Cob: Rubble trench / gabion foundation thoughts...

[david walker]

My thought was: Replace the loose material in the rubble trench with filled 
gabions(apart from the very base of the trench which would be drainage rock 
covering drainage pipe) to about 8-10 inches below grade then laying a 
lime-mortar rock wall up to about 16-18 inches above grade where the cob 
would begin.

I guess i should have clarified that first...sorry.  As for flooring, i paln 
to have cob or slate.  No crawl space.  Again, do you think this sounds like 
overkill for a modest home in a non-earthquake prone area?


----Original Message Follows----
From: "Amanda Peck" <ap615 at hotmail.com>
To: dcg_walker at hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Cob: Rubble trench / gabion foundation thoughts...
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:53:52 -0600

I've long since deleted the original message from Charmaine--she might have 
pictures on her website--but I thought that the gabions were on top of the 
ground, because everyone kept barking their shins on them trying to put the 
straw bales up.  Rubble trench below.  If you're going to put in a real 
wooden floor with a crawl space, that might be the way to go.  I don't think 
they'd make a great stemwall.



I have searched the archives and not found a reference to combining rubble 
trench with gabions for a foundation of added strength for a cob home.  Is 
it overkill to use gabions for a modest-sized family home of say 1200 sq. 
ft?  Any thoughts?






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