Replies

1. 
   kbentley57 | Jun 29, 2021 08:44pm | #1

   Ann,

   I hate that you feel responsible - I feel that owning a house with a rammed earth floor comes with an associated risk of these type of things. If they have the same soil mix use for the original construction, it's not something that isn't repairable.

2. 
   AnnCognito | Jul 01, 2021 02:42pm | #2

   Hello,
   Thanks, but yes, I do feel responsible... that floor was a labour of love

   similar mix but not quite the same... and a production to accquire and make... a bigger production to empty off the very large, very full table over one spot, other spot is a really awkward small corner between a door, rocket mass heater, and inlaid stonework... all more than is possible while I'm still here... I feel awful

3. GBA Editor
   Kiley Jacques | Jul 01, 2021 05:39pm | #3

   I asked my colleague Matt Millham over at Fine Homebuilding about this because he has worked on rammed earth homes and knows quite a lot about the material and construction methods. Here is what he said: Getting the new to bond with the old is probably going to be a bit hard to do, depending how the floor was made. My first instinct is to cut out the damaged area down to whatever the base is and redo that section rather than patch over. But if you don't mind doing a different kind of patch, like tadelakt or (sigh) concrete, you might have better luck getting it to stick. And for the concrete, apply a bond coat to the surface being repaired (after cleaning all the debris off).

4. 
   AnnCognito | Jul 03, 2021 09:44pm | #4

   Oh dear... no, shouldn't be a totally different material... they put a lot of work into making it beautiful... stone inlay designs... future workshop/presentation/meeting room

   Thank you so much for finding that out... I'll hang onto it