SB: Re: Topping off the walls/insulative value &creep

[*Lootvik* <lootvik@usermail.com>]

Actually, I agree with most of what you're saying.

I calculated the R1.44 to have a density of 18.7 lbs/ft3 [If I did it right!].
I agree the R34 is really good ... if everything works out right.

If you rammed it really hard [as per my previous post] you'd be closer to 
the R 0.103/inch for a total of R 2.472!  This is what I was really getting 
at.  Not that R34.

I've always heard--from the guys that know, to stuff all the holes and gaps 
as tightly as possible.  Whether you're using straw or a mix of some 
sort.  For structural and insulation reasons.

Personally, I plug 6 inch gaps with flakes, getting them in as tightly as I 
possibly can.  Then I'd put down a thick layer of mud on top, like Beel was 
saying.
*Lootvik*


>Hi.  Lootvik.    Actually, I did see your post on R-values after I responded
>to Rob Tom.
>Still, I stand behind what I said.  Many times "facts" are only as relevant
>as the assumptions they are based on.
>
>1) As I said in my follow-up post ,  perhaps my term was inaccurate or not
>well defined.  I should have said perhaps, "slip-straw".  Also, the
>application technique matters a lot.  German light clay is rammed, and
>seriously from what I can tell.  A whole different animal than "stuffed or
>packed".   One indication of the level of density you are getting is what
>the ratio of unpacked to packed  straw/clay is in your application.  Light
>clay has a high ratio, that is, the volume of mixed material compared to the
>volume of wall filled.   Straw stuffing, whether coated in slip or not, has
>a low compression  ratio.  A bucket full of stuffing will fill a hole 1/2
>it's size more or less.
>
>SO. When we refer to numbers from a book in Germany about an application for
>what are probably  rammed light-clay wall panels, we are not really getting
>info on crack-stuffing.  To be most accurate, we would want to check the
>density of straw-clay stuffing and find where it lands on the scale between
>bales, light clay and cob.  I sense that it is closer to bales than light
>clay.
>
>2)  Assuming I do RAM it in with a tamper, say,  (I don't)  and get a
>light-clay density with  R- 1.4 per inch, what do you have at 24 inches?
>R-34.  Would you call that "minimal" ?
>
>Few houses are 100% insulated evenly.  We shoot for that.  Framing,  posts
>and beams compromise insulation, as do window and door bucks (forget windows
>and doors!),  stuffing, many things act to reduce the net R-value to well
>below the "nominal" R-value.  A code specified R-19 house is well below that
>when the fenestration and framing members are acounted for.
>
>A six-inch band around the house that is R-34 or likely better seems ok to
>me.
>
>
>Cheers,
>Steve


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