[Cob] reinforcement

[Ocean Liff-Anderson]

So Damon, you've never demo'ed a cob wall?  Try it sometime, it is  
instructive as to how strong the straw really makes the material.

You will find with your sledge hammer, or pick ax, or shovel, or  
machete, whatever you try to smash it with, that cob will not come  
off in any large chunks.  You are left scraping away small amounts at  
a time.  The straw indeed keeps the material together, which is why  
cob is earthquake resistant, holding together buildings for hundreds  
or thousands of years.

Bamboo is great, but no substitute for properly mixed cob.  Lots of  
straw, please!




On May 22, 2012, at 9:19 AM, dhowell at pickensprogressonline.com wrote:

>  I think bamboo would be a good route to go for reinforcement in  
> sustainable building, because it is as strong as steel, they say,  
> and it's a weed. Although I've heard some say the straw in cob acts  
> as reinforcement, I don't think that is why they use it. It's more  
> to keep the wet mix from slumping while the material is drying. But  
> if I was to take a sledge hammer to a dry wall, I'm betting the  
> straw isn't going to provide much resistance, but I could be wrong.  
> It's worth trying. That's the kind of testing I have in mind.  
> Numbers mean very little compared to real world, hands on tests  
> like that. I have a cob storage shed I never finished that has a 3  
> foot wall. I'm planning on tearing it down and I'll probably video  
> myself doing it. That's real information!
> Damon
>
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