Cob: straw bale and cob

Fri Feb 21 11:49:43 CST 2003

Straw bale and cob is becoming popular in area were colder temperatures are 
common.  There are several good books on the market that give good detail on 
straw bale construction.  The problem with straw bales is they will settle a 
considerable amount and if they are used for load bearing you must pre-settle 
them before putting the roof on.  The most common method of construction is 
to build a timber frame which has very little settling and do an infill with 
straw bale and finish with cob.  
This will make for a good natural home.  

The straw bales will give you an insulation factor between r-38 and r-52 
which is far better then most homes in the US.  The critical factor for both 
cob and straw is repeated excessive moisture or driven rains, it causes rot 
in straw and the cob will slump.  

Straw bales can be used as a bearing will if you create a compression system 
in your concrete foundation that will allow you to attach rods anchored in 
the concrete and extend through the wall.  These are then attached to a 
compression plate that is then used to put equal pressure across the entire 
wall and forces settling in a short period of time.  
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT  SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Straw bale and cob is becoming popular in area were colder temperatures are common.  There are several good books on the market that give good detail on straw bale construction.  The problem with straw bales is they will settle a considerable amount and if they are used for load bearing you must pre-settle them before putting the roof on.  The most common method of construction is to build a timber frame which has very little settling and do an infill with straw bale and finish with cob.  <BR>
This will make for a good natural home.  <BR>
<BR>
The straw bales will give you an insulation factor between r-38 and r-52 which is far better then most homes in the US.  The critical factor for both cob and straw is repeated excessive moisture or driven rains, it causes rot in straw and the cob will slump.  <BR>
<BR>
Straw bales can be used as a bearing will if you create a compression system in your concrete foundation that will allow you to attach rods anchored in the concrete and extend through the wall.  These are then attached to a compression plate that is then used to put equal pressure across the entire wall and forces settling in a short period of time.  </FONT></HTML>

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