[Cob] Cobbale

[Marlin Nissen]

Speaking as a former cob 'purist' (after my first workshop)....I think that for many people/climates UTILIZING earthen materials for various techniques: cordwood mortar, stabilizing straw (Strawclay), sandwiching strawbales (cobbale) or whatever as a hybrid solution is probably the better way to go....for many of us that have suffered through wet spells or whatever having a post structure/roof over a project would have been priceless....plus wood really IS a sustainable/renewable product - if used correctly.
 
Cob (pure) is really slow and massive, things that are fine in certain circumstances - sometimes the mass is an integral part of the performance of the house (floors, inner walls etc.) and sometimes putting up posts and filling between them with straw/clay might make more sense - how much labor you have?......Ianto said "it all depends" is the answer to all questions- I agree......
 
Marlin

"dorethy at juno.com" <dorethy at juno.com> wrote:

Teresa, I have cobbale house, not quite 400 round feet, that took me two summers to build. Sorry, dear, but "fast" and "cheap" are oxymoronic, unless you have a big family who all pitch in without remuneration. I've had to hire quite a bit done, including stomping the cob, as my old bod was wearing out!
My bales, set on their sides, have 6 inches of cob on the interior walls (this was ribbed), and 4 inches on the exterior. Covered, then, with earthen plaster, and then lime plaster--a total of at least 2 feet thick. We get very cold winters in Kansas, as well as very hot summers. Having only been in it since November, I can only attest to the wonderful warm climate I had during the winter--we'll see about the summer, but I'm in the woods, so shade is all around, and I think a nice cross breeze will be sufficiently cool.

Still, like you, I like instant gratification; so I'll be building my next pod (living room) with post and beam with strawbale infill. Sorry to disappoint all the cob purists out there. Any more questions, I'll be happy to answer.
Dorethy




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End of Coblist Digest, Vol 3, Issue 39
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