Cob Re: The Newberry adventure continues

[Patrick Newberry]

Well I've managed to get a few more pictures up of the house.
the URL is: 
http://www.gnat.net/~goshawk   click on current status to get to latest
and greatest photos.

Now I'm going to think out loud for a few moments.

I've come to the conclusion that there not much left of summer. You know what
that means....less sunlight, less warmth ....and around here with our close
to 50 inches (more or less) of rain per year, this is the wet season.

I've decided to make getting this space dried in as the number one priority.

Now I really don't like cement but, I am going with  cement in the roof / dome. 
A big factor was cost. It really is hard to beat cost in that area (roof)(am I 
wrong here?) but... Now else where in the house I'm going mainly with earth. 
Again, cost but I get the added factor of passion. I like dirt! I will be 
adding more cob sections after I get the roof completed.  I also will have some 
strawbale or light clay walls on the outer wall. I had hoped that I could 
combine the straw harvest season with my need for straw, but wishing don't make 
it so.

As the dome is being formed I've noticed that more water is being poured over
the outer portion of the earth walls of the inner/large dome. I'm going to put 
a temporary "skirt" using scub oaks and what ever scrap wood, plastic, cement
tin etc. to create a small over hang for the outer section of this dome. This 
would only have to serve till I get the octagon roof done.

I started to put a layer of clay straw on the inside of the dome, but time 
effort and money have made me change my mind. I making this decision on the 
fact that latter I can add a second shell over this first shell. I will then
have a space between two dome shells that I can either fill with insulation
of some type or just allow air flow (in the summer). I had one idea of putting 
this spiral tube around the dome so that the as the sun hit the dome the air 
would spiral around the dome to the top. Kind of like a giant radiator. 
In the mild winters (my opinion, not my wife's)(Middle Georgia) I could close
the vent at the top. Just wild ideas as you  can see, but still I figure the
single shell will hold me for the moment and any phase two ideas are welcomed.

Since we are talking about roofs, I'm still juggling ideas for the roof that 
covers the octagon section of the building. You'll see the vegas that go 
from the outer wall to the inner dome. It's a reasonable low slope so that's a 
factor. I feel pretty certain that the dome is perfect for the material I'm 
using, but the outer roof.... I'm still thinking about. I mean I can go ahead
and go with cement, but there is wood, and then some kind of single etc. As 
you can tell from the photos, straight lines and flat surfaces are not as 
common as in a suburban house. We are talking "organic" That is a big factor
in the cement roof equation.

I had thought about putting some 2x4 I-Beams over some sections so I don't have
to acquire any more logs (or at least not as many). I'm estimating it will take
about 40 or so logs to hold a thin shelled roof up. If i have problems with 
cracking etc, I could glue something like EPDM down on it. 

Well anyway hope everyone enjoys the photos.

Love and Light
Pat 
http://www.gnat.net/~goshawk
"There is No Hope, but I may be wrong."