Cob: Wax Preservative

Fri Sep 28 11:16:15 CDT 2001

Dear Kathryn, 

Your letter was inspiring, entertaining, and thank you.  

Boiled Linseed oil will no doubt help to preserve the wood a bit, but termites might find it tasty and a good seasoning for the scrumptious poplar being considered.   Poplar was never used as a serious building material, a weed better replaced with hemp or other species more vital..   

Perrifin Wax,  is no doubt, the best and the oldest preservative in the world as professed by the world renowned  researcher,  William Nelson of EcoWax International.  As we speak, venture capitalists  are lining up to invest in Ecowax International, as Mr. Nelson's research is being released to the public.  As quoted from Willy Nelson of Perth, Ontario, the worlds leading researcher in wax technology:  "Wax has endless environmental applications and at the same time, a waist product of the oil industry", interesting point, you must agree.

> >
> >If anyone has read this far :-)...can you tell me if I use boiled 
> >linseed oil on
> >the poplar (they will be stripped of bark and allowed to dry over the winter),
> >do you think that would help to preserve them a bit?
> >
> 
> Some fifty years or so my grandparents lived in an A frame wattle and 
> daub cottage in the English fens - the house is alas now gone in the 
> fifties zeal to demolish the unhygienic but the relevant points of 
> the construction are as follows.
> 
> The house was believed to have been built (from evidence in manor 
> rolls etc) some time in the late 12th/early 13th centuries. The 
> surrounding land was peat which was only finally fully drained in the 
> early 20th century although water rose half way up the walls in the 
> floods of 1947 and 1953 to my knowledge. Demolition revealed that 
> the oak A frame timbers at each end had each been floated on a 
> cowhide filled with melted tallow. About two feet of pea gravel had 
> been laid over the peat before the timber frame had been put in. At 
> some time an oak central post (18 inch diameter tree) into which the 
> spiral staircase leading to the attic floor was pegged (probably 15th 
> century judging by the construction techniques in the attic floor) 
> had been added. This had simply been sunk through the gravel and had 
> rotted right through when I was a child so that the staircase was 
> actually suspended from the floor timbers above - a very unnerving 
> experience for a small child going to bed as it swung freely from 
> side to side and had no hand rail!
> 
> The rest of the construction was a double willow wattle construction 
> with clay infill and daubed and whitewashed coating inside and out. 
> Almost three feet thick at the base tapering to 12 inches at the 
> eaves. My grandparents were very careful about the maintenance of the 
> whitewash for obvious reasons. On occasion the coating would be 
> damaged and some of the cob would crumble, sometimes revealing sound 
> willow wattle and sometimes falling into holes right through. When 
> the latter happened it was my grandmothers practise to stuff the hole 
> with crumpled newspaper and fill in with more clay brought from the 
> banks of the nearest dyke where it was regularly dredged out to keep 
> the drainage open. She then simply whitewashed over as soon as it was 
> dry.
> 
> Worked fine for seven or eight hundred years. Had better U values 
> than the 1940 mass concrete that forms the core of our present home 
> too. Especially with goose down beds and quilts.
> 
> kathryn
> 
> 
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<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#808080 face=Bart size=4>Dear Kathryn, 
</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#808080 face=Bart size=4>Your letter was inspiring, 
entertaining, and thank you.  </FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#808080 face=Bart size=4>Boiled Linseed oil will no 
doubt help to preserve the wood a bit, but termites might find it tasty and a 
good seasoning for the scrumptious poplar being considered.   Poplar 
was never used as a serious building material, a weed better replaced with hemp 
or other species more vital..   </FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#808080 face=Bart size=4>Perrifin Wax,  is no 
doubt, the best and the oldest preservative in the world as professed by the 
world renowned  researcher,  William Nelson of EcoWax 
International.  As we speak, venture capitalists  are lining up to 
invest in Ecowax International, as Mr. Nelson’s research is being released to 
the public.  As quoted from Willy Nelson of Perth, Ontario, the worlds 
leading researcher in wax technology:  “Wax has endless environmental 
applications and at the same time, a waist product of the oil industry”, 
interesting point, you must agree.<BR><BR></FONT></STRONG></DIV><FONT face=Arial 
size=2>> ><BR>> >If anyone has read this far :-)...can you tell me 
if I use boiled <BR>> >linseed oil on<BR>> >the poplar (they will be 
stripped of bark and allowed to dry over the winter),<BR>> >do you think 
that would help to preserve them a bit?<BR>> ><BR>> <BR>> Some fifty 
years or so my grandparents lived in an A frame wattle and <BR>> daub cottage 
in the English fens - the house is alas now gone in the <BR>> fifties zeal to 
demolish the unhygienic but the relevant points of <BR>> the construction are 
as follows.<BR>> <BR>> The house was believed to have been built (from 
evidence in manor <BR>> rolls etc) some time in the late 12th/early 13th 
centuries. The <BR>> surrounding land was peat which was only finally fully 
drained in the <BR>> early 20th century although water rose half way up the 
walls in the <BR>> floods of 1947 and 1953 to my knowledge. Demolition 
revealed that <BR>> the oak A frame timbers at each end had each been floated 
on a <BR>> cowhide filled with melted tallow. About two feet of pea gravel 
had <BR>> been laid over the peat before the timber frame had been put in. At 
<BR>> some time an oak central post (18 inch diameter tree) into which the 
<BR>> spiral staircase leading to the attic floor was pegged (probably 15th 
<BR>> century judging by the construction techniques in the attic floor) 
<BR>> had been added. This had simply been sunk through the gravel and had 
<BR>> rotted right through when I was a child so that the staircase was 
<BR>> actually suspended from the floor timbers above - a very unnerving 
<BR>> experience for a small child going to bed as it swung freely from 
<BR>> side to side and had no hand rail!<BR>> <BR>> The rest of the 
construction was a double willow wattle construction <BR>> with clay infill 
and daubed and whitewashed coating inside and out. <BR>> Almost three feet 
thick at the base tapering to 12 inches at the <BR>> eaves. My grandparents 
were very careful about the maintenance of the <BR>> whitewash for obvious 
reasons. On occasion the coating would be <BR>> damaged and some of the cob 
would crumble, sometimes revealing sound <BR>> willow wattle and sometimes 
falling into holes right through. When <BR>> the latter happened it was my 
grandmothers practise to stuff the hole <BR>> with crumpled newspaper and 
fill in with more clay brought from the <BR>> banks of the nearest dyke where 
it was regularly dredged out to keep <BR>> the drainage open. She then simply 
whitewashed over as soon as it was <BR>> dry.<BR>> <BR>> Worked fine 
for seven or eight hundred years. Had better U values <BR>> than the 1940 
mass concrete that forms the core of our present home <BR>> too. Especially 
with goose down beds and quilts.<BR>> <BR>> kathryn<BR>> <BR>> 
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