This is why I haven’t posted lately:
So, last year I built a house.
And this year my body built…another body! And now I’m just waiting for my body to release this baby. But there has been a little bit of work on the house. After Greg poured the finish layer of the earthen floor, it took a week or two to dry. And I was very, very excited to see that it dried without a single crack! Success!
I sealed the floor with four coats of a linseed oil blend I bought from landarknw.com. It was a bit of a splurge, but I wanted something completely non toxic. I didn’t want to be breathing in fumes from the boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits from our local hardware store, especially not while pregnant. Someone on a cob list serve had recommended LandArk’s Earth Finish for earthen floors, so I decided to give it a try. I ended up using just about one gallon, and even had a little extra to use on some of the wooden parts of the house, mainly the door frame and ladder. The floor turned out great! With each coat the color darkened until it reached a deep purplish red, and it seems to be very hard and durable. I’ve accidentally knocked my box fan into the ladder opening more than a few times. Each time that its fallen from the second story onto the earthen floor, it hasn’t even left a mark. And I’ve mopped it a few times, and it remains unchanged. I plan on waxing the floor soon, too, so it’ll be interesting to see how that affects the floor as well.
first coat of oil
the first floor..finally lived in!
I’ll post some more pictures soon…
earthen acres 