[Cob] dry stacking urbanite for a bench stemwall

[ocean]

Ianto uses clay mortar (very sandy mix of clay slip and sand) for all 
his foundations, and I don't see why this wouldn't work for an urbanite 
foundation, to level the "stones" of urbanite.  Traditional mortar 
would work too, lime putty mixed with sand, but be sure to wear gloves 
when working with lime.

Good luck!

On Aug 31, 2006, at 8:34 PM, Terra Incognita wrote:

> Hi.
>
> I am building a cob bench in Ithaca, NY.  I've dug a 3
> ft pit and filled it with tamped gravel for drainage
> and now I'm about to dry stack a bunch of urbanite
> I've gotten a hold of about a foot up before starting
> with the cob.
>
> The urbanite in question is this heavy-on-the-rocks
> concrete that had been poured into molds to give the
> appearance of variously shaped flattish stones. They
> were a friend's patio that she came to dislike and I
> took them off her hands for my bench.
>
>   They are not totally flat. If I place one on the
> sidewalk and rock it back and forth, it wiggles around
> because of all the rocks in it.
>
> My question to you, fellow cob-listers, is:  How do I
> put down level courses of this stuff? Is there a trick
> to it or is it as tedious as my initial thoughts on
> the matter would have it (meticulously adding tiny
> amounts of gravel beneath each individual piece as it
> is layed down and checking it's level to the "stones"
> around it)? A friend suggested that I put cob between
> the courses as mortar to help level it all out and
> that the drainage of my rubble trench should keep it
> all safe. I'm not so sure because it snows a helluva
> lot around here.
>
> Any advice is much appreciated. If you have been in a
> similar situation, let me know and I'd love to talk to
> someone on the phone about it. Thanks!
>
>
>
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