[Cob] Apology to the list [was Re: self-building - ovens vs. dwellings]

[Peter Kaulback]

I must apologize to the entire list as this reply was private, I did not 
pay attention to how this message was filtered in my email app and so I 
incorrectly addressed it to the list.

Thank you,

Peter Kaulback

Peter Kaulback wrote:
> Certainly with any structure using load bearing exterior walls there is 
> the risk of collapse, whatever the materials used for the wall there is 
> always a risk of injury or death. If a wall is a few hundred pounds or a 
> few thousand the risk is there. Dig a well and see the effects of the 
> earth alone.
> 
> This isn't to say never try without hands-on training, if one is 
> confident in their abilities then I believe one should try. Otherwise 
> nothing gets built. I see many farmers and others in rural locales do it 
> every day.
> 
> As detailed as Kiko was with his oven book so is Becky Bee with her cob 
> building book: The Cob Builders Handbook. Both of which leave much for 
> experimentation and exploration, the best kinds of books I believe.
> 
> On a side note, did you use straw in your ovens interior layer?
> 
> Peter Kaulback
> 
> Ocean Liff-Anderson wrote:
>> It is possible to build an oven with very little instruction, especially 
>> since Kiko Denzer has outlined in excruciating detail all the 
>> information necessary in his book, Build Your Own Earth Oven.
>>
>> An oven is a simple dome structure, and once fired most of the straw 
>> "cokes" (burns to carbon without any flame) and no longer yields 
>> strength to the oven.  The domed-nature of the oven is supported in part 
>> by the lightly-fired clay center, which now resembles a weak porcelain.
>>
>> Building a dwelling or other structure where people will be inside, 
>> under a wall-supported roof is another story altogether.  I would not 
>> recommend it.  The roofing and walls of a cob building can weight 
>> several thousand pounds, and while your oven's collapse may ruin dinner, 
>> a building's collapse will definitely ruin your day.
>>
>> People have been killed when improperly built cob walls failed.
>>
>>> I have never taken a workshop nor have I talked to anyone else who built
>>> with cob in person and yet I have built an exceptional cob oven all
>>> because of the confidence instilled by the work of Kiko Denzer, Becky
>>> Bee, Lanto Evans, and many people on this very list. I have never built
>>> any building from scratch before, food yes, structures no. Then again
>>> there haven't been any given in this area either :/
>>>
>>> Peter Kaulback
>>>
>>> Ocean Liff-Anderson wrote:
>>>> this question reveals much that needs to be learned...
>>>>
>>>> how can you be "ready to cob" if you don't know why straw is included
>>>> in the mix???  just where have you learned about cob, and from whom
>>>> did you learn it?
>>>>
>>>> in order to mix and build with cob, you need to know several things -
>>>> quality of clay, the right kind of sand, the best quality straw, and
>>>> the right mix of all three, along with water to mix them into cob.  i
>>>> can't believe that there isn't any straw in the state of georgia.
>>>> what do farmers do for their animal bedding?
>>>>
>>>> don't build with cob until you take a workshop, from someone skilled
>>>> in cob building, who can then explain all you need to know - the
>>>> proper way to make a good cob mix, a good foundation, a good roof.
>>>> if you are planning to build a structure which will be inhabited, you
>>>> must do so safely, or face the possibility of a catastrophic failure!
>>>>
>>>> sorry to be the harbinger of doom and gloom,
>>>> ocean
>>>>
>>>> On Jul 12, 2007, at 10:20 AM, Damon Howell wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> What is the purpose of straw in a cob mix? Nobody seems to "really
>>>>> know" what the role of straw is anyway. Is it there to hold the cob
>>>>> together while the wall is still wet (like a free form), or to keep
>>>>> the wall from crumbling incase it cracks later (like reenforcement),
>>>>> or to allow air/water to move through the wall (because straw is
>>>>> hollow)? The problem is that nobody knows the reason they used straw
>>>>> because they didn't leave behind notes on how and why they built that
>>>>> way, and it's been a while since they lived here. What do they do in
>>>>> Africa? Do they use straw "in" the cob? Can any other plants be used
>>>>> as tensile such as long grasses? I'm almost ready to start cobbing
>>>>> but straw is just unavailable in GA right now, and what straw there
>>>>> is has a very high price on it. I'm not willing to pay three times
>>>>> the price for it if there's a substitution. I would love to just go
>>>>> out in the field and get some tall grass if it would suffice. It's a
>>>>> heck of a lot cheaper!
>>>>>
>>>>> Chow,
>>>>> Damon Howell
>>>>> North Georgia, US
>>>>>
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>>>>
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> 
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