Cob: Better than a cob "sandwich"

>On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, Bob wrote:
>[snip]
>> Isn't straw bale too new to have a track record?  Can we assume it will not
>> powder over time and lose its strength, something we know cob, with a long
>> track record will not do.  

Shannon replied:
>No, strawbale is not new.  There are at least a few structures I have
>heard of that are in the seventy to one hundred year old range

So, strawbale is new compared to cob, but old compared to Tyvek  :)  
Shannon is right about Nebraska having 70-100 year old strawbale buildings. In fact, there is an upcoming conference and opportunity to visit some of those structures:

>2nd Nebraska Straw Bale Conference
>A Weekend of Information Sharing, Learning, Networking
>Sponsored by The Straw Bale Association of Nebraska
>Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 29-30, October 1, 2000
>4-H Camp in Nebraska's Sandhills, Nebraska National Forest, Halsey,
>Nebraska
>
>And...The Nebraska Bale Building Tour 2000
>An Opportunity to Visit Nebraska's Historic Bale Buildings and New Straw
>Bale Structures
>Wednesday, September 27 and Tuesday, October 3
>This is a self-guided tour
>Some of the historic bale buildings and new straw bale homes and
>buildings will be open to the general public and conference participants
>prior to and after the conference dates
>Most of the new bale buildings are scattered in locations east of
>Halsey; all but one of the historic buildings are located west of
>Halsey. 

[snip]  
If you are interested, send me your email (off list, of course) and I'll send you the whole announcement, which includes detailed schedule, costs, registration form, etc. Or contact:

>Joyce Coppinger
>Re:Build Associates and
>The Straw Bale Association of Nebraska
>jc10508 at alltel.net or 402.483.5135

Mark Piepkorn says there is also a strawbale house in France built in 1926, and a strawbale garage in Norway from the 40s or 50s. More info is in one of the recent issues of The Last Straw http://www.strawhomes.com

Sarah
mudhome at lycos.com
formerly at sarahm at erols.com


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