Practicalities on a hempcrete build - The Hempcrete Topic: Designing and Building with Hemp-lime - page 443

Somewhere for breaks and somewhere to get clean
Every hempcrete build needs a proper area to wash yourself and your equipment, and to
get clean at the end of the day. Mixing and placing hempcrete, especially in poor weather
conditions, can be a pretty messy business, and you end up getting covered in the stuff des-
pite your best efforts with protective clothing and gloves. Because of the lime in the binder,
the opportunity to clean the worst off your hands and face and out of folds in your clothing
whenever you stop for a break is not just a luxury but an important part of preventing lime
burns.
You will also want to wash out goggles and thick PVC gloves at the end of the day and
put them to dry somewhere overnight, otherwise you will get small pieces of lime-coated
hemp inside your gloves to rub against your fingers and cause lime burns, and inside your
goggles to fall down into your eyes the next time you look up at the ceiling.
For similar reasons, it is certainly preferable to have a separate area away from the work
to sit down for breaks and meals. You soon find that small pieces of lime-coated hemp
get spread everywhere around the work area, no matter how well you keep on top of the
sweeping. It's asking enough that you have to work with the stuff; you really don't want it
getting in your sandwiches or cup of tea as well.
The weather and temperature
As you will be aware by now, the weather is a much more significant factor when building
with hempcrete and lime than when using cement-based materials. Nothing is certain ex-
cept death and taxes, as the saying goes, and if there are any other contenders for certainty,
then the UK weather is not going to be very high on that list, so we advise you to consider
the points outlined below carefully before starting work.
Protecting your work (and your workers!)
Rain is the major environmental risk factor on a hempcrete build. As we have already seen,
it is imperative to keep any excess water introduced into the hempcrete wall to a minim-
um (while ensuring the presence of enough water to activate the binder). Any unnecessary
water simply extends your drying time (see Chapter 19, page 264 ), which is to be avoided
at all costs.