NEW BUILDING MATERIAL.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18399, 4 June 1925, Page 4

NEW BUILDING MATERIAL.

EARTH AND SAWDUST.

A new building material which is being extensively used in housing schemes in Austria and Czecho-Slovakia is about to be placed on tlio British market. It is mado from Kieselguhr—a sort of silicious marl, mixed with Portland cement and sawdust. Sir.bs and blocks made from this diatomic, infusorial earth, with sawdust and cement, are very light in weight, and the presence of a considerable proportion of diatomite imparts insulating qualities. The process of manufacture of the material i.s pateuted in Great Britain. Crushing tests have shown that cubes of the diatomite blocks wilt stand 11001b per square inch, and that when stood on edge, as in walls, it will bear a load of 5501b per square inch. Large supplies of diatomite are found in Ireland, and the inventor states that slabs could bo made there and delivered in any part of Great Britain at a moderate price. The method of using those slabs is as follows: A timber framework is first erected, and the slabs are nailed to each side to form a hollow wall, the cavity of which may bo filled or not, according to the requirements of the building. For cottage building the slabs used are generally between Jin and lin thick. The outer face of the wall may be roughcast or painted, and the slabs are sufficiently smooth to take wallpaper or distemper, and thus dispense with plastering. Houses constructed of these blocks or slabs can be built in one-third of the time required for building houses of brick. The slabs can also bo used generally as a lining, and ceiling material, and, as diatomite repels vermin, it would also help to overcome the objections on this "score in connexion with new methods of building in iron. The new material, which is naturally fireproof, is being manufactured in Vienna, Budapest, and in Praam*.