Chris and all you others,  Thanks for the explanation of how oil and water get mixed.  I always wondered.  I saw it used in mixing the clay "mortar" to set adobe blocks.  The house was being built on the eastern slope of the hills behind the University at Berkeley.  The emulsified asphalt was mixed in with the water to water-proof the mortar.  This was in 1949-50 in a pricey neighborhood so I think there was an engineering stamp on the plans.  Kern has a chapter on composite materials that still bears reading.  Colin

Dennis,

It is the left overs form oil processing (tar), and it is mixed (emulsified) with water in a very complicated manner since oil and water do not mix together easily. It requires a heated industrial soap to be injected into a high sheer mixer with the oil , and water. The temperature, and equipment, and ratios have to be perfect, or the process wont work well. Of course you don't make it, you buy it by  the drum.

Exactly how you use it I don't know. I imagine my prejudices towards using petrol chemical to stabilize my owner built house made me gloss over Ken Kern's advice on the subject; though Ken Kern was a smart guy, and I probably should of payed more attention. - chris

what exactly is "emulsified asphalt" anyway?

i've heard of it from Ken Kern's book, but never really understood what it is.

dennis

Chris,

Petrol ... Hmm! ... How about emulsified asphalt then?

I don't remember where this was recommended but I have seen it proposed as an additive for clay slurries.

Paul

Chris,  Hazelnut shells are available here in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.  They are heavier than peanut shells but are stronger.  They are cheap enough to be used as a ground cover as replacement for shredded bark.  Colin

Paul,

I wasn't talking about Latex-crete, but maybe that's another option.

Ron is out with the Campasinos of Bolivia, where it is assumed that good quality materials are difficult to find, and/or expensive, and he has been trying to help things out there for quite awhile, so I grab at solutions for his questions that might fit the scene. Ron comes up with some very innovative solutions to many of the challenges he runs into.

I'm not actually enamored with using asphaltum for very much, but the author of owner built homes - Ken Kern sure was, and Ron does have that petrol option, where as I don't know what quality, availability, and price he has out in the sticks of Bolivia for cement in comparison to asphaltum.

It isn't easy to pitch ideas from this far away, maybe Latex Paints added to cement would actually be a good fit there?

- chris

Thanks Paul,

No peanuts grown around in the northwest that I know of, but still, odd things show up!

Chris,

I have heard that peanut shells work well, after being soaked overnight in weighted sacks.

Paul

Chris,

It sounds to me like what you are talking about is "latex concrete" as recommended in 'Latex Concrete Habitat' (Albert Knott and George Nez).

I quote "A common slurry coat mix is 1.5 to 2 parts cement to 1 part of liquid latex. The slurry is mixed to a lump-free, creamy consistency. A slurry coat filler of fine screened sand can be added if desired, using a sand-to-cement ratio of up to 1."

The easiest form of liquid latex to find is common and garden emulsion paint. This slurry will coat and bond to a pane of glass so it will coat straw!

Paul

Brad,

Here is another simpler solution, which I have used in that cedar bathroom I talked about, and it could be used for your situation. Build only the shower floor pan. Cast it outside with a mold, so that you get that smooth; un-tooled - baby butt finish, and carry it, and set in place. Give it a generous upward lip that will be high enough to cver the bottom of shower curtains, and make it hollow underneath to accommodate the elbow, and trap as necessary.  Then go to a plumbing retrofit catalog and order the brass fitting to make a hanging surround curtain rod (looks great - I've done this). Purchase several shower curtains and overlap generously, so that no spray will escape. Make sure you have a very powerful fan, if this is more than occasional use, as you don't want moisture build up in your walls and cabinets - probably a thru-the-wall kitchen fan of about 250 cfm. - chris