[Cob] Lime courses

[Shannon C. Dealy]

Lime courses
	Cob Cottage Company is sponsoring lime workshops
featuring experts from Wales and Canada July 18-24 in
southwest Oregon. Lime, a traditional material used
for centuries then almost replaced by Portland cement
in the last few decades, is making a comeback in
Europe, and building skills associated with lime are
being recovered.
	In this first “full-on” workshop on the West Coast,
participants will learn traditional lime techniques
July 18-22 from two Welsh specialists, Gail and Julie
Haddow. Learn the whole process, lime slaking, aging,
preparation and application for mortars, limewash,
paints, plasters and stuccos, through demonstration
and practice. Learn how to prepare cob, strawbale and
conventional walls for lime plasters and stuccos.
Cost: $480.
	This will immediately be followed by a specialty
three-day fresco and decorative art workshop featuring
professional fresco artist Karen Curry of Toronto,
Canada. Design mural and decorative motifs for borders
around windows, niches and interior cob walls. Learn
fresco technique of painting earth pigment onto lime
plaster. Cost $240.
	Take both workshops for $600, a $120 savings; all
payments cash or postal money orders, please. Both
courses will be held on the campus of the North
American School of Natural Building outside Coquille,
OR. Fees include instruction, all meals  (vegetarian)
and camping on site.
	Lime mortars, renders, plasters and limewashes have
many desirable properties:
	• They are porous and absorb moisture from the
surrounding bricks or stones. Any salt or frost damage
occurs in the lime, thus protecting the surrounding
materials.
	• They allow buildings to “breathe”. Moisture will
evaporate as rapidly as it enters. Cement stucco,
being nonbreathable, causes wall dampness, respiratory
ailments and sometimes building failures.
	• They are relatively flexible and will accommodate
wall movement. If they crack, they will “self-heal”
when exposed to air.
	• They are “soft on the eye” and complement the
beauty of other natural and traditional materials.
	• They are considered to be less harmful to human
health than many of their modern counterparts.
	• Their manufacturing and application are less
damaging to the environment than cement, which
accounts for 10 percent of greenhouse gases and
contains dioxins, PCBs, heavy metals and sometimes
radioactivity.
	• Their softness enables buildings to be recycled.
Stones and bricks can be easily cleared of lime mortar
and limewash and reused.
	For information or to register for the workshops,
contact the Cob Cottage Company,
P.O. Box 123 , Cottage Grove, OR 97424, 541-942-2005,
MWF 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Pacific time. Check out our
website for these and other courses,
www.cobcottage.com. Email cob at cobcottage.com.