[Cob] An good example of why we need a cob building "standard"

[Marlin Nissen]

It appears to me that the 'gotcha' of the building standards is NOT necessarily the answer either...it's a bit tricky.
   
  If, for instance, someone goes out and builds "any old thing that you want" and it falls down it looks very bad for the technique.
   
  HOWEVER usually building standards include things like "stabilizers" and other standardized polluting materials (concrete, asphalt, manufactured blah blah blah) that we should stop using, and find alternatives, if we want to pass on any LIVABLE planet to our grandchildren.....
   
  If I can OVERBUILD a cob house, foundation and all, that is better then ANY conventional built house (guarantee that I can) why can't it pass some type of common sense standard? Why are ASME & MSDS standards the key to building? If the lintel you use is over-sized, the Roman arch you use is done perfectly, the rubble trench is secure and well drained, the overhangs etc etc etc. Cob houses have withstood time much longer then wood ones - the Ahimsa foundation is obviously to blame, not the Cob......
   
  This type of commonsense building expertise is accessible to almost anyone, especially if you have some support from someone that has built something well before. If inspectors were free to use their best judgment (and not terrorized by lawsuits) and allowed to pass WELL BUILT homes we would be making progress......
   
  Again I'm concerned that the "baby with the bathwater" code will include stabilizing and reinforcing the oldest known building material and force toxic polluting materials into the vernacular.
   
  Marlin
   
  - IOWA, USA - the home of the Free and the Brave 
                                               - where everything is Banned or Mandatory

Ocean Liff-Anderson <ocean at woodfiredeatery.com> wrote:
  The following coblist post is a good example of why we need a cob 
building standard and also why, lacking a standard, we should never 
expect building officials to take us seriously:

In the first paragraph, the author doesn't offer any description of 
how an arch should be built, except you can have "any kind you 
want". He doesn't specify the need for more straw, as Linda and 
Ianto teach in their classes. The author then says you need a 
"strong enough board" over windows, but doesn't help the original 
poster determine what is strong enough.

In the second paragraph, the author discounts any concerns over wind 
and seismic forces, offering cute patter about the big brother 
tornado. He disregards any concerns of builders who may be in high 
wind locations (like the Deep South, where land is cheaper?). Later 
on he does say "taller" walls need to be "thicker" for seismic 
strenght. This answer is like many found on the coblist, off-the-cuff 
HERESAY, which offer no specific information on just how to build 
with cob!

The cob building at Ahimsa Sanctuary has many structural cracks which 
have appeared due to a foundation which lacks a concrete-rebar bond 
beam, with differential settling in the soil under the walls. We 
have yet to figure out how to repair it, or if the building will 
eventually need to be demolished. And this was a building created 
through a Cob Cottage workshop with much advice from cob "experts".

As a result I may have become more cynical about cob than necessary, 
but when I imagine folks creating homes without proper training - and 
following off-the-cuff advice and heresay they find here on the 
coblist - I get very nervous and concerned for their safety.

I suggested the Independent Cob Building Standard as a way to protect 
the home builder first, and second to appease the building 
department. If for the moment, we abandon the quest to get building 
permits and official approval, at least we should be concerned that 
the cob houses we build will be strong enough so they don't collapse 
on us!

Do you think building advice given on the coblist should be so 
cavalier and unfounded?

Ocean Liff-Anderson
Steward, Ahimsa Sanctuary
http://www.peacemaking.org



=========================

  "And so long as they were at war, their power was preserved, but when they had attained empire 
they fell, for of the arts of peace they knew nothing, and had never engaged in any employment higher 
than war." Aristotle on Politics

   

       
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