Cob Yoda's cob house

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Wed, 3 Dec 1997 cobcrew at sprynet.com wrote:

[SNIP]
> Note: we have not found any round 
> windows that are screened and open.  Anyone have any ideas
> about round windows where you need ventilation and have lots of mosquitoes?
[SNIP]

I have seen "port hole" windows from boats used in houses to get round
opening windows.  The brass ones look really nice too, but I have no idea
how hard these are to get today or what the cost is.  A screen for most
any window is easy to make, for a round one I would buy screen at the
local hardware store and make a round frame using a piece of bamboo, a
thin stiff plastic tube, or any other material you can find with
sufficient flexability and strength.

[SNIP]
> >Yet cob does not make a good roofing material even with a lime finishing 
> plaster.
> Well, what is the difference between all those cob ovens and a small dome?
> There are many adobe brick domes world-wide; cob offers some advantages over
[SNIP]

Cob ovens left unprotected in a wet climate collapse after a couple years
(I have seen two examples of this here in Oregon).  If you are going to
try this, be absolutely certain if you are in a wet climate that you can
trust the system you use to protect it from water.  Every earthen dome
I have ever seen pictures of which has stood the test of time was built in
a very dry climate.


Shannon Dealy
dealy at deatech.com