Cob: Re: Cob/light clay hybrid

[Elke Cole]

In my experience (on Vancouver Island) light clay dries slowly and probably
wouldn't make it inside two layers of cob before the straw starts rotting.
I've read about walls of light clay in Germany one foot thick that were
rotten within 5 years, because they never completely dried out at the
core...
Keeping the straw dry and stuffing the flakes into the wall might work?
Elke

presenting
Natural Builders Colloquium on Vancouver Island, BC
April 26- May 2, 2001
Check www.island.net/~elkec/calendar.htm#colloquium

for more info
----- Original Message -----
From: "K. Clouston" <dognyard at worldgate.com>
To: <coblist at deatech.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 9:28 PM
Subject: Cob: Cob/light clay hybrid


> Has anyone tried building a cob house building essentially hollow walls
> (with cob inside outside, letting them dry/cure, then tamping the hollow
> middle with light clay or slip straw? If so, how thick would the cob
> walls need to be in order to withstand the tamping of the slip straw?
>
> I'm wondering if this could, in essence speed up the drying/curing time
> of the walls. I live in a cold climate with potentially severe winters
> and would like to find a workable solution to the problems of
> freezing/thawing of uncured cob.
>
> Likewise, has anyone considered building large bricks of slip straw (not
> as large as straw bales, storing them until cured, then using those as
> infill within cob walls...perhaps in a honeycomb pattern or implementing
> a light wood frame construction with slip straw / cob walls?
>
> Karen Clouston,
> Alberta
>