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[Cob] cob greenhouse questionjohn fordice otherfish at comcast.netThu Sep 24 11:15:32 CDT 2015
Mqlcome, Cob and strawbale walls act very differently to loads & while strawbale can be added over cob for insulation, I would not mix them structurally. Not a good idea. john > On Sep 24, 2015, at 6:39 AM, Malcolm Schluenderfritz <mschluenderfritz at gmail.com> wrote: > > Hello John, > > Thanks again. One more question: could the buttresses be straw bale walls? I am thinking that the buttresses protruding from the back wall could be used as a chicken coop, which would benefit from heat from the cob wall, and insulate the greenhouse. I would already have three walls and the roof overhang. > > Yours, > Malcolm > > On Wed, Sep 23, 2015 at 11:11 PM, john fordice <otherfish at comcast.net <mailto:otherfish at comcast.net>> wrote: > Hi Malcom, > Yes, the freestanding ends of your walls and midpoint of the long back wall should still be buttressed. I’d suggest putting the buttresses on the outside surface of the walls & thus leave the rtransparent greenhouse walls fully open to sunlight. > Small p[eces of urbanite should be ok, just don’t make them any bigger than 2 - 3 “. > john >> On Sep 23, 2015, at 3:14 PM, Malcolm Schluenderfritz <mschluenderfritz at gmail.com <mailto:mschluenderfritz at gmail.com>> wrote: >> >> Hello John, >> >> I modified the design. Now the tallest cob wall will be 6 feet. Do I still need buttresses? >> >> I will leave out the urbanite chunks then. Would small pieces of rubble less then two inches across be OK? I was wondering if they would act like large gravel. >> >> Thanks for your help. >> >> Malcolm >> >> On Sat, Sep 19, 2015 at 10:18 PM, john fordice <otherfish at comcast.net <mailto:otherfish at comcast.net>> wrote: >> Malcome, >> A few suggestions relating to the cob: >> 1. Buttress the open ends of your rear & left end walls. Make the buttress’s 3 or 4’ long at the stem wall & zero at the wall top. Add an intermediate buttress at the midpoint of the rear wall. >> 2. Batter your walls to 12” thick at the top & 18” at the stem wall. >> 3. Do not put pieces of urbanite in the cob …… bad practice ! >> >> This is relative to the cob only ……… the framing of the transparent materials support is another story …… sounds like the loads of the wood & plastic roof / walls will be minimal, so as long as you don’t have heavy concentrated loads either embed your rafters in the cob or add a top plate with deadmen in the wall. Assuming you know how to make competent cob & build correctly ……… if not, get advice of an experienced cobber. >> john >> >> > On Sep 19, 2015, at 9:51 AM, Malcolm Schluenderfritz <mschluenderfritz at gmail.com <mailto:mschluenderfritz at gmail.com>> wrote: >> > >> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> > From: Malcolm Schluenderfritz <mschluenderfritz at gmail.com <mailto:mschluenderfritz at gmail.com>> >> > Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 8:40 PM >> > Subject: Re: [Cob] cob greenhouse question >> > To: Howard Switzer <howard at earthandstraw.com <mailto:howard at earthandstraw.com>> >> > >> > >> > Hello Howard, >> > >> > Thanks for the advice. >> > >> > I will try to post a plan soon. >> > >> > I am stuck with the 18" base because the foundation is already build. I >> > agree that it seems something is needed at the North East corner. >> > >> > The concrete is to use it up and to speed drying on the wall. (An idea from >> > "The Hand Sculpted House." ) I got huge loads of broken concrete dumped for >> > the foundation and for retaining walls on other parts of the site. These >> > are pieces that are fairly good but not quite square enough for those uses. >> > Spaced widely (so that they do not form problematic joints) in the core of >> > the wall, it seems that they will allow me to use less cob, which not only >> > means faster drying, but also less cob mixing and less purchased sand use. >> > >> > I would think that if cob is strong enough to arch over small niches, it >> > would be strong enough to take a few pieces of concrete inside the wall. >> > But correct me if I am wrong. >> > >> > >> > >> > On Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 8:29 PM, Howard Switzer <howard at earthandstraw.com <mailto:howard at earthandstraw.com>> >> > wrote: >> > >> >> I know John will take good care of you, (do post your plan if you can) but >> >> basically you got a 16 foot wall braced on one end, right, so sounds like >> >> you need to brace the other end somehow. Now I expect there will be an east >> >> wall so you might consider bracing it in such a way as it could serve to >> >> buttress the end of the wall and you might want to embed some anchors in >> >> the cob for attaching that bracing wall....or you could just do a cob >> >> buttress off the end of the wall in the other direction, which is probably >> >> the better option, just guessing. You might also want to consider battering >> >> the wall a bit, wider (20") at the bottom than the top (16"), right? Might >> >> add some more stability. What are the concrete pieces doing in the middle >> >> of it? Just trying to get rid of it or something? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 2:31 PM, Malcolm Schluenderfritz < >> >> mschluenderfritz at gmail.com <mailto:mschluenderfritz at gmail.com>> wrote: >> >> >> >>> I am building a small greenhouse, 16 feet by 8 feet, and 8 feet tall. The >> >>> North and West walls will be cob, and about 18 inches thick. I will be >> >>> inserting some pieces of concrete as we go, in the center of the wall. The >> >>> walls are straight, not curved. >> >>> Do I need to add buttresses to this wall to keep it up, or is it thick >> >>> enough? The North and West walls already form a corner, so they provide at >> >>> least a little Lateral support to each other. >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >>> Coblist mailing list >> >>> Coblist at deatech.com <mailto:Coblist at deatech.com> >> >>> http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist <http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist> >> >>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Howard Switzer - Architect >> >> 668 Hurricane Creek Road >> >> Linden, TN 37096 >> >> 931 589 6513 <tel:931%20589%206513> >> >> www.earthandstraw.com <http://www.earthandstraw.com/> >> >> >> >> “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. >> >> To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model >> >> obsolete.” >> >> ― Richard Buckminster Fuller >> >> <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/165737.Richard_Buckminster_Fuller <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/165737.Richard_Buckminster_Fuller>> >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Malcolm Schluenderfritz >> > Secretary, >> > >> > The Saint Isidore Society, >> > saintisidoresociety.wordpress.com <http://saintisidoresociety.wordpress.com/> >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Coblist mailing list >> > Coblist at deatech.com <mailto:Coblist at deatech.com> >> > http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist <http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Malcolm Schluenderfritz >> Secretary, >> >> The Saint Isidore Society, >> saintisidoresociety.wordpress.com <http://saintisidoresociety.wordpress.com/> > > > > > -- > Malcolm Schluenderfritz > Secretary, > > The Saint Isidore Society, > saintisidoresociety.wordpress.com <http://saintisidoresociety.wordpress.com/>
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