Cob Is this realistic for Oregon, USA.

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Tue, 10 Mar 1998, Shon d Lenzo wrote:

> Hello-
> Does anyone on this list actually LIVE in a cob house in the Northwestern
> USA where it is wet?
> How does that work out?
> Is it warm?
> Can you leave for 3 months then return and it will be ok?
> Thanks,
>                -Shon

I don't (yet), but all three of the directors of the Cob Cottage Company
have (two different buildings), and these buildings are located in Cottage
Grove, Oregon (20 miles South of Eugene).  Both of the structures take
advantage of Southern exposure to minimize temperature swings, and both
use a built-in down-draft wood stove for heating in the Winter time.  I
have been in these structures at different times of year with widely
varying temperatures outside, and they are quite comfortable.  They do get
cold in the winter if you don't have a fire and the sun doesn't come out,
but even under these circumstances I found them more comfortable than a
conventional house that has been without heat for a comparable amount of
time.

If you are worried about the affect of the wet weather in Oregon on the
cob, don't.  Cob has been used in Wales, U.K. for hundreds of years and
there are many thousands of them over 100 years old still in use today.
Wales has a climate similar to Western Oregon/Washington, but with heavy
wind driven rains (such as you would find in some of our nastier coastal
areas).  As long as you follow the basic rules of cob house design (good
roof overhang and keep the cob walls a foot above grade), it should have
no problems anywhere in the Northwest U.S..

I am not sure what you mean about leaving them for three months, but there
are some cob structures in Cottage Grove that were left unfinished (roof,
walls, and windows in place, no doors, no exterior plaster) for
considerably longer than this without any problems.

Shannon Dealy
dealy at deatech.com