[Cob] Exterior finishes for insulated cob (Sky Orndoff)

[Robert Alcock]

> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Exterior finishes for insulated cob (Sky Orndoff)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 17:24:15 -0800 (PST)
> From: Sky Orndoff <skyorndoff at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Cob] Exterior finishes for insulated cob
> To: coblist at deatech.com
> Message-ID: <996410.67929.qm at web161202.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
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>
> Hi!
>
> I'm thinking about making a cob building in Montana.  I'm thinking cob because I 
> like the sculpting and the thermal mass.  Because it will be in Montana, and 
> because I'm an energy auditor who believes in insulation more than thermal mass, 
> I'm interested in insulating it thickly, probably with a shredded cellulose.  I 
> think I'll use wood 1.5"x12"s to frame a cellulose wall onto the outside of the 
> cob. We have a lot of dead and dying trees that are being logged already and can 
> be delivered to a friends sawmill for free.  I'll probably put cellulose between 
> the boards about 24" OC.  What I would like advice on is an appropriate exterior 
> cladding or siding or exterior coating for the celulose insulated wall.  I want 
> to do a floorplan with curved walls, keeping the walls vertical, so the cladding 
> will have to be flexible in one direction.  What would people advise for this?  
> Something with sand-clay?  Some type of product?  Suggestions for other 
> solutions than the one I'm thinking of now?
>
> Thanks for your consideration,
>
> JS Orndoff
>
>
>   
Hi

We used cob plaster, exactly the same mix as for the walls, over light 
straw-clay "outsulation" on the N wall of our cob cabin here in northern 
Spain. Not sure how effective the insulation has been in terms of 
keeping heat in the cabin, but the cob certainly has stood up to the 
weather these 2 years.

Hope this helps,

Robert
www.abrazohouse.org
"Cob moves in mysterious ways."