Cob: intro [ants and clay]

Sun Apr 27 00:34:03 CDT 2003

BlankWe are currently living in a 14x70 trailer. The kitchen sink and some cabinets span the northern end and there is a bay window above the sink. In the area above the bay window, the overhang above it, fire ants have in the past set up house. I got rid of them with some very potent pesticide, so potent in fact that it has lingered and killed for 3 years.

I wonder, since ants could possibly be a serious threat to a cob structure, is there another way to control them? Will a lime-based render keep them at bay? Or can you add lime, or possibly borax or boric acid, to the cob mix to make it unappealing to them?

Also, I have dug a 4 foot wide foundation trench for what is planned to be a 2 story structure with walls 2 foot thick at the bottom tapering to 1 foot thick at the top. The stemwall will taper from 4 foot thick to 2 foot thick and be about 2 foot tall. Will this 4 foot wide foundation be sufficient for stability? I certainly hope so because most of what we are digging up is nearly pure (:D) red clay. Although we will need it for construction it is a terribly hard job to do by hand, especially since the trench must be nearly perfect to make it drain. Just digging an irregular hole in the ground for the clay would be much easier.

Also a tip or two for anyone digging in clay: Dry clay can be nearly impossible to dig as it is almost as hard as a rock [at least the red clay here is]. You can wet it down and let it soak in overnight to soften it up. If you keep it covered with a sheet of plastic then it will stay sufficiently moist to continue digging each day. If not kept covered it will again return to its rock hard state. Also do not overmoisten it. It will be impossible to shape it exactly as you'd like if you do. Stepping on a moistened clay trench bottom can ruin hours of work when a chunk of it sticks to your foot/shoe and becomes dislodged thereby destroying the perfect grade you put on it.

Kim
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<DIV>We are currently living in a 14x70 trailer. The kitchen sink and some 
cabinets span the northern end and there is a bay window above the sink. In the 
area above the bay window, the overhang above it, fire ants have in the past set 
up house. I got rid of them with some very potent pesticide, so potent in fact 
that it has lingered and killed for 3 years.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wonder, since ants could possibly be a serious threat to a cob structure, 
is there another way to control them? Will a lime-based render keep them at bay? 
Or can you add lime, or possibly borax or boric acid, to the cob mix to make it 
unappealing to them?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also, I have dug a 4 foot wide foundation trench for what is planned to be 
a 2 story structure with walls 2 foot thick at the bottom tapering to 1 foot 
thick at the top. The stemwall will taper from 4 foot thick to 2 foot thick and 
be about 2 foot tall. Will this 4 foot wide foundation be sufficient for 
stability? I certainly hope so because most of what we are digging up is nearly 
pure (:D) red clay. Although we will need it for construction it is a terribly 
hard job to do by hand, especially since the trench must be nearly perfect to 
make it drain. Just digging an irregular hole in the ground for the clay would 
be much easier.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also a tip or two for anyone digging in clay: Dry clay can be nearly 
impossible to dig as it is almost as hard as a rock [at least the red clay here 
is]. You can wet it down and let it soak in overnight to soften it up. If you 
keep it covered with a sheet of plastic then it will stay sufficiently moist to 
continue digging each day. If not kept covered it will again return to its rock 
hard state. Also do not overmoisten it. It will be impossible to shape it 
exactly as you'd like if you do. Stepping on a moistened clay trench bottom can 
ruin hours of work when a chunk of it sticks to your foot/shoe and becomes 
dislodged thereby destroying the perfect grade you put on it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Kim</DIV></BODY></HTML>
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