NOTE: A NEW "Making Papercrete" DVD is now available for $29. see the Video/DVD page on this site. Building With Papercrete & Paper Adobe: A Revolutionary New Way to Build Your Own Home for Next to Nothing by Gordon Solberg, 2002. This book describes papercrete, a mixture of Portland cement, sand, and recycled newspapers/magazines, which can be used as a building material. Papercrete is strong (compressive strength of 260 psi), lightweight, holds its shape even when wet, and has a high insulation value (estimated but unverified R 2.8 per inch). It is very inexpensive. Paper adobe is even less expensive, since it is made of paper pulp and dirt. This book contains over 224 photographs; descriptions of formulas, mixers, building techniques, and innovative ideas from the small but growing band of papercrete pioneers who are experimenting and building with this remarkable material. This is a second, expanded edition of the original 1999 book, compiled from all of the arties in Earth Quarterly and Papercrete News that pertain to papercrete and paper adobe. I DO have the Building with Papercrete and Paper Adobe 2 Hour companion DVD in stock now. OR- Check out PARACRETE Building on CD which is full of alternative recipes for papercrete, and an EPS+Cement invention for burn resistant walls, called "paracrete". Note: I will be reissuing my original book, with resources updated on CD, "All About Papercrete" This is a 90+ pages, spiral bound Book & CD set. Available soon
And the Natural materials Resource Guide #1660 -$12.50 ....has 4,000 pages of extensive information on making and using papercrete, light straw clay, wood chip clay, lime for plasters, clay mixes, adobe blocks, ferrocement, strawbale, cordwood, and other natural building methods and materials. Book ContentsHow to Build a House of of Fibrous Cement for $1000 (or less) 7 A Visit with Eric Patterson, Paper House Pioneer 22 A Prototype Paper Block Factory 28 How to Build a Papercrete Mixer 32 A Heat Transfer Experiment with Papercrete 39 Up in Smoke 40 Some Perspectives on Fibrous Cement/Papercrete 41 Building with Paper Bales by Mary Hardin 43 The World's Oldest Papercrete Dome (That we Know of) 51 Papercrete Q&A 52 Recent Papercrete Innovations 53 Papercrete Perspectives, Part 2 55 A Colorado Papercrete Tour 58 An Innovative Papercrete Dome Design by James Moon 66 An Electric Barrel Mixer for Papercrete by Kelly Hart 71 A Papercrete Workshop at Windtree Ranch 74 Earth Quarterly Builds a Paper Office 76 Ultra Low-Cost Paper Adobe Construction at City of the Sun 80 Silver City Update 84 Crestone Update 85 A Papercrete Guest Cottage at Windtree Ranch 86 Letters 88 Conclusion 93 Reference Guide 95 Resources 96 A Simple Sawdust/Cordwood Shelter 97 Letters 101 An Innovative "Semi-Sustainable" Roof Design 102 "Organic Rebar" 104 Papercrete in Wisconsin 105 Papercrete Perspectives, Part 3 108 Combustion Testing on Papercrete Mixes 112 More Letters 114 State-of-the-Art Papercrete House in Colorado 117 Papercrete Perspectives, Part 4 120 An Engineer Looks at Papercrete 121 Large Papercrete House in Arizona 125 More Letters 131 Papercrete Addition in Cortez, Colorado 133 Papercrete Building in Chamizal, New Mexico 137 Stucco Adventures 139 Papercrete Earthship on Vancouver Island 140 Twin Dome Papercrete House in Colorado 142 More Letters 145 Papercrete Formulas 148 Afterword 149 BACK COVER: Sean Sands with the 300-square-foot guest cottage he built for $225. Half of this structure is underground |