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Cob: Using Bricks While Building With CobKim West kwest at arkansas.netThu Dec 5 22:41:12 CST 2002
Hi Marlin! You have a point about the urbanite. I will have to check into that very soon! Spunk? LOL! Most people who know me call it hardheaded, but I like "spunk" better! LOL! I live in south Arkansas, and I called the county extension office to find out what the frostline is around here. I wasn't given the frostline, but was told, "Most people around here usually go 18-24 inches down." I have no idea, but I imagine the frostline here is about 12 inches and people go farther so as to be certain of the effectiveness of their end product. You say you are with something called "Outta The Box"? What is that, and do you have a website? Forgive me if you included a link and I missed it! Thanks for the help Marlin! Kim Marlin wrote: In my experience, bricks are not typically tough enough for ground or underground applications, they tend to crack up and that's real bad for a cob foundation. Is it possible to get urbanite (local broken concrete) from a construction site. This we have mortared together with just a small amount of mortar/concrete and had good results. You can save the stones for the 'prettier' areas of the foundation. The broken concrete seems to be very strong as in the process of shattering it they (the demolishers) expose the fault lines of the weakest part of the concrete, leaving virtual stones that have hung together even during the equivalent of a massive earthquake (in terms of the smashing force against them). Urbanite can vary depending on how it was made/cured etc. but some common sense and visual and hammer inspection can give you an idea. With all that said I favor making a rubble trench/drain foundation underground with this urbanite/rock/mortar on the surface of the rubble trench. One secret is to insulate the outside of the rubble trench to prevent water infiltration into it. Another very real possibility that I've seen done but never tried myself is earth/sand bags that are plaster over...there's some good descriptions at some websites (dont' remember which ones though) I admire your spunk, we (Outta The Box) like to work with/for people with such open-minded thinking. BTW what area are you in, did I miss it ? Sometimes foundation requirements are quite specific to climate. Best Marlin -------------- next part -------------- <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2719.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Marlin! You have a point about the urbanite. I will have to check into that</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>very soon! Spunk? LOL! Most people who know me call it hardheaded,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>but I like "spunk" better! LOL! I live in south Arkansas, and I called the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>county extension office to find out what the frostline is around here.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I wasn't given the frostline, but was told, "Most people around here</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>usually go 18-24 inches down." I have no idea, but I imagine the</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>frostline here is about 12 inches and people go farther so as to be certain</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>of the effectiveness of their end product. You say you are with something </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>called "Outta The Box"? What is that, and do you have a website? Forgive </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>me if you included a link and I missed it!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for the help Marlin!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kim</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Marlin wrote:</FONT></DIV> <DIV>In my experience, bricks are not typically tough<BR>enough for ground or underground applications, they<BR>tend to crack up and that's real bad for a cob<BR>foundation.<BR><BR>Is it possible to get urbanite (local broken<BR>concrete) from a construction site. This we have<BR>mortared together with just a small amount of<BR>mortar/concrete and had good results. You can save<BR>the stones for the 'prettier' areas of the<BR>foundation. The broken concrete seems to be very<BR>strong as in the process of shattering it they (the<BR>demolishers) expose the fault lines of the weakest<BR>part of the concrete, leaving virtual stones that<BR>have hung together even during the equivalent of a<BR>massive earthquake (in terms of the smashing force<BR>against them). Urbanite can vary depending on how it<BR>was made/cured etc. but some common sense and visual<BR>and hammer inspection can give you an idea.<BR><BR>With all that said I favor making a rubble<BR>trench/drain foundation underground with this<BR>urbanite/rock/mortar on the surface of the rubble<BR>trench. One secret is to insulate the outside of the<BR>rubble trench to prevent water infiltration into it.<BR><BR>Another very real possibility that I've seen done but<BR>never tried myself is earth/sand bags that are<BR>plaster over...there's some good descriptions at some<BR>websites (dont' remember which ones though)<BR><BR><BR>I admire your spunk, we (Outta The Box) like to work<BR>with/for people with such open-minded thinking. BTW<BR>what area are you in, did I miss it ? Sometimes<BR>foundation requirements are quite specific to<BR>climate.<BR><BR>Best<BR><BR>Marlin<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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