[Cob] bad idea/good idea??

[Clint Popetz]

On Mon, May 30, 2005 at 07:53:21PM -0700, Copper Harding wrote:
> I hope everyone is out in the dirt enjoying their
> summer cobbing projects!!  Myself, well, I got into a
> "discussion" with a friend about doing a strawbale
> wrap around the north side of a building.  I am
> curious if you build your stemwall only wide enough
> for the cob (load bearing part of the building)... 
> 
> Would it be possible AFTER you finished the building
> to build an on-grade stemwall outside of the cob wall
> and place a strawbale wrap on top of it?  

I wouldn't do an on-grade stemwall unless you are in an area that
doesn't freeze (or unless you have a rubble trench under it.)

> Would you need to tie it into the cob somehow?  

If you are going to plaster the two together to make it look like one
wall, but the two aren't on the same foundation and aren't tied
together, they'll likely settle at different rates, and the plaster
over the seam between the two (i.e. on the north end of the east and
west walls, if I'm understanding you correctly) would then crack.  

I wrapped a strawbale wall around the north wall of my cob greenhouse,
and it does wonders for insulation, but I didn't plaster it.  It's
under the roof overhang, so it stays pretty dry, and then each spring
I use those bales for mulch, and replace the wall each fall as winter
approaches.

			-Clint