[Cob] Metal and Cob

[Shannon Dealy]

On Sun, 14 Mar 2010, David Anderson wrote:

> I was wondering if we could get a consensus on metal objects in cob.  I 
> think this has been talked about here in the past so, in that case, 
> someone could just summarize what was said.  In my mind I have 
> conflicting ideas that I have read in different places saying both that 
> metal will rust out in cob and others saying that it will be fine as the 
> cob will keep it dry.

Hi David,

I doubt there is a single right answer, probably depends on your soil. 
One case that I am aware of had metal embedded in a connection and it 
completely corroded away in less than a year.  My recollection (which is 
rather fuzzy) is that they were nails of some sort, and that it turned 
out the soil used in the wall was somewhat acidic.

FWIW.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
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