Papercrete pros and cons
Why consider papercrete? There is an ongoing debate whether papercrete should be used for housing projects. On the other side are the people that support the idea of using them because of the environmental significance while on the other side is the people who don’t support them because of safety measures. Both of them have their own point to prove and we’ll take a look at them one by one in this article.The major argument for those who advocate the use of papercrete is its ability to use cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials. Papercrete uses mainly paper. Almost 50% of the materials in papercrete are made of recycled paper and the rest is the combination of cement, sand and water. With proper procedure, you can be assured of something really sturdy with very little cost.
This brings us to the next argument of those who advocate them. Since you’ll be using recycled paper, you don’t need to pay for a more expensive material such as sand, and cement. Some even use lime stones to make sure that the strength and durability of the material is guaranteed. You won’t need a calculator in comparing the savings that you need if you’re constructing a papercrete home compared to a house made of concrete and tiles. Based on the things that were just noted, those who support them are clear in their vision in creating more earth friendly and cost efficient homes.
On the other hand, you might want to consider the thoughts of those that doesn’t really approve in using them in your homes. No, they are the people that don’t want something earth friendly in their house but what they’re more concerned of is the safety that comes with the creation of papercrete. Sure some professionals make sure that these materials will last as long as regular concrete, but there are so many variations in creating papercrete that you really don’t know which one is correct or which one is the best. At this stage in history, it’s all hit or miss in creating the best papercrete. Because of this, it quite impossible to create a standard in creating this type of material. Careful consideration and control still has to be done to ensure the safety of these materials.
Another bad thing about papercretes are the ability to get a loan using your house as a collateral. We all know that lending corporations don’t just give you money for something because you have a cute little home as collateral, they will also take a look at the home if it’s worth the money they will give to you. Unfortunately, papercrete can’t be classified into anything so the you’re going to have a hard time looking for a good creditor willing to give you the loan. If you’ll find one, the rates could be higher than normal homes.
In the end, papercrete will definitely be part of the common home in the near future. However, at this point we still need to know more, talk to more persons and create better standards for this to be accepted in any community in the country.
