However, other sources suggest that such plants will have a slight drying effect on mortar and will also provide some degree of insulation in winter, particularly evergreen ivies covering exposed north and east-facing walls. This may be plausible on a south-west facing wall where the rain is driven by prevailing winds. It has been suggested that vegetation attached to walls could lead to dampness resulting from slower drying conditions following rain. Where brickwork is sound, the main problem is to keep growth away from gutters and paint work. Ivy may also provide access for intruders and harbour pests such as mice. Its dense cover can hide defects in the fabric of the building and hinder maintenance work. Self-clinging climbers such as Boston ivy and Virginia creeper ( Parthenocissus sp.) do not usually cause damage to wall surfaces, but common or English ivy ( Hedera helix sp.) supports itself by aerial roots and where these penetrate cracks or joints they may cause structural damage.
One of the things I noticed when I visited their cottage last week was how clean everything smelt. There are a number of natural builds happening in cross border counties here in Ireland. I told them that they now had an added advantage over other plasterers as they could now plaster using natural materials. They have also done really beautiful curved plastering at all corners. It’s a kind of throw/slap kind of motion that helps the material adhere to the walls. The lads doing the external plastering soon found out that they had to develop slightly new skills to get the clay/lime plaster onto the walls. They’ll sell you just the clay or a specific clay, lime and hemp mix. They have started to sell batches of the clay in volume buckets to other natural builders in our area and Ireland. It looks like honey has been poured on the walls. What left me gasping was the natural plaster they created using clay on their land. When the cottage is finished (it’s been in Franks family for 6 generations) it will be available for rent.
They are using a clay, lime and hemp mix for their walls and a range of natural materials and energy sources. I visited a friends renovation over the weekend. I’m waiting to see how many people are sent to this site when they do online searches for something like mud wrestling! Oh what a surprise they will get.
The two posts I moved from LizBiz to here have been very popular. Well worth a visitĪ lot of people have visited this blog since it was born 2 days ago. It gave some very good practical images of all the stages of the build – not including the roof. I visited the ClaySandStraw site and really enjoyed their visual diary of a small cob build. Went wandering on the web and rechecked the Cob Projects site. I’ll be designing a database of books, websites and organisations over the next year and will make it available. They arrived today and will be joining my growing library of sustainable natural building books – and the biodynamic ones and permaculture ones. The biodynamic sowing and planting calendar 2008.The Whole House Book – ecological building design and materials.Natural building – a guide to materials and techniques.Apparently I’m a Bis – sha – li – ondor – tiger. Check it out at the New York Zoo and Aquarium. Here’s some fun that my brother Marc just sent me.You get to build a picture of your wild self using animal parts.
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