Papercrete
Papercrete is a fairly new low cost mortar mix for making blocks, panels, poured walls, roofs, plasters, renders, paving, pond liners, etc.
A typical papercrete mix contains paper pulp, cement and sand. But there are many variations on the theme, with various mixes tailored to for example structural mortar, insulation, waterproof pond lining, paths and so on.
Papercrete is
- Rotproof, due to the high pH cement content
- Fireproof, due to the mineral content
- Insulating
- Bulletproof
- Structural, if rebar or similar is embedded
- Very cheap, as its mostly scrap paper pulp
- Can be screwed into without drilling or plugging
- A good noise barrier
Papercrete's novelty means there is a lack of long term studies on its performance, but the results of its short time of use are very encouraging.
Papercrete is mostly pulped scrap paper, but many other materials can also be incorporated as well as or instead of cement & sand. The following can all be used:
- Lime
- Sand
- Clay subsoil
- Silt
- Wood chippings
- Sawdust
- Expanded polystyrene
- Fibrous weed and plant material
- Broken bricks, blocks, tiles, stone, etc
- Ground brick, tile, glass, stone waste
- Clinker, slag, etc
The main downsides of papercrete are
- Lack of BR approval for use in housebuilding in the UK
- Lack of long term studies
- Need for a paper pulping mixer if making enough to build a house
- Moving the mix into final position takes either a trash pump or a fair bit of labour
A good starting point, with lots of pretty pics is here: http://www.livinginpaper.com/