Cob: stucco question

[Louis]

Tar paint to the rescue!

Although a waterproof layer is supposed to cause trouble with 
delaminating  and sloughing, it sounds like the only solution in some 
locales.  Like wind-driven rain locales where three foot eaves aren't enough.

Jay, do you see patching or constant maintenance where people in England 
use that tar  paint on cob?

I've seen pictures of the erosion that backsplash causes, and I wouldn't 
want it on my house.  That's why I like the three foot plinth that Mike Wye 
recommends.

Louis

  jamie.ayres at m2.com wrote:
>One thing I've seen on a few houses in rainy England is the use of slate.
>It's not cheap but it is flat and very weather resistant.Looks good too!
>
>You could also use a coating of a tar paint (like in Old Minehead and
>other picturesque English towns).
>
>My worry with the stucco would be that the mud plaster on the outside wall
>will expand and contract faster or slower than the stucco at the bottom
>and you'd end up with a ridge  between stucco and mud plaster. That would
>probably act as a moisture trap even worse than simply allowing the bottom
>of the wall to get wet (surface wet) and dry off naturally.  Also the
>stucco will heat up and cool at a different rate to the mud which will
>attract condensation... possibly inside the wall if a gap forms.
>
>The tar paint appears to be the most popular method used over here in
>coastal towns where the rain gets rather heavy and persistant!  It might
>look quite nice as well :o)
>
>btw, indirect splashes at the bottom of the wall is to be expected. It
>shouldn't actually cause dampness inside the house because it'll simply
>dry off and not soak in (it's not being soaked directly from the rainfall)
>but it'll require more maintenance to stop the wall eroding over time.
>
>HTH
>Jay
>
>
>Jamie Ayres / M2 Communications Ltd / http://www.m2.com
>Any views expressed in this e-mail are not necessarily the same as those
>of my employer.