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

[Vicki Wicker]

At 10:28 AM 10/20/01 -0800, Ocean wrote:
>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!


It should be a quadrangle, not a triangle. Time-Cost-Quality and
MOTIVATION. We have some very good friends who are also wanting to live
"green". They've yet to turn one spade of soil and this week are having a
used trailer delivered to their place. We have about one third of our
planned home finished and livable.
They were as smart and capable as we are, just haven't found the grit to
get to it and get it done.

>
>BTW:  I've found most natural building solutions are not inexpensive, and
>obey the same time-cost-quality triangle rule that conventional building
>techniques follow.  (Trying to save time or cost affects quality...etc)
>
>For most of us folks, an unlimited free (volunteer) labor force isn't
>available, so saving money on materials is offset by having to hire labor.
>Aren't there an awful lot of partly-built but unfinished cob dream homes out
>there?
>
>Ocean
>
>> From: Charmaine R Taylor <tms at northcoast.com>
>> Organization: www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
>> Reply-To: Charmaine R Taylor <tms at northcoast.com>
>> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 09:22:06 -0700
>> To: Ocean <ocean at peacemaking.org>, coblist at deatech.com
>> Subject: Re: Cob: Cast earth countertops??  WHY NOT STONE!!!
>> 
>> Ocean darlin', we are talking about that, and no, most people can't get
>> what you have cheaply, which is stone, and can't cut it themselves, so
>> they end up paying $$$ for a trained stone masonry installer to do it.
>> 
>> Casting is a very very cheap option, so why shout?
>> 
>> There are beautiful cast in place huge stone planter boxes, and garden
>> benches, etc made with simple materials, and the person gets to do it
>> themself, not have to pay for transporting heavy heavy stone, cutting,
>> fitting, etc. Yes it wouold be nice to have access to great stone, you
>> are lucky.  Why don't you offer to come and deliver and cut it and place
>> it for a very low fee to us natural builders??
>> 
>> Charmaine
>> http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
>> 
>> 
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