Cob: Barn conversion
Chuck & Linda
clearned at bminet.com
Sun Sep 9 15:15:53 CDT 2001
Re: Cob: Barn conversionJeanne wrote:
Slip-straw is loose straw coated in a clay slip. You would then build forms
on the inside between studs and fill the gap with the slip-straw, tamping it
down as you go. You can finish it with a mud plaster. You could also use cob
where you wanted a more organic aesthetic.
I have worked with this method and if you go this route make sure you get it
ever so lightly coated so that you can gain a higher Rvalue as normal straw
clay won't give you more that an R1 per inch and you don't want to go over
12". I still find strawbale to much faster and easier and better insulation
value. I prefer to think of straw clay for interior walls.
Chuck in Wisconsin
Helping Hands: Natural building and Sustainable Living group
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-coblist at deatech.com [mailto:owner-coblist at deatech.com]On
Behalf Of Jeanne Leimkuhler
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2001 12:01 PM
To: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: Cob: Barn conversion
Chris wrote:
I'm considering converting my barn to a home using cob walls on the
interior of the existing exterior barn walls. Is this a stupid idea?
The barn is somewhat old, but the structural beams appear to be in good
shape. Would there be a problem with placing the cob right next to the
wood?
Maybe cob is not the way to go, I just want to use natural materials.
Some other method may be more insulative, as well.
I would appreciate any ideas.
thx,
Zon from Kansas
Chris,
Not to discourage you from cob, but you might consider slip-straw if you
already have existing walls. I am planning to do this to an existing barn.
Slip-straw is loose straw coated in a clay slip. You would then build forms
on the inside between studs and fill the gap with the slip-straw, tamping it
down as you go. You can finish it with a mud plaster. You could also use cob
where you wanted a more organic aesthetic.
For more information see Robert Laporte's book:
MoosePrints, a Holistic Home Building Guide
Available from Natural House Building Center R.R. 1, Box 115F. Fairfield,
Iowa 52556
You can probably get this from dirtcheapbuilders.com, as well.
Jeanne
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.273 / Virus Database: 143 - Release Date: 8/16/01
-------------- next part --------------
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: Cob: Barn conversion</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<STYLE type=text/css>BLOCKQUOTE {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
DL {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
UL {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
OL {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
LI {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
</STYLE>
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><SPAN class=50430820-09092001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Jeanne
wrote:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=50430820-09092001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=50430820-09092001>Slip-straw is loose straw coated in a clay
slip. You would then build forms on the inside between studs and fill the gap
with the slip-straw, tamping it down as you go. You can finish it with a mud
plaster. You could also use cob where you wanted a more organic aesthetic.
<DIV><BR><SPAN class=50430820-09092001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I
have worked with this method and if you go this route make sure you get it ever
so lightly coated so that you can gain a higher Rvalue as normal straw clay
won't give you more that an R1 per inch and you don't want to go over 12". I
still find strawbale to much faster and easier and better insulation
value. I prefer to think of straw clay for interior walls.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=50430820-09092001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=50430820-09092001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Chuck
in Wisconsin</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=50430820-09092001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Helping
Hands: Natural building and Sustainable Living
group</FONT></SPAN></DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> owner-coblist at deatech.com
[mailto:owner-coblist at deatech.com]<B>On Behalf Of</B> Jeanne
Leimkuhler<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, September 09, 2001 12:01 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
coblist at deatech.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Cob: Barn
conversion<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Chris wrote:</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite type="cite">I'm considering converting my barn to a home
using cob walls on the interior of the existing exterior barn walls.
Is this a stupid idea?</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite type="cite">The barn is somewhat old, but the structural
beams appear to be in good shape. Would there be a problem with
placing the cob right next to the wood?<BR>Maybe cob is not the way to go, I
just want to use natural materials. Some other method may be more
insulative, as well.<BR>I would appreciate any ideas.<BR>thx,</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite type="cite">Zon from Kansas</BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Chris,</DIV>
<DIV>Not to discourage you from cob, but you might consider slip-straw if you
already have existing walls. I am planning to do this to an existing barn.
Slip-straw is loose straw coated in a clay slip. You would then build forms on
the inside between studs and fill the gap with the slip-straw, tamping it down
as you go. You can finish it with a mud plaster. You could also use cob where
you wanted a more organic aesthetic.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>For more information see Robert Laporte's book:</DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=-2><U>MoosePrints, a Holistic Home Building
Guide</U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=-2>Available from Natural House Building
Center R.R. 1, Box 115F. Fairfield, Iowa 52556</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=-2><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=-2>You can probably get this from
dirtcheapbuilders.com, as well.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=-2><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=-2>Jeanne</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=-2><BR></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>