Cob: cobsicles

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Mon, 2 Apr 2001, big bad matt c. wrote:

> hi
> i was wondering something about cold cob building. like northern
> ontario. is the problem just that the walls get really cold? or will it
> fall apart.  cause i like the cold and i have some ideas for dealing
> with cold walls. ill spare you the details. this is my first posting.                           
> dont laugh at me.                        ratapus.
> 

Unless the walls haven't had time to dry properly, the cold shouldn't harm
them.  If the walls haven't dried, then a really hard freeze which
penetrates the walls will cause the moisture in them to freeze and expand,
damaging or destroying the walls.  I believe I heard that something like
this happened to a cob workshop in Colorado, they got a hard overnight
freeze and the fresh cob they applied the day before was ruined.  Aside
from this, the only problem with extreme cold that I am aware of is that
cob is a poor insulator so your walls will get very cold during sustained
cold weather, so in extreme climates it would be a good idea to include
adequate insulation around the outside of your cob.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
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