[Cob] could cob be masonry

[Dean Sherwin]

Well the description you have makes it sound more like 
concrete...masonry is after all separate units.  that would be adobe 
not cob.  Anyway i applaud the efforts to get code approval.
the bamboo question is interesting.  There's a guy who has done work 
in Peru encouraging native builders to include bamboo reinforcement 
in adobe houses to resist seismic activity.  It works too.
HOWEVER one of the great difficulties with bamboo is its hard 
slippery exterior, which stops most things binding to it.  So if you 
use split bamboo for the trellis, and not too much of it, there's 
chance of success.  Although we know its not necessary, I understand 
the thinking.  But large sections of smooth bamboo might actually 
weaken the monolithic earth.
Dean PA/Devon UK

At 03:00 PM 2/26/2010, you wrote:
>Straw doesn't rot away inside cob (now why, I don't know). I wonder
>if doing a little trellis work with bamboo in addition to the straw
>would satisfy? Also being one solid wall, instead of many "bricks"
>makes the wall far stronger and less likely to come apart. Let me
>know what you think about this approach.