Cob: rats?

[therese doll]

I have actually had the little creatures tunnel through mortar at foundation 
level in an old stone house I lived in (walls approx. 1 foot thick).  
Granted, the mortar was over 100 years old and the house had been sitting 
empty for about 2 years before I moved in but they wanted in and stopped at 
nothing!  My guess would be that in a cob structure depth would be on your 
side and I have also discovered that they can not chew through steel wool.  
I would not let it stop me from building of cob!  Best of luck.

Therese





>From: "D.J. Henman" <henman at it.to-be.co.jp>
>Reply-To: "D.J. Henman" <henman at it.to-be.co.jp>
>To: Sheila <allan at direct.ca>
>CC: coblist at deatech.com
>Subject: Re: Cob: rats?
>Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 14:14:58 +0900
>
>Sheila,
>    Rats, prefer wood stick houses and straw in barns than inside of earth 
>or in dirt walls.  By just having a cob wall, you will have less attraction 
>to rats.  They love the space between wall studs, and the crawl space 
>underneath..   They make nice nests.
>
>   Dirt floors the same.  I you want you can make a slightly moist mix of 
>soil and lime and then tamper this to make a hard earthen floor.
>
>Darel
>
>---------------------
>
>Sheila wrote:
>
>>I was wondering about rats living in, under and around a cob house - 
>>especially the ones with the dirt floors. I live on a farm and I find rat 
>>holes near the barns at ground level, 6 feet off the ground, in the field, 
>>under a board - anywhere. Seems like a cob house with a dirt floor would 
>>leave itself open to rat hole potential.
>>  How do you create a less enticing place for the little guys?
>>
>>Sheila.
>>
>
>
>
>


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