Hemp plaster in bags.

Nothing new but now readily available is Hemp Plaster in ready mixed bags of 20kg or 1000kg bulk bags.
It is made from chopped stem of the hemp plant, which is reacted with lime and pozzolan in a unique process to allow rapid drying and hardening.
Hempire Building Plaster from Hempire Building Ltd. can even be applied onto wet walls. It has high thermal insulation characteristics and can be used in the construction of zero carbon buildings. It is also fire, water and pest resistant.

My first blower-door-test

I experienced my first blower-door-test today. The test was called (before plastering) to see how good sealing (taping joints etc.) was to date. And if there was anything that needed improving or had been over looked.
The crew arrive for the test well prepared with door blower and l
laptop in Hand. The blower and the generator to power the testing was put in place fairly swiftly. Good start, I thought.
Little did I know then, that 3 and a half hours later, all would not be going as well as I hoped…
After the initial set up, there were software problems. Several phones calls made and received, testing began. Unfortunately the gentlemen making the test were not able to do a "smoke test". By using a tool that emits artificial smoke, one can pinpoint potential openings in the building envelope. Nor were they able to give us any results right away. It will take a few days for the results to come back.

In all, disappointing. What’s the point of the test if one cannot find out right away how good or bad sealing efforts are? The builder must move on anyway and continue his work, without knowing how good his efforts to date are. Next step plaster boarding.

New Year New Adventure

With the New Year I thought I should try my hand at blogging !