Cob Structural changes & Abandoned cob

[Michael Saunby]

> On Fri, 21 Nov 1997, Michael Saunby wrote:
> 
> [SNIP]
> > Does anyone know if the present range of cob buildings in the UK is the
> > same as 300 years ago?  The areas where they are now found haven't changed
> > much over the last couple of centuries, unlike many other areas.  An
> > abandoned cob house wouldn't last very long.  Cob houses don't lend 
> > themselves to structural changes either, so changes in lifestyles which
> > are more pronounced in urban areas might also be a factor.
> [SNIP]
> 
> I am a little puzzled by the statements that abandoned cob houses don't
> last long and that cob houses don't lend themselves to structural changes,
> but it may be just in my interpretation.  I have seen pictures of a couple
> of abandoned cob buildings in Devon that hadn't been maintained for
> decades, both showed noticeable deterioration, but were still useable.
> The worst of the two probably would have been in better shape, but the
> roof was failing, so the real problem was the roof not the walls.  Of
> course this could be just a difference of opinon as to what constitutes a
> "very long" time.  The idea that cob does not lend itself to structural
> changes bothers me more, since it is in my experience, the easiest system
> in which to make structural changes.  Adding a doorway or window to an
> existing wall is usually just a matter of cutting a hole in the wall with
> an old hatchet and using some fresh cob to attach the window or a mounting
> for the door.  Adding a new wall is even simpler, though it does of course
> entail all the work that building any cob wall would require.  While I
> will grant that removing a cob wall would be alot of work, it is also
> quite a bit of work to remove a conventional wall without damaging
> surrounding walls, and even more work if you try to take it apart in a
> manner that will allow you to reuse the materials rather than adding them
> to a landfill.
> 
> It is of course all a matter of perspective, so maybe I am going on about
> nothing :-)
> 

I was really thinking in terms of evidence of a cob building remaining for
centuries.  Neglecting houses for decades here is normal. You buy it, 
you fix it, you live in it, you die.  And if nobody moves in soon after,
it waits for a developer to come and "modernise" it.

You're quite right, it's the roof failing that does the real damage.  But a 
building that is dry and sound is unlikely to be abandoned, old farmhouses
are somethimes used as stores for example.  When the thatch fails they put
corrugated iron on top (You don't spend tens of thousands of pounds 
re-roofing a store).

As for structural changes, the truth is that cob has hardly been used as
a building material here for over 100 years.  Perhaps because cob is so 
easy to get rid of, many changes to cob buildings will have resulted in 
much more of the cob being removed than is really necessary.

> 
> Shannon Dealy
> dealy at deatech.com
> 
> 


-- 
Michael Saunby
Teachmore Farm, Jacobstowe, Okehampton, Devon, United Kingdom. EX20 3AJ

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