[Cob] Silverfish, Tornadoes, and Humidity

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005, Brent Flaco Wilson wrote:

> I was wondering about dry stacked foundations.  They would seem to provide
> excellent habitat to numerous insects, possibly amphibians, reptiles and
> small mammals.  Any thoughts on this.  Also if one wanted to use round rock
> for a footing, what would be the best "mortar" for this under cob walls.
[snip]

Well the obvious answer is don't use a dry stacked foundation, a simple
lime based mortar while not particularly strong will give it additional
stablility as well as keeping out insects, reptiles, etc.

As far as round rock, it depends on what you mean, if they are really
round or close to it, I probably wouldn't use them, but if you just mean
irregularly shaped rocks that are not flat on two opposing sides, there is
generally nothing wrong with using these, though it will require more
mortar, and if you are in a seismic zone, depending on your design, it may
be desireable to use cement and/or rebar with the rock to give it
sufficient strength.


Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
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