Cob: Re: Underground Cob

Sat Jan 18 16:08:31 CST 2003

I was taught in school that the hyrdostatic pressure which pushes over walls etc. Is the chief concern in underground shelters.
What ever you can do to provide adaquate drainage around your structure is a good thing.
 Note this type of water travels several feet underground and is not the water which is on the surface. Small streams which you see gving water to dug wells is also the same way.

Most people forget that overtime the earth changes around a home with settlement of organic material [leaves,dirt,etc]. Can build up to the point it covers drainage pipes and thus defeats thier purposes without being mindfull such things need to be done on regular baisis. One home the water meter had to be raised up,to stay on top of surface four times. .

I liked the links to the method of waterproofing of the ancient times. Gley which is simply manure ,straw and clay once drys out acts as membrane that expands when moisture comes into contact with it like Bentonite Waterproofing[http://home.cogeco.ca/~nhemm/waterproofing/bentonite.html] Note with the gley it requires more than What I said to work so do your home work. Even with Bentonite and Electro Osmois they still use gravel and sometimes even do things to prevent surface water.

I do not know if it is the bias that I have been taught which gives me alarms some one would build a cob underground structure.

If the house was built up into a ridge then most water would never be a problem. Some people need to view thier land from a plane to see how water flows. Driving in a car does not show the lay of the land. When a water main burst open it was so unexpected that peoples homes had a lot of damage from a unseen source of water that was underground. It was the strange sinking areas of the yards that prompt people something was going on. One house had a better drainage system and was not effected.

One unrelated thought about water drainage is that of Thomas Jefferson's Home. He built it to last. He did not have gutters but he did brick lined a dug ditch around his home.

In germany to overcome water problems due to snow melting when it was 5ft deep or so. Was to cover areas around the house with cobble stone and thus the water melted and then flowed into cisterns or streams. THe rain and water never underminded these homes like some we see here in the USA.

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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I was taught in school that the hyrdostatic 
pressure which pushes over walls etc. Is the chief concern in underground 
shelters.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What ever you can do to provide adaquate drainage 
around your structure is a good thing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Note this type of water travels several feet 
underground and is not the water which is on the surface. Small streams which 
you see gving water to dug wells is also the same way.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Most people forget that overtime the earth changes 
around a home with settlement of organic material [leaves,dirt,etc]. Can build 
up to the point it covers drainage pipes and thus defeats thier purposes without 
being mindfull such things need to be done on regular baisis. One home the water 
meter had to be raised up,to stay on top of surface four times. 
.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I liked the links to the method of waterproofing of 
the ancient times. Gley which is simply manure ,straw and clay once drys out 
acts as membrane that expands when moisture comes into contact with it like 
<FONT face="Times New Roman">Bentonite 
Waterproofing</FONT>[http://home.cogeco.ca/~nhemm/waterproofing/bentonite.html] 
Note with the gley it requires more than What I said to work so do your home 
work. Even with Bentonite and Electro Osmois they still use gravel and sometimes 
even do things to prevent surface water.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I do not know if it is the bias that I have been 
taught which gives me alarms some one would build a cob underground 
structure.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If the house was built up into a ridge then most 
water would never be a problem. Some people need to view thier land from a plane 
to see how water flows. Driving in a car does not show the lay of the land. When 
a water main burst open it was so unexpected that peoples homes had a lot of 
damage from a unseen source of water that was underground. It was the strange 
sinking areas of the yards that prompt people something was going on. One house 
had a better drainage system and was not effected.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One unrelated thought about water drainage is that 
of Thomas Jefferson's Home. He built it to last. He did not have gutters but he 
did brick lined a dug ditch around his home.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In germany to overcome water problems due to snow 
melting when it was 5ft deep or so. Was to cover areas around the house with 
cobble stone and thus the water melted and then flowed into cisterns or streams. 
THe rain and water never underminded these homes like some we see here in the 
USA.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>