[Cob] FW: the other view...termites

[Lance Collins]

Amanda said:


>Which probably means that those of us not in desert areas do need to 
>think if we need to adapt our plans for our cob or other natural 
>building so as not to encourage them, in the posts of post and beam, 
>for instance.
>
>I lived in houses in Hawaii that you could--it wasn't 
>encouraged--put your finger through the all-wood walls because only 
>two films of paint were standing between you and the outside, the 
>rest eaten up by the same or very similar termites.
>
>(of course, this might even be a benefit--we'd prove that the "pure" 
>cob worked just fine after the posts had disappeared--and been 
>replaced by cob!!!)

I do wonder why people in termite infested areas build their houses 
of termite food and then have to use nasty chemicals to deter the 
termites.   If I mention steel I'll get lectured about embodied 
energy but steel posts for post and beam are not that expensive and 
having done a little with both wood and steel I'd say steel is easier 
to work with.

Lance
(in Aus)



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