[Cob] finding stats

[claysandstraw]

Sara- your first clue: when looking for cob stats use the word "adobe".  My
favorite structural engineer in Santa Fe considers them identical... he did
admit that monolithic adobe could be stronger than assembled blocks.  I have
found that using load and shear calculations from adobe blocks gives you
whatever you need.
For working with your township: give them a printed version of the NM adobe
code (check Questin Wilson's page- he has a downloadable PDF of the code
there).  Inspectors like to know that they would not be the first to approve
a mud structure.

So as a personal anecdote: after taking two years off to study natural
building including an apprenticeship and various workshops, I STILL learned
things from the NM earthen building code that no one had mentioned to me
before...

1. structurally, bond beams are worth it
2. the distance that headers bear on walls beyond the window opening is
quite crucial
3. stem walls should rise above interior floors

(not to say everything in that code is perfect, for example... they still
allow portland in plasters over non-stabilized mud walls - but at least they
don't force you to put it in)

By the way.  The NM building code is a state adopted amendment to the
International Building Code advocated for and put in by the people of the
state.  Yeah, the people who cared about it got up and wrote their own law,
go figure.
Kindra



>From: "Sarah Booth"
>Subject: [Cob] "official engineering stats"???


> ...I would love to know about any sources on any official engineering >>
>stats. I am currently trying to get a permit for a partially constructed
cob
>structure and have been beating my head against my computer screen for most
>of the winter trying to find anything but anecdotal evidence in support of
>cob structural strength.