Cob: Re: rat runs in cob walls (fwd)

[D.J. Henman]

Sheilla,

Don't worry about mice or rats.
You would have more problems with them, with a rasied floor than a solid 
earthen floor.  Not just rats but all kinds of living things llike the 
crawl space under a raised wood floor.

People living in second story aparment buildings get visited with mice 
and rats.   The best thing is to keep a clean household and follow 
common sense.

Darel

Sheila wrote:

>I've heard that having a house lifted off the ground by a foot or so is what
>prevents rats from finding a place interesting to burrow in.  Is the only
>way to build a cob house is to have a dirt floor or can you create a space
>under the structure and add a wooden floor?
>
>Sheila.
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>>COB
>>BUILDING IN EARTH
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>>written and illustrated by Ron Edwards
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>>The Rams Skull Press  1997
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>>ISBN 1 875872 33 7
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>>p26-27
>>
>>"Rat Runs
>>
>>One unexpected problem in cob walls that sit directly on the ground or on
>>foundations that are not lifted far off the ground is that of rat runs.
>>These occur when rats tunnel through the full length of a cob wall at
>>ground level.  There will be no sign of them on the outside of the wall,
>>but the whole weight may be balanced over a weak base.  While a single
>>family of rats may not do much damage, countless generations of them in a
>>wall over a period of a hundred years can create quite large chambers, and
>>I saw one where the greater part of the base of the wall was hollow,
>>although this was not visible from outside and had only been found by
>>chance.  It was possible to put ones entire arm into the hole right up to
>>the shoulder, and the wall needed urgent attention.  This was done by
>>filling the cavity with lime mortar and stones.
>>
>>The old answer to this was to include broken glass in the cob mix...."
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