I've been reading lately about the properties of lime mortarand concrete (check "building with lime"). I have an early 50's garaje that has rammed earth walls. Because recent covers with portland and plastic paint, the humidity is destroying the wall from the inside.
Amazingly the solution seems to be more breathable mortar cover using lime in the traditional way. This goes contrary against all the recomendations from modern buiding codes.
Lime mortars and concretes are very interesting for not technical (bridges and skyscrappers) applications.
Lime cures absorbing CO2 and "petrifying" for months. It has much lower compression strength, but that helps to preserve the stone used to build. When there is thermal or ground movement, the part that breaks is the lime binder and not the rock, making it easier to repare (concrete is so strong that it breaks the whole wall).
Also for small fisures, lime is self healing, it disolves with humity and fills the micro cracks. This way you can see this old european buildings that are actually leaning slightly in some direction but holding without mayor failures.
Another advantage is that it's breathable when using it as a wall cover. You don't develope "humity" stains in your wall nor it leaches white salts like the porland cement.
It can also be used to stabilize a road or ground around a house without pouring concrete, specially if you have problems with mud. Just mix a small part of lime for square meter of land, wet and ram. The ground will hold much better heavy traffic and absorb water when it rains. They are using this technique in some southamerican jungle roads as it's cheap and holds well. I've also seen videos of this method being used to improve the ground of factories.
Painting or sculping with cured lime (lime that has been rehydrated and wet for months, to allow it to cristalize). Gives you a sanitizing surface because it's extremely alcaline.
It's not a super material, in fact the structural properties are mediocre compared to modern ones, but the overall advantages are quite interesting for small buildings, decoration, and given that you are roman you could buid quite durable structures.
Very different concepts of how building materials should behave compared with modern materials (more isolation, more strength and stiffness).
About the rebar, I've read some articles about using basalt rebar (basalt glass fibers binded with epoxy).
They say it's structurally stronger than steel and not degrading nor corroding. I don't know if it really works.
Edit 1 & 2: typos and formating. Writting from the phone..
This is such an interesting point. When I was young my dad and I remodeled a 300 year old timbered home. Many people who had done the same had used foamed concrete between the beams and used modern paint. The outcome was similar to what happened to your garaje. Humidity lead to the beams starting to rod. So my dad and I used clay bricks and used lime based plaster and colors. Much more similar to how timbered houses used to be. Not only did the work come out well, but working with those materials especially the clay was a great experience. Traditional mortar will mess up your hands if you don't wear gloves whereas working with the clay was like a spa treatment.
Most sources are from restorers of old buildings and lime associations.
Building with Lime: A Practical Introduction
by Stafford Holmes et al.
Link: http://a.co/3BdZ2tp
There is a book that it's virtually impossible to find:
Artes de la cal by Ignacio Garate Rojas, who was restorer of the Alhambra de Granada and several other monuments in Spain.
Amazingly the solution seems to be more breathable mortar cover using lime in the traditional way. This goes contrary against all the recomendations from modern buiding codes.
Lime mortars and concretes are very interesting for not technical (bridges and skyscrappers) applications. Lime cures absorbing CO2 and "petrifying" for months. It has much lower compression strength, but that helps to preserve the stone used to build. When there is thermal or ground movement, the part that breaks is the lime binder and not the rock, making it easier to repare (concrete is so strong that it breaks the whole wall). Also for small fisures, lime is self healing, it disolves with humity and fills the micro cracks. This way you can see this old european buildings that are actually leaning slightly in some direction but holding without mayor failures.
Another advantage is that it's breathable when using it as a wall cover. You don't develope "humity" stains in your wall nor it leaches white salts like the porland cement.
It can also be used to stabilize a road or ground around a house without pouring concrete, specially if you have problems with mud. Just mix a small part of lime for square meter of land, wet and ram. The ground will hold much better heavy traffic and absorb water when it rains. They are using this technique in some southamerican jungle roads as it's cheap and holds well. I've also seen videos of this method being used to improve the ground of factories.
Painting or sculping with cured lime (lime that has been rehydrated and wet for months, to allow it to cristalize). Gives you a sanitizing surface because it's extremely alcaline.
It's not a super material, in fact the structural properties are mediocre compared to modern ones, but the overall advantages are quite interesting for small buildings, decoration, and given that you are roman you could buid quite durable structures.
Very different concepts of how building materials should behave compared with modern materials (more isolation, more strength and stiffness).
About the rebar, I've read some articles about using basalt rebar (basalt glass fibers binded with epoxy). They say it's structurally stronger than steel and not degrading nor corroding. I don't know if it really works.
Edit 1 & 2: typos and formating. Writting from the phone..