When I was a child, many decades ago, there were still a few structures
around on various farms that dated from the time of the Depression and that
were largely built out of a substance called petrified hessian (hessian
being what Americans call burlap).

To build these structures, a wooden frame would be constructed and then
hessian (burlap) would nailed to the frame whilst being stretched tight.
The hessian would then be painted with a mixture made up of water, alum,
cement, salt and lime. After about 3-5 coats of this mix, the structure
would be weather proof and the walls stiff and surprisingly durable (given
that even I can remember them and I wasn't born till after WWII). It was a
very cheap form of putting up shelter and seems to have been used for
poultry sheds and similar structures.

I was wondering if this form of building was used in other parts of the
world but google is surprisingly quiet about it even if I do use burlap as a
search term instead of hessian. Has anyone come across it before?

In article ,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

When I was a child, many decades ago, there were still a few structures
around on various farms that dated from the time of the Depression and that
were largely built out of a substance called petrified hessian (hessian
being what Americans call burlap).

To build these structures, a wooden frame would be constructed and then
hessian (burlap) would nailed to the frame whilst being stretched tight.
The hessian would then be painted with a mixture made up of water, alum,
cement, salt and lime. After about 3-5 coats of this mix, the structure
would be weather proof and the walls stiff and surprisingly durable (given
that even I can remember them and I wasn't born till after WWII). It was a
very cheap form of putting up shelter and seems to have been used for
poultry sheds and similar structures.

I was wondering if this form of building was used in other parts of the
world but google is surprisingly quiet about it even if I do use burlap as a
search term instead of hessian. Has anyone come across it before?

http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile/ws/re...hessian/1/417/
TopNavigation/Relevance/iq=true/zoom=off/_iceUrlFlag=7?_IceUrl=true

Never came upon petrified hessian but some folks have.

Good Luck!

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

On Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:00:23 +1100, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

When I was a child, many decades ago, there were still a few structures
around on various farms that dated from the time of the Depression and that
were largely built out of a substance called petrified hessian (hessian
being what Americans call burlap).

To build these structures, a wooden frame would be constructed and then
hessian (burlap) would nailed to the frame whilst being stretched tight.
The hessian would then be painted with a mixture made up of water, alum,
cement, salt and lime. After about 3-5 coats of this mix, the structure
would be weather proof and the walls stiff and surprisingly durable (given
that even I can remember them and I wasn't born till after WWII). It was a
very cheap form of putting up shelter and seems to have been used for
poultry sheds and similar structures.

I was wondering if this form of building was used in other parts of the
world but google is surprisingly quiet about it even if I do use burlap as a
search term instead of hessian. Has anyone come across it before?

Hessian is the British term for burlap. Burlap is a coarse cloth
made from jute, and also hemp. I'm sure burlap was coated with all
manner of compounds to add stiffness so it could be used for
temporary/inexpensive construction. I remember in the early '40s that
a slurry was made of paper mache strengthened with asbestos and laid
up to form corrogated sheets for stiffness that could be used like
modern plywood/fiberglass. Asbestos was once a very common building
material.

http://www.jutegoods.com/hessian.htm...FWV75QodVj3xlw

Note the portion on "Pit Construction":
http://www.theownerbuilder.com.au/ar...g%20Toilet.pdf

Merriam Webster

: hes·sian

noun
Date: 1710
1 capitalized a : a native of Hesse b : a German mercenary serving in
the British forces during the American Revolution; broadly : a
mercenary soldier
2 chiefly British : burlap
---

In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

In article ,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

When I was a child, many decades ago, there were still a few structures
around on various farms that dated from the time of the Depression and that
were largely built out of a substance called petrified hessian (hessian
being what Americans call burlap).

To build these structures, a wooden frame would be constructed and then
hessian (burlap) would nailed to the frame whilst being stretched tight.
The hessian would then be painted with a mixture made up of water, alum,
cement, salt and lime. After about 3-5 coats of this mix, the structure
would be weather proof and the walls stiff and surprisingly durable (given
that even I can remember them and I wasn't born till after WWII). It was a
very cheap form of putting up shelter and seems to have been used for
poultry sheds and similar structures.

I was wondering if this form of building was used in other parts of the
world but google is surprisingly quiet about it even if I do use burlap as a
search term instead of hessian. Has anyone come across it before?

http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile/ws/re...hessian/1/417/
TopNavigation/Relevance/iq=true/zoom=off/_iceUrlFlag=7?_IceUrl=true

Never came upon petrified hessian but some folks have.

Good Luck!

Bill

http://thesearchenginelist.com/

Meant to post this in last reply.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

FarmI wrote:
When I was a child, many decades ago, there were still a few
structures around on various farms that dated from the time of the
Depression and that were largely built out of a substance called
petrified hessian (hessian being what Americans call burlap).

To build these structures, a wooden frame would be constructed and
then hessian (burlap) would nailed to the frame whilst being
stretched tight. The hessian would then be painted with a mixture
made up of water, alum, cement, salt and lime. After about 3-5 coats
of this mix, the structure would be weather proof and the walls stiff
and surprisingly durable (given that even I can remember them and I
wasn't born till after WWII). It was a very cheap form of putting up
shelter and seems to have been used for poultry sheds and similar
structures.
I was wondering if this form of building was used in other parts of
the world but google is surprisingly quiet about it even if I do use
burlap as a search term instead of hessian. Has anyone come across
it before?

My grandfather was a plumber who worked on some of the first buildings in
Canberra, this would have been about 1915, and he took his new bride to live
in such a structure on site. He described it as hessian covered with layers
of whitewash but I think it was very likely the mix that you describe
because whitewash alone would not have stayed weather proof for long.

They lived in these "tents" because there were no houses to start with as
Canberra was built on a sheep station. My eldest aunt was born there and
grandma raised her in their tent while they were there. In winter the
temperature can drop to -8C and frosty, or you can get howling winds behind
rain at 6C. There only heating would have been wood fires but the tent would
have had almost no insulation ability. In summer it gets up to 43C,
obviously there was no aircon or domestic refrigeration for plumbers, my
guess is they would have been lucky to get ice for an ice box and that would
not have lasted long. They were tough in those days.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:
When I was a child, many decades ago, there were still a few
structures around on various farms that dated from the time of the
Depression and that were largely built out of a substance called
petrified hessian (hessian being what Americans call burlap).

To build these structures, a wooden frame would be constructed and
then hessian (burlap) would nailed to the frame whilst being
stretched tight. The hessian would then be painted with a mixture
made up of water, alum, cement, salt and lime. After about 3-5 coats
of this mix, the structure would be weather proof and the walls stiff
and surprisingly durable (given that even I can remember them and I
wasn't born till after WWII). It was a very cheap form of putting up
shelter and seems to have been used for poultry sheds and similar
structures.
I was wondering if this form of building was used in other parts of
the world but google is surprisingly quiet about it even if I do use
burlap as a search term instead of hessian. Has anyone come across
it before?

My grandfather was a plumber who worked on some of the first buildings in
Canberra, this would have been about 1915, and he took his new bride to
live in such a structure on site. He described it as hessian covered with
layers of whitewash but I think it was very likely the mix that you
describe because whitewash alone would not have stayed weather proof for
long.

They lived in these "tents" because there were no houses to start with as
Canberra was built on a sheep station. My eldest aunt was born there and
grandma raised her in their tent while they were there. In winter the
temperature can drop to -8C and frosty, or you can get howling winds
behind rain at 6C. There only heating would have been wood fires but the
tent would have had almost no insulation ability. In summer it gets up to
43C, obviously there was no aircon or domestic refrigeration for plumbers,
my guess is they would have been lucky to get ice for an ice box and that
would not have lasted long. They were tough in those days.

Ah! Your post brought back memories of some interesting research I've done
in the past. I lived in Canberra for a time and still visit it often. The
city in a sheep paddock. Sometimes I think it was a waste of a good sheep
paddock.

I have a few books on early Canberra so I instantly recognised what you
wrote about and even mentally pictured the areas where they may have had
their tent home. They wouldn't recognise it now, which is a pity.