cob in patio wall

[Janet Moore]

Thanks, M J, for the primer on cob construction.

The only cob work I have seen is a low wall enclosing a patio-like outdoor
seating area, at the Malachite Center near Gardner, CO.  The wall is built
on a foundation of tires left over from an abandoned experiment with that
technology. It curves nicely and contains some seating niches and a small
fireplace or two resembling the kind you see in adobe houses. I saw no
surfacing applied to the cob; the straw is plainly visible.

It would seem that cob has much potential for this freeform type of work. My
question is, can a cob wall like this be adequately weatherproofed? There
was a lot of talk in the SB list a while back about similar walls made of
bales, and how difficult it would be to prevent moisture from getting into
the top surface. Cob would be just as vulnerable, wouldn't it? 

Janet

Janet Moore
Chamisa Mapping
PO Box 4, Beulah, CO 81023
moore at usa.net