Cob: Oklahoma thoughts and concerns

[Darel Henman]

Shawn,

swboltin at excite.com wrote:
> 
> There are a couple of driveways that have a large portion of the soil
> underneath has washed out and are being supported by re-bar alone.   I
> have read some of the other emails stating that with cob, soil compaction
> is not an issue, and in fact is often avoided. 

Depending on the soils condition compaction is probably a very good
idea.  I think people who have built cob houses without compaction or
thinking of it were just lucky.  It is also true that the wall itself as
it gets built will compact the soil underneath it, but it it is a flakey
soil, it would harm the cob wall in my opinion.  Many cob walls are
built on top of a gravel and rooks level to faciliate moving water away
from the structure.  

It sounds like you have problems with floods or water.  How did your
driveways' underground get washed out?  Think about those drains that
Mr. French designed, called, French Drains.

> How does a wall that is all one piece get around this?   Any help any of ya'll can shed on either
> issue is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks, Shawn

My 2 cents.

Darel