Fw: Cob: thinking thru house details & convenience

[Amanda Peck]

I'm with Bill and Julie on this one.  Although I can understand stairs--if a 
second story costs less than more area with a foundation....  It doesn't 
really mean I want to HAVE to use them.  One of my cousin's best friend's 
dad had a stroke.  the family had to convert the dining room into a bedroom 
for him.  Miserable for everyone, including guests coming over for dinner.  
And a lesson for those of us who plan to grow old living in what we've 
built.

Now, if we are working with cob we may be better able to put an entrance 
door at ground level--on to an earthen floor.  My house in the Nashville 
area had that, but it also had all the problems you would expect from an 80 
year old stick built house.  Dry rot in the floor joists, and a seriously 
slanting floor as a result.  For a while the washing machine sat on the 
ground.  Not great electrically.  Or anything else.

The kitchen there was stick built. The rest was apparently built of recycled 
World War One box cars.


>But I have noticed as I grow older,,, that I grow older,,, And after
 > spending 2 months in a wheelchair myself, I noticed that houses
 > aren't built for them..... WHY????
 > I do not see any reason for stairs... I know they are a romantic hold
 > over from the past.  And why is the front door wider than the back door,
 > where you have to take the major stuff in and out of the house???
 > Why can't the hallways be 3 or 6" wider???

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