@AmandaMorrison-qp7fv]

Hi! Love this floor. I have a threshold made from cob bricks that is cracking and has some staining from some Penofin oil that dripped. Can I put linseed oil on at this point? It is 2 years old. Thanks!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

The linseed oil won't necessarily stop the cracking but it could add some durability.

[@AmandaMorrison-qp7fv]

@@HardcoreSustainable Thank you for your reply! Love your channel!

[@robertd6925]

How much oil per square foot?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I didn't use much more than a couple gallons for over 200 sq ft as I recall.

[@ricardoy.7493]

Hi... are you still there? Do you think it can be done on cement? Thanks and good job.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

You mean over a slab of concrete? Definitely. That would give the earthen floor plenty of support.

[@DionisiosFentas]

Hello. Great job. Thanks for sharing. Do you wax it? Can I use raw linseed oil with raw bee wax? 8/1 it's good?

[@lilynoir3939]

Would you be able to do a video about installing plumbing and electricity in a cob house? I always wonder what would happen if a pipe broke in the wall

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I might be able to do one in the future, but I don't have any plans to plumb a cob house. We don't usually build cob houses here because we get such cold winters. If a pipe broke (from freezing temps??) you could just dig out the cob and repair the pipe. It would already be wet, I'd guess.

[@lilynoir3939]

@@HardcoreSustainable oh, I suppose you're right

[@jasondevine6014]

You could just do like in strawbale and put all plumbing inside another pipe that drains outside. If there is a leak it becomes obvious without damaging wall.

[@ellislorant5479]

My earthen floor has a big dent in it. What would you say is the best way to fill it in? There's a lot of dust in it and ants come through it sometimes. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of fiber in it so maybe that's something that could be added to the mix to fill it in?

[@eugeniotapia6765]

@ellis if ants are coming thru the actual dent you have something else going on underneath than just a furniture dent from up on top ! I'd dig directly straight down about 6-8-10in and see what the heck, mite have to put down ant pellets in there (preferably without salt ingredient), THEN put two-three inches of gravel on bottom of hole and pound down with the end of a 2×4, refill with same type material up to ¼"-½" below floor level, then whip up a batch of fine material with all the ingredients, clay, sand, fiber (shouldn't need much) and trowel level with the floor, let dry and then seal with warm linseed oil for deeper absorbtion ! Good luck !!

[@RVBadlands2015]

Why is there tile under the windows and the path and not the entire floor. Earthen floors are a lot of work. Great job.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I only wanted to put the tile where I knew there would be more traffic, like in front of the front door where I walk in and take off my shoes, in the kitchen where I stand to wash dishes and prepare meals. The strip in front of the south facing window was purely aesthetic. I just got my hands on some cool clay tiles.

[@lazycarper7925]

hardcore please can you tell me what that hand pump is called i have never ever seen this type before, thanks

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It's called a trombone sprayer. pretty cool. I don't know where to get it because I borrowed this one. You could probably find it online if you search that name.

[@lazycarper7925]

@@HardcoreSustainable thanks

[@JulieWolf]

so why did you put the pot of linseed oil on the burner?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I was heating it up to make it thinner so it would penetrate the floor better. Linseed oil is pretty thick at room temperature.

[@JulieWolf]

@@HardcoreSustainable I see. Thanks. So just warmed up a bit not boiling (as your subitlte mentioned), right? Wow fast reply! You got comments coming to your cell phone? You're so fast!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@JulieWolf Well I guess I should have explained that part a bit more. "Boiled linseed oil" is a product sold that has other chemicals in it than linseed oil. I used raw linseed oil, which is just linseed oil. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Boiled_linseed_oil

[@robertd6925]

How do you keep rodents from burrowing into the place?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I don't know how they would get in. The only place they get in is the attic, and they must crawl up the walls to get up there. I've never seen any sign of mice or rats inside my house. They wouldn't be able to get into the floor because they'd have to burrow through the foundation wall. I have expanded metal lathe all along the base of the walls under the lime plaster on the outside.

[@robertd6925]

@@HardcoreSustainable Oh cool thanks

[@namAehT]

Check out the Nito Project if you haven't already, they have some videos about plaster and adobe but the information they present could easily be applied to flooring like this.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I have seen their videos. They are great. I aspire to make videos more like that. I need to get better equipment.

[@RedandAprilOff-Grid]

😎

[@PaulBodyBuilder]

Where are you located Wyndmoor PA

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I live in Missouri

[@RyRyVids]

Adding cement will add longevity

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Then it wouldn't be a natural earthen floor. I could add cement to just about anything, but I don't want to use it because of its impact on the planet.

[@jasondevine6014]

Actually science tests have shown that adding some cement to clay mix does not help. The clay interferes too much with the cement action. Use cement or clay not both.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@jasondevine6014 That does seem like it would be true. Clay would just dilute the cement and make it ineffective.