Cob: Creepy Crawly Things...

[Joe Skeesick]

I'd like to point out in this ongoing discussion of what evil creatures
"might" find cob appealing that while you MIGHT get rats able to bore into
the walls of your home, and you MIGHT get dirt daubers setting up shop in
some crack along the eaves, and you MIGHT get an infestation of South
American mud urchins (ok so I made that one up). The fact of the matter is
that all of the creatures that have been talked about would find a wooden
cavity wall system house MUCH preferable to any monolithic home. Properly
maintained a cob home is much less susceptible to animal infestations
because of the nature of the hard monolithic construction. There is no
"natural" home for these animals to take advantage of.  The reason they set
up shop in homes so often is that with a little bit of work they can open up
large protected areas to inhabit (a wall cavity) With a cob home they would
have to effectively bore out their entire living space.
Animals are a lot like us in that they want to get the most reward out of
the least effort. Boring into a cob wall doesn't often fall into the "least
effort" category. The only thing that would then motivate them to do so is
there are no other local suitable habitats for them OR, you're a less than
tidy person and there is significant food resources within the house that
they want to get at.
So, can these animals make their way into cob homes? Yup. Can they get into
any home? Yup. Is cob by nature more susceptible to infestations? Nope,
quite the opposite.
So, build with mud, store your food well and leave the mousetrap purchases
to the stick built home crowd.
:)
Joe