Cob: sacrilege

[John Russell]

Hi All,

	My first post to the list so I'm a newbie (virgin ???  <g> ).
I'm also thinking of building a bench as my first venture into cob
building and also don't want to put a roof over it. Down south (I live
in Yorkshire, UK) they use lime plaster on cob walls but would this be
ok to sit on, lime being not very good for the skin ? Or is it OK when
it's dry ?
	One of my 'to get' books is "The Best Hot Tub in the World" by
Becky Bee. I don't have a great deal of experience with hot tubs but
don't they need to hold water ? How is the inside waterproofed and
could this be applied to a bench ?
	Another option could be removeable covers. If the benches
don't have roofs then it's unlikely anyone's going to sit on them in
the rain so some sort of removable waterproof cover could be made, a
space could be left in the bench to store them when removed.
	As well as a bench I'd also like to try a hearth and some low
walls but as my rear garden is only 30' x 30' I'm limited by the
ammount of potential cob I have. Although the local farmers have now
been banned from burning corn stubble and have to plow it in instead
(ready made cob ?). I don't think a midnight raid on a local field is
really ethical (and the wife would complain that I'd filled her boot
(umm, trunk ?) with dirt !). I was thinking of 'padding' the cob out
with old plastic pop bottles and various other containers similar to a
can wall struture. A bench really isn't a load supporting structure,
except for my weight and I could go on a diet, so I could possibly use
mostly empty bottles with a cob covering ? 
	I was thinking of a papercrete base as where I work generates
a lot of printouts that are just thrown away (which I'm trying to cut
out !) and I'd like to reuse them somehow (papier pachie (?) isn't
water proof is it ? )
	As an aside, I mentioned my interest in cob and natural
building to my wife, her reaction to living in a cob house was, "Ewww,
it would smell of dirt. " I guess we could always inport some petrol
fumes and plastic smells, perhaps a discrete dispenser in a corner of
the living room ;)

>Hi All,
>I'm working with a local p-patch (community garden)
>that is very interested in having a few cob benches
>built.  Unfortunately, due to some draconian city
>codes, and some semi-draconian city inspectors, the
>group is very nervous about putting up roofing
>structures over the benches.  Is there any ways of
>finishing off a bench so that it doesn't require a
>roof? The group has said that they are willing to look
>at, if necessary, (and here comes the sacrilege)
>un-natural compounds?  Ideally I would like to do the
>whole project with a clean and clear conscious and
>building ethic, but I would rather see the benches
>built of cob with some kind of an evil coating than
>see them built from entirely evil things like PTL.
>Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
>
>Thanks,
>Dave