Cob: Cast earth countertops?? WHY NOT STONE!!!

[Patricia Kerns]

Wow!  I wish I knew where to get a nice slab for $50.  Here, if you go out
to the desert and are lucky enough to find one the right size, you can get a
guy to haul it to the site for you for about $250.  Then, you have to figure
out how to install it and cut it yourself.  For a really nice cut slab,
about $200/$300 plus several hundred to haul it in.  I love the look and
feel of stone, but it's just out of my price and skills range compared to
doing things with mud.  I imagine this is true for most of us
do-it-yourselfers.  I certainly don't have an unlimited free volunteer
force, but I get a lot done by myself and mud is amazingly easy to work
with.

I've done a lot with linseed and find that the cost isn't too bad for inside
work - maintenance is minimal.  For outside patios or counters, it would be
a different matter, as I've been told the sun degrades the linseed and it
must be reapplied periodically forever.

Patricia

-----Original Message-----
From: Ocean <ocean at peacemaking.org>
To: coblist at deatech.com <coblist at deatech.com>
Date: Saturday, October 20, 2001 10:30 AM
Subject: FW: Cob: Cast earth countertops?? WHY NOT STONE!!!


>Well, if cost is your problem, then please consider that linseed oil is
>about $10 a gallon, beeswax is even more money...after casting an earthen
>counter and then waterproofing it, you exceed the $50 an imported slab of
>flagstone might cost.  If you want to do it cheap, just use concrete!
>