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Cob: indoor wallsShannon C. Dealy dealy at deatech.comSun Jun 27 03:10:59 CDT 1999
On Sat, 26 Jun 1999, alexander neumann wrote: > Hello everyone, > > Is there anyone who can confirm the prejudice that earthen indoor walls in > modern airthíght houses make the indoor air too dry for humans and plants? > And that the walls get wet over time? Never heard of this one, but it doesn't make any sense. Just as cob moderates the temperature, it should also moderate the humidity inside the house. Cob walls never become completely dry, they stabilize at a moisture level that is roughly equal to the average annual humidity. As far as the walls getting wet over time, this is silly, the walls start off extremely wet and it can take a year or more for a cob structure to dry to a stable moisture level. The only way for the moisture level to start climbing again would be if you have a leak in the roof or standing water at the base of the wall. [SNIP] > I can imagine that prejudice coming from old exterior walls after > "modernisation". There have been serious moisture problems inside the walls of old earthen buildings that have been treated with modern exterior sealants and plasters. These modern materials effectively seal the exterior of the wall, so that moisture released into the interior of the building by the inhabitants from breathing, cooking, washing, etc., cannot migrate out through the walls, so it builds up over time in the wall near the exterior seal, and eventually can reach levels which cause damage to the wall. Shannon C. Dealy | DeaTech Research Inc. dealy at deatech.com | - Custom Software Development - | Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications or: (541) 451-5177 | www.deatech.com
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