Building with hemp

In the event that was held during 12th - 14th of June, 2013, approximately 20 people
together with Steve Allin, worked and focused their attention on hemp as a building
material. This project started with a brief introduction to hemp as a plant and its
history; and participants as well had a chance to see already existing hemp buildings
in the whole world and a chance to understand the characteristics of hemp so that it
could be called as a miracle plant.

The main purpose of the project wasnt to ensure that the building is done, but it was
made for people to start to understand the way hemp can be used in a connection with
other natural building materials, so they could have practice in all necessary building
processes: mixing building material (using the right proportions), filling the frame
with mixture, tapping the mixture correctly, making different mixtures for walls,
floor, roof and plaster.

This is Koroinen made Do it yourself (DIY) project kit, according to the things that
were done during the project. NB! Please, dont use this material as the main
source for your building process, but contact some local authorities that know
the exact way how things should be done.
 Most important things you should know:

Hemp is one of the crops that are called the Best fiber crops, that include flax,
kenaf, jute, nettle, ramie. These plants are well known because of their outer skin
that contains long fibers for which they were produced. Hemp delivers 3 items:
seed, fiber and cellulose bio-mass. For building industries the main focus is on
fiber and bio-mass.
Both - the hemp fibers that are used in isolation matting and the hemp hurds
(fiber broken into smaller parts) that are used in hempcrete provide breathable
material that allows moisture to pass through the structure which prevents
condensation problems, and must be used with other such breathable materials.
Hempcrete can be called carbon negative (or more ecological than other building
materials) because the amount that it absorbs just by growing is bigger than the
amount of carbon dioxide that is created during the manufacture of binders.
For this project, to create the DIY approach, the shuttering system was build
using plywood and coach screws.
The thickness of the walls was 50 mm but it was changing due to some problems
of plywood attachment.
The difference between hydrated lime and hydraulic lime: Hydrated lime (this
was used for building in Koroinen) the water had been added before. When
water leaves it, it brings in CO2, and it sets; Hydraulic lime needs water to be
added and it sets.
Proportions for the ground level support mixture (our case): sand, lime, water
Proportions for wall mixture (our case): 60 liters Hemp, 20 liters Lime, 4 liters
Brick dust, 18 liters water.
Proportions for roof mixture (our case): 60 liters Hemp, 10 liters Lime, 15 liters
water
Proportions for plastering mixture (our case): 30 liters Hemp, 30 liters Lime,
2 liters Brick dust.
Step 1
In our case the frame was already made before the project,
but the main thing that should be considered is to decide
whether you want the frame to be visible (like old
buildings in France and Germany, etc.) or to be hidden in
the wall. In our case, the frame had to be inside the wall
in the middle of all construction.

Step 2
Decide what kind of building materials you want to mix
with lime (you can also use: earth ships, straw blade, cob
and others). And calculate how much do you need for it
for this purpose, please, find a constructor and carpenter
if you are not sure of your own calculations. In our case the materials were: hemp,
lime, brick dusts, water, our calculations have been given above.

Step 3
The bigger the mixer is the better the work goes on. Learning from our experience, we
would have had finished all of the walls if we would have had a bigger or a better
second mixer. Due to some problems with the second mixer, the mass that was used
for building, mostly, was made just by 1 mixer. With bigger amount of mass, it is
possible that one person makes the mixture, second person fills in the frame and taps
it, and the third one makes it smoother. Make sure that you calculate enough time (in
days) that will be needed for full construction to be done.
Step 4
Safety lime can be a harmful substance if it
has access to some wounds or burned skin, so
make sure that you have your working clothes
on and that you have glowes on your hands. It
is also good to have a protecting mask, because
of the amount of dust that will be created
during mass mixing process.

Step 5
At first, you need a mixture that will protect the
ground level from moisture. We added it above
the frame material and as a first layer in the
walls.

Step 6
After that we attached plywood for the filling
process. Remember to leave a space if you want to have the frame inside the wall. In
our case, the wall was 50 mm thick which is the minimum for Hemp buildings so that
the wall could maintain heat and cold when needed (according to seasons).

Step 7
First try of wall building mixture add brick dust and lime first, then add a little bit of
water, then add hemp, and the rest of the water. Please, wear masks, so the dust
wouldnt affect your breathing system.

Step 8
When the mass is ready it should be damp enough to hold together as a lump when
squeezed in hand.
Step 9
Fill the frame. At first it should be smoothened out and then tapped. It is important not
to tap too hard because in that way the mixture could be divided in hemp and other
building material mass, but that is not what we want. Tap it carefully. The most of the
tapping is needed around the wooden frame and outside walls.

Step 10
You will need a tapping instrument, this tool is created for the tapping, the narrow
part is meant to reach smaller gaps of the wall.
Step 11
When one of the tapping parts is done, dont take the framing plywood right away,
but let it harden a bit. When you take it away, wash it, so the other parts of wall
wouldnt stick to it. Attach it to the middle of the already existing wall, so that the
new material could be attached to the previous layer.

Step 12
In the case of rainy weather, make a shelter out of rain protecting material the hemp
walls will dry more slowly.
Steep 13
You can use hemp fibers for isolating the windows

Step 14
In the plastering process, remember, that there should be upwards directed
movements, so that the mixture wouldnt fall off. Use both your arms to stick plaster
to the wall.

Step 15
Roof fill it, press it a little, but not
too much level it.
Step 16
You can use plaster to decorate the walls, to make built in shelves and other figures.

Step 17 and the following ones

Because of the problems with weather and equipment, we didnt have a chance to
make an example for building the floor, but in case the Koroinen staff members will
try to finish building process, we will let you know how that went.