[Cob] traditional building, sort of (Henry Raduazo)

[Dean Sherwin]

The traditional Devonshire way (original home of cob) as described in 
Clough Williams Ellis' book, was for the mix to be thrown up in 
approximate 18" lifts onto the wall.  A laborer with more brawn and 
less brain called the 'donkey' trudged around and compacted the 
lift.  Then it was left for a week or so, depending on weather, 
season and other jobs needing attention around the farm, until it had 
set up a bit and then a further lift was applied in the same 
way.  The walls were trimmed down to be vertical and straight and 
smooth with a sharp edged shovel specially designed for the 
purpose.  No 'splodging".   This indicates that the mix was fairly 
stiff (of course that makes for less shrinkage and  cracking)  No 
problem with the layers bonding since the new mix is wet and the 
previous layer would be somewhat damp, this is earth, not concrete 
that sets up and will not bond unless green.   Of course Devon is 
generally damp although temperate and a favorite summertime destination..
'Come to sunny Devon weather
Don't forget your umberella'      we used to chant as schoolkids.

At 03:00 PM 9/17/2010, you wrote:

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>    1. Re: traditional building, sort of (Henry Raduazo)
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>----------------------------------------------------------------------
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>Message: 1
>Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:00:14 -0400
>From: Henry Raduazo <raduazo at cox.net>
>Subject: Re: [Cob] traditional building, sort of
>To: Gergo Szekely <gergo.szekely at mac.com>
>Cc: coblist at deatech.com
>Message-ID: <D47F7C44-3E73-4B6A-8C42-FDD65B8DEDA6 at cox.net>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
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>I have a hard time picturing what he is doing. I too throw cob up on
>to a wall with a pitchfork, but my cob is too wet to walk on and my
>experience has been that once cob splooges out you can not shape it
>back the way it should by by slapping it with a 2 x 4. If the cob is
>soft enough you can redistribute splooged out cob by putting one hand
>on one side and one hand on the other side of a wall, push in and
>pull up. This will reshape very wet cob. Hitting cob or slapping it
>tends to make it splooge out more.  There might be a phase between
>wet and dry where this will work. I have never found that phase, but
>I have never looked for it.
>
>Ed
>
>On Sep 13, 2010, at 5:03 PM, Gergo Szekely wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > It sounds like an interesting idea to me. I am just wondering if
> > you still get
> > the same bound between the previous layer and the layer you have
> > freshly put on.
> > For some reason I have a feeling if there is a larger amount of
> > fresh cob on the
> > wall it could be harder to work the two layers together and create
> > a good bound
> > in between them.
> >
> > How do you feel about it?
> >
> > --
> > Gergo
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Damon Howell <dhowell at pickensprogress.com>
> > To: coblist at deatech.com
> > Sent: Wed, September 1, 2010 11:16:36 AM
> > Subject: [Cob] traditional building, sort of
> >
> > I've been using the pitchfork to heave the cob onto the wall. After
> > I throw
> > several heaps up there I climb up on the wall and walk around on
> > it, letting it
> > splooge out the sides if it needs to. I go back a day or two and
> > slap it down
> > with a 2x4 to the shape it should be. This goes surprisingly fast.
> > I don't work
> > on it much though, so I have no idea how much I could put up in a
> > day. I have
> > really noticed how important the straw is while using the
> > pitchfork. If there
> > isn't enough straw the mix just slips through the tines. I haven't
> > done the
> > mixing with the cattle because I don't have any. I mixed a huge
> > pile of cob with
> > the bobcat in about 10 minutes, which would have taken me several
> > days, and a
> > lot of labor, to do by the tarp method. All you have to do is get the
> > proportions right, so if it dries out a little too much, just wet
> > it down and
> > stomp on it to pack the clay together and it's ready to build with
> > again!
> >
> > Damon in Ga
> >
> >
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>End of Coblist Digest, Vol 8, Issue 169
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Dean Sherwin CPE
Certified Professional Estimator
LEED Accredited Professional
CONSTRUCTION COST MANAGEMENT
3, Cherry Street
PO Box 11
Media, PA 19063-0011
(610)892 8860
fax (610) 892 7862
costman at verizon.net