[Cob] Engineered Cob House Plans

[Barbara Roemer]

Janet and others,

This discussion about how or whether cob forms contribute to the difficulty
with codes has been lively, and I'm glad to see it here with varied
opinions.  I agree with Mark re absence of standardized materials being
primarily responsible.

It can be difficult to meld those standardized materials with less
conventional ones that have other than standard properties. Cement plaster
on an earthen wall would be one of those, IMO.  Now that you have tentative
approval, perhaps you have some time to consider the cement plaster.
Remembering the disaster of SW historic adobe buildings being "restored" and
improved with cement stucco (which cracked miserably and fell off, to be
replaced with, Ta Da: earthen plaster), I would strongly consider lime
plaster.  John Glassford, a crazy and most helpful Aussie bale builder, has
a great web site with lots of photos.  He currently puts down an earthen
base (IIRC), full wall sheets of fiberglass mesh, including right over the
plate, and then shoots on lime plaster made with sacked lime, not lime
putty.  You can read his posts on the Yahoo Bale list, or see some pics
below.  He's extremely responsive to queries, so contact him.

http://glassford.com.au/main/?attachment_id=2082

Keep us posted.

Admiring your tenacity and willingness to meet the building dept in the
middle,

Barbara
Sierra Foothills