Codes for Rammed Earth

Clifton Schooley is a green building professional specializing in insulated rammed earth construction and architectural design in Canada and worldwide. His vision is to create environments that are beautiful, artistic, sustainable and have a positive social impact. Clifton believes that both design and construction of a building must be intimately connected to bring maximum benefit to both people and the environment. Beyond rammed earth his ambition is to become an eco-developer and influence society on a larger scale. For more information, visit:  www.rammedearth.info

Questions and Answers

Q: I am considering putting a chimney in the back of my house which was added on and only one level with a roof that slopes approximately 10 degrees. The added section includes a kitchen about 10 feet wide and a small workroom on the end with a concrete floor. I would like to build a chimney on that floor running up through the roof, probably around ten feet high with enough extension above the roof to meet code. I think rammed earth with about 10 inch thick walls would be excellent for the chimney and either a pre-made clay liner or perhaps make my own liner with clay. Do you have any information on using rammed earth for chimneys? I am thinking adding extra cement to the mix might be a good idea to give it a little extra compressive strength and minimize the chance of it possibly falling apart from being bumped or hit (the location is in my workshop so I do a lot of work in there)

A (Quentin Wilson) NM only allows firebrick built fireboxes and factory clay flue liners. These days, I favor metal insulated or double walled flues. They do not cool down the flue gasses and there is far less build up of creosote in the chimney. Aside from that, a clay tile flue with RE surrounding it would be a great way to extract and store heat that is otherwise lost up the chimney. Just plan to be more vigilant, proactive and preventive maintenance minded regarding the flue.