Hi MM > >>I can't emphasize this too much for everyone living in a rural > >>area---FIREPROOF YOUR NEW HOUSE.. Never, ever use cedar or asphalt > >>shingles---a standing-seam metal roof outlasts anything else and > >>will survive a shower of unwanted sparks from a blazing National > >>Forest or unused hayfield. Corrugated sheet metal works as well for > >>roof and exterior walls, is much cheaper and doesn't look quite so > >>nice. Well, maybe not, I've seen some very nice looking housed in > >>East Texas using corrugated enameled steel roofs and wall siding. > >>If you are really in a high risk area for forest fire, a roof and > >>wall sprinkler system is the best fire insurance you can buy---it > >>will get a twenty percent or more premium reduction from your > >>swindling insurance company---always better to avoid fire than fight > >>the inevitable fight with the insurance company if your house burns > >>down. They won't be happy, and you won't be happy unless you have a > >>wide fire-break between your house and a potential forest fire. > >> > >>Rock is fireproof, but very time consuming to lay up properly. Dirt > >>won't burn either. In any but the most benign climates, if you lay > >>up rock, adobe or CEB--make it in cavity-wall format. to minimize > >>loss of heat or coolth. In earthquake country reinforce walls > >>adequately too. > >I wonder why the poster left out concrete or steel framing? Too much >interaction with modern civilization necessary for these >more-industrialized materials to be used?
Not sure - I am sure he'd know all about it though. He does add something about concrete in a follow-up post, but it's more about termites. (Below.) I don't know much about concrete and steel framing - is it cost-competitive? Is it in fact that industrialised? He seems to have been thinking more of using locally available materials. >Anyway, thx for the excellent post. Yer welcome MM. Follow-up: >I didn't say a thing about termite protection. Should know better. >It was important when I was building tract housing in the early >50's---today it is infinitely worse with the widening infestation of >the ravenous Formosa Termite. Termites won't eat concrete, but will >run their dirt access tunnels up poured concrete or block stem walls >to get at anything containing cellulose---starting with stud walls >and eating your roof structure for dessert. This is principally a >hazard of crawl-space houses where the tunnels are concealed. >Poured-basement houses are unaffected. Block basement houses are >extremely vulnerable. Cap those exposed interior passages at both >ends. > >Slab houses can be affected though. In a cold climate, slabs are >designed to float inside the stem-wall, so the ends are insulated >from the stem wall by a couple inches of styrofoam insulation. If >you don't do this, in midwinter there will be up to two feet of >frost extending inwards from all your exterior walls. Termites >don't metabolize styrofoam, but they will tunnel through it to get >to wood. Good idea to employ an insulation that is, or can be made >chemically poisonous to termites (and roaches). Boric acid >works---has to have a metal shield or other vapor barrier under it >to prevent water or water vapor leaching it away. There are other >chemical applications---research them carefully, manufacturers have >no inhibitions abour misrepresenting product safety---by the time >someone is seriously injured and attempts to sue them, they have >collapsed their corporation and moved to the Cayman Islands where >they can thumb their noses at you. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
