Relaying An EARTHEN FLOOR | Part 2 Perlite Insulation

[@whiteyquartz3409]

Great video. Thanks for all your efforts. Your trials and errors are instructive and appreciated.

[@TheChicagoCourier]

Awesome! Never realized how much I would love an earthen floor.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Yes, earthen floors can be really nice. They aren't as hard as some other floors and they stay really cool in summer, as my dog Banjo knows.

[@13thravenpurple94]

Great work 🥳🥳🥳 Thank youuuuu 💜💜💜

[@RVBadlands2015]

You make it look so easy.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

it's the magic of video editing. triple speed.

[@janocsanyi3990]

Hi there! Thank you for your videos, very useful and great job visually as well! How is the floor in the meanwhile? Did it not sink? I was wondering if the perlite powder layer is hard enough to keep the upper earth layers in place. Plus: have you ever seen a floor without the plastic under and above the perlit? What could the vapour do to the floor without the plastic? Here in hungary we have 70% cob houses, and they quite all used to have earthen floors, however more simple, just wet earth rammed plus the surface hardened with cow manure. No plastic, but the thing was that they had to be washed with cow manure+water once a week to fill micro cracks and keep the hardness of the surface. Naturally those days are long gone, nowadays hardly any animals in a village...

[@HardcoreSustainable]

The perlite did not sink yet. There has been some very minimal settling, like maybe an 1/8" or less in some places. I doubt it will settle any more. I would guess that if you don't use the plastic it would breath more and more moisture would wick up from the ground into the floor. My foundation has drainage all around so I won't get standing water, but I'd get vapor if I didn't use the plastic. The perlite is inert and won't be affected by moisture, but it could grow mildew. I can't believe they would have to wash the floor with manure in the past. Seems like that would stink and also not really clean it. I guess they didn't have any kind of oil to use to treat the surface or it was too expensive to afford. I'd love to find out more about cob houses in other countries. Someone from Ireland I think one time commented on a video and said that the problem with our cob walls here is that they aren't thick enough. He said theirs were 3 feet thick at the bottom. But they are surrounded by water and have a much more moderate year round climate than we have here. We have low temps as low as -20°F here and I don't think cob would keep out cold like that because it has no insulation. How thick are the cob walls there and what are your coldest temps like?

[@travisdavis1042]

@@HardcoreSustainable do you have videos on building your house that you could link me to?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@travisdavis1042 I don't have video of the construction process. I just had a blog at the time. danatdr.blogspot.com. Sometimes youtube doesn't allow links in comments we'll see if it works.

[@driftlesshermit]

Interesting, Thanks. I wonder if you mixed the cob and perlite together wet ? Then maybe just add a thinner layer of cob for a top layer?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Not sure if you are suggesting a different way to do it, but I didn't want to mix cob with the perlite because cob would detract from the insulation value of the perlite. The layer of plastic between kept the two separate and because the perlite doesn't compress much at all, and a lot of compression would have happened after the first thick layer was added, the final floor didn't settle much, if at all.

[@driftlesshermit]

@@HardcoreSustainable Thanks for the reply. I was thinking when they mix perlite with cement, it stil acts like an insulator. Was just wondering if anyone has tried it with cob.

[@coryart]

With those layers of plastic, (which I realize are necessary), does that mean when walking barefoot on an earthen floor you still aren't grounded to the earth, (the same as is with standard construction homes)? If wearing flip-flops or shoes outside prevents grounding wouldn't plastic sheeting prevent grounding as well?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

what kind of grounding do you mean? electrical grounding?

[@coryart]

@@HardcoreSustainable yes basically...... "Earthing (also known as grounding) refers to contact with the Earth's surface electrons by walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems, some of them patented, that transfer the energy from the ground into the body. Emerging scientific research supports the concept that the Earth's electrons induce multiple physiological changes of clinical significance, including reduced pain, better sleep, a shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic tone in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and a blood-thinning effect. The research, along with many anecdotal reports, is presented in a new book entitled Earthing"

[@coryart]

I guess you could put a wire mesh in an earthen floor that is connected to the grounding rod.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@coryart Never thought of that, but it's an interesting concept. I'll have to look into it. I'm skeptical of pseudoscience and there is a lot of that out there that talks about such things, but if there is real scientific evidence, it could be relevant. I wonder what people with wooden floors would do, or people walking on the second floor of a building. I do have a grounding wire going through part of the floor to my electrical system. It is connected to a grounding rod outside. But it's not like the entire earth is connected to a grounding rod, so what purpose is the grounding rod? If walking on the ground is enough, why would you need a grounding rod? If it's not enough and you need a grounding rod, how could that possibly be something humans need or evolved to need?

[@coryart]

@@HardcoreSustainable I don't think any standard floor construction is made to be grounded, if it was we wouldn't be able to create a static electric shock by shuffling on the carpet.

[@richardmoore4527]

can you use rice hulls in the place of perlite?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I would think of rice hulls as providing fiber, though not tensile strength. I don't know of the insulative qualities of rice hulls. If they are insulative it's possible that could be useful. I supposed if they could be piled up and not compress under weight of the cob, they could insulate. But they would run into the same problems the straw ran into in being organic and thus degradable in the presence of moisture.

[@idealist4life]

Banjo talk at 1:56 ! lol And, YES, Dan does periodically narrate Banjos apparent thought processes. Watch her ears perk as he says "hunt bunnies". My Sophie, Banjo's best dog buddy, decided that THIS would be the summer that she wanted to be INSIDE Dan's house all of the time, so she was might confused when Fall came and we had to keep her out of there while Dan was working.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Hey Loren, I put that in there because I think it's really cute how she tilts her head like that. Yep, both Sophie and Banjo were confused by the floor project. I was too. I don't like not having a floor.

[@vitalilisau6181]

Perlite is pretty weak on crushing. I used it for insulation my wall cavity, and I am happy. I am not sure about using it in the floor like this. There should be drain pipe under the perlite in stones. Otherwise, if this floor is ever flooded there will be no way to drain the water from perlite and stones below.

[@rentzirentzi]

Hi!I plan to do the same layer:perlite,clay and on top I want to lay down roof tiles.we have in Romania many ceramic roof tiles whit flat surface. The question is.:do I need special mortar to lay the tiles? And if water comes, accidentally on the floor will dissolve the clay floor?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I did lay tiles into mine in spots. You could just lay them into the plaster material like I did. They can come loose in time, but probably won't if the floor stays level. Alternately you could lay a rough layer of floor material and then use adhesive to secure the tiles, then plaster in the filling grout with earthen plaster.

[@tomasmusneckis6089]

I've seen one guy in belarus covers his floor with polyurethane varnish and it becomes very strong and solid. As well he used it for worktops. Think you need to try if it not breaks your natural building rule.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I guess I'd rather not use something synthetic if the natural material works fine. I love linseed oil. And it's smells much better than polyurethane and is less toxic.

[@carlacowling1789]

Could you just add the pearlite to the Cobb?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It wouldn't be as insulative because the air gaps between the perlite are part of what insulates.

[@RVBadlands2015]

Did the earth floor crack is that why your replacing it. Looks great 👍.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Yes it was cracking, but it was because the light clay straw insulation was composting under it and sinking.

[@RVBadlands2015]

What is under the perlite.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

just the vapor barrier and gravel under that.

[@robertd6925]

How thick did you make the perlite layer?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It was about 4 inches, maybe slightly thicker in some spots.

[@alx81]

Banjo 🥰🥰🥰

[@nizarahdragon3973]

Absolte history has a series part of it is Victorian farm they redo a lime puddy floor

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I'll have to check that out. I'd like to see what a lime floor would look like.

[@jonny_mazerati9410]

Daddy 😍