Cob: Re:cob and rocks> don't touch ground

[Charmaine R Taylor]

Hi Angela, any cob that touches the earth at any point will serve as a
straw to wick up moisture over time,  & wet cob is not a good thing.

In Scotland they built "clay and bool" ( round river rocks embedded in a
clay-sand) but the base was always rubble stone or up off the ground
away from rain & wet run off.

Adobe walls subjected to water at their base will crumble, but the idea
of clay and bool ( stones) is a good one and the  drawings I saw were
very attractive.

In the UK they made walls of wattle or  lathe strips, and filled inside
with "noggin" small stones, then thickly coated with a clay plaster over
the whole thing, so the rocks never moved.

Ms. Charmaine  Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
http://www.papercrete.com