Limecrete Slab

After many delays, the limecrete slab was laid by contractors The Limecrete Company on October 8th.

I had hoped that this would take place in late August or September. This would have allowed time this year, before the risk of frost, to build the stem walls. Because of the delay, I will have to build the stem walls in April next year, and will not be ready for wall-raising util the beginning of June at the earliest.

Preparation: approx. 250mm of recycled foamglass, Glapor brand from Ty Mawr, is laid onsite with a geotextile membrane below and then compacted with a plate compactor.

Recycled Foamglass: looks like a Crunchy bar, airy and very lightweight.

                                                                           

Delivery in bulk bags                                                

The Limectrete Company, Norfolk                     

Compacting                                             

250mm Average Depth                                       

Geotextile Membrane over Glapor           

 The Big Green Limecrete Machine                               

                Mixing 6 Cubic Metres in about half a day!              

Laying the slab                                                                 Floating                                          

And by the end of the day................................

And here it is a week later, now hard enough to walk on

The care advice for a limecrete slab is that it needs to harden for around 90 days before it can withstand frost, so I am going to have to do my best to protect it from winter conditions. Exposing it to air is helpful, and moisture is helpful at first.

October 24th. It's a warm and sunny day. In fact, it has been exceptionally mild since the slab was laid on October 8th, and no cold weather is on the forecast yet. However, it's November next week, and it's time to protect the new slab from frost. 

This is not exactly high-tech. I've spent £20 on tarpaulin, £15 on some bales of straw (not construction standard), and the method is best explained in pictures:

That took 3 hours, including trips up the road for straw and tarps. The idea is to leave the covers and the straw on the slab over the winter, and uncover it when I am ready to start building in the spring. It's dry and inviting under the tarps at present, hope it stays that way. There's a storm forecast for the weekend.