Cob: Re: Re: Re: Time and cost?

[Frances Grill]

Although cob ,post and beam, s.b., or any other form of construction may
contain the seeds of the muse,most people I have worked with in over 20
years of home building both in North America and Latin America and Brazil
must still work within some form of budget...unless of course you are
working on someone elses dime.Every action that is taken has an opportunity
cost...the choice of option A is a choice against option B. Consequently,
choosing a form of construction that allows us to expand our ecological
budget (presumably we are concerned about such things as ecological
footprints and energy consumption )as well as our financial budget is a
choice that merits our consideration. So I llaud "cob" or any other  people
that are as concerned about costs as they are about the artistic nature of
their product. In fact, unless one has an unlimited budget, cost
consideration allows one to be more creative in the choice of materials,site
location,and construction methods. If I have to haul clay from one county to
the next because my site is not appropriate for cob or adobe, or if I have
to pay 5-6 dollars /bale for strawbales, then maybe I am using inappropriate
materials. The costs of these materials are real to anyone who has to raise
a family,have health insurance, or needs fuel to drive to work .Anyone who
is caring enough to analyse costs and creative enough to build  a home for
next to nothing should be praised not criticised...they should also call me
and tell me how they did it but they are probably too busy doing something
else interesting with the resources they saved by being frugal.
-----Original Message-----
From: Gregori <robinson at on.aibn.com>
To: drhelp <drhelp at shaw.ca>
Cc: coblist at deatech.com <coblist at deatech.com>
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 11:24 PM
Subject: Cob: Re: Re: Time and cost?


>Strawbale is very linier and rigid in design, as cob has the full potential
>for organic in form.  A combination of the two is a good way to go.
>
>Why Cob people are pre-occupied with cost and hope to build a home for next
>to nothing is beyond us, as energy invested in such a project has direct
>results and  returns, not measurable in monitary terms.  Have some fun and
>get into the mud.
>
>Gregori
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: drhelp <drhelp at shaw.ca>
>To: Carla Kennedy <carlaevans at hotmail.com>; <coblist at deatech.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 10:36 PM
>Subject: Cob: Re: Time and cost?
>
>
>> From what I've seen, strawbale would move faster and allow you to
>accomplish
>> your goals within a more reasonable time frame than cob. Is that the
>opinion
>> of others on the list? Diana
>>
>>
>
>