Floor
Lime Sublime - This article is part of a series.
The base layer of the floor was drainage gravel.
After my experience in my house I knew the importance of insulating a slab floor. I used XPS (extruded polystyrene) foam sheets under and around the edges. 30mm thick XPS has an R value of about 1.0. Not amazing but a lot better than nothing.
Over the XPS was a layer of cement and sand at a thickness of 30-40mm, and with a fibreglass mesh embedded. The only reason I used cement here is to make up the thickness of the floor which is otherwise made of lime… a fully lime slab at the total thickness of ~70mm would take forever to set. Cement sets well enough in 1-2 days.
Finally I was ready for the limecrete. It is the same stuff as lime plaster: lime and sand. I used a ratio of about 1 : 2 and mixed it in my pan mixer.
As I went, I embedded slate tiles into the limecrete / mortar. I was given these spectacular tiles by someone on my local Buy Nothing group!
