Two story building

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Thu, 24 Oct 1996, patrick newberry wrote:

> Boy do I want to go .....maybe next year.
> 
> I am strarting on my initial plans for my cob house. 
> I hope I get to attend a work shop prior  to my building
> anyway 
> I was thinking ....
> one was  do the folks in Oregon  ever use cement on the outside of the house.
> I was also tossing the idea of a two story vs  a one story building.
> One story less height to carry cob and overhangs protect wall better
> 
> two stories - double the room for the same roof.
> 
> Most cob/adobe/mud structures are only one story right?
> 
> 

I'm back!  Sorry you couldn't be at the colloquium Patrick, hope to see
you there next year.

For the most part natural plasters are used on cob (no cement).  I have
seen a number of recent postings indicating that there are problems with
long term adhesion between cement based plasters & earthen construction, 
though I don't have any personal experience with it.

I have seen pictures of cob buildings that were several stories tall
(11 stories comes to mind though I can't say for sure), several buildings
displayed on the cob web site are at least two stories.  One disadvantage
of going multiple stories is that generally the lower walls are made
thicker to support the additional weight, as well as provide more
stability, so the tradeoff is that the smaller roof makes it necessary
to make more cob for your walls.  Also as you mentioned above, you will
get less protection of the walls from your roof overhangs which will
cause faster weathering of the cob or plaster in those climates where rain
is a common occurance.

Shannon Dealy
dealy at deatech.com