Cob: Waterproofing and More

Sat Feb 15 07:10:49 CST 2003

I am starting to get confused with the posts on the list lately. Particularly, the posts that support waterproofing of cob have me scratching my head. I have no experience yet building with cob, so all I have to rely on is what I read from others; and some of the information from others says to not waterproof cob. Isn't that why concrete stuccos have been abandoned--because their waterproofing properties cause water that seeps through cracks to pool at the bottom of the wall, causing the structure to collapse? Due to the conflicts in the contemporary materials I have read on cob, not to mention plain bad advice such as building under old, large trees [anyone who has witnessed the damage a large tree can do if and when it falls cringes at the thought of building under one] and using partially deteriorated wood to hasten deterioration [doesn't wood deteriorate fast enough already? What's the rush?] I am hoping to be able to find a comprehensive book that has info from actual studies of how cob was constructed hundreds of years ago--not only the cob mixtures and plasters, but also the methods used to attach roofs, hold joists for second story floors, and the like. If anyone here knows where I can get such a book, please let me [us?] know.
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am starting to get confused with the posts on the 
list lately. Particularly, the posts that support waterproofing of cob have me 
scratching my head. I have no experience yet building with cob, so all I have to 
rely on is what I read from others; and some of the information from others says 
to not waterproof cob. Isn't that why concrete stuccos have been 
abandoned--because their waterproofing properties cause water that seeps through 
cracks to pool at the bottom of the wall, causing the structure to collapse? Due 
to the conflicts in the contemporary materials I have read on cob, not to 
mention plain bad advice such as building under old, large trees [anyone who has 
witnessed the damage a large tree can do if and when it falls cringes at the 
thought of building under one] and using partially deteriorated wood to hasten 
deterioration [doesn't wood deteriorate fast enough already? What's the rush?] I 
am hoping to be able to find a comprehensive book that has info from actual 
studies of how cob was constructed hundreds of years ago--not only the cob 
mixtures and plasters, but also the methods used to attach roofs, hold joists 
for second story floors, and the like. If anyone here knows where I can get such 
a book, please let me [us?] know.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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