Cob wall"skylights"

[Will Firstbrook WCB of BC]

Hi Jody,

Ianto Evans put in a heart shaped window into his house after the wall
was dry. He said he just wet the cob and carved out the pattern he
desired with a machete. He cobed in some glass and then applied
finishing plaster around the area to make it smooth again. I doubt you
would need to put any reinforcing or keystone over an 8" opening in cob.
Cob is very strong once dry. Also round openings should be inherently
stronger anyway than square window openings.

You can see the window in the pictures area of the Cob Cottage web site
http://www.deatech.com/cobcottage.

Regards,
Will

>-----Original Message-----
>From:	Jody Shepard [SMTP:jodyshepard at lanl.gov]
>Sent:	Thursday, September 18, 1997 10:27 AM
>To:	coblist at deatech.com
>Subject:	Cob wall"skylights"
>
>Hi.  Has anyone put in small, 6- to 8-inch, round openings in
>walls...possibly drilling out holes in dry cob...to be "covered" with
>glass?  Would the opening be small enough not to need reinforcement for the
>weight of the cob above?  Some kind of little keystone needed?
>Thanks, Jody in NM
>
>"This too, shall pass."
>Jody Shepard, T-DO
>505-665-8906
>Fax:  505-665-4055
>Los Alamos National Laboratory, B210
>Los Alamos, NM  87545
>
>