Cob: A model building

[puppetman at ix.netcom.com]

Hi Charmaine:

Yes the materials are right off the puppet bench. I will be making the front arches, the monolithic desk and the fireplace, out of cob. However what started this whole mud building business with me was learning to make mud brick in Africa. I wanted to try that here. I have ordered up my Cinva Ram and the straight walls will be made from compressed earth block. For the model, I have actually been making each of the bricks and laying them up in a wall. This process takes a lot of time and fuss but already it has yielded a lot of things this newbie hadn't considered. 

Thing 1. This building will take a buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunch of brick. When I had happened on the project in Africa we made some brick but most of it was done. Now I realize why. It will take me and my nephew the better part of a month just to prepare the material. One of the interesting things I saw in Cotonou (In Benin) were building sites where 10 story high- rises where going up. About a year in advance of actual construction there where crews of about 4 men (and two boys) who made cement block from single metal molds. I am beginning to appreciate the human energy that went into hand crafting these western style buildings.

Thing 2. The plastilene (modeling clay) in scale, seems to have similar qualities to what I believe the earth mixture will have. So I have been paying attention to how it behaves as I lay up my wall. Walls taken too high too fast were wobbly and easily damaged until I could tie it in with other parts of the structure. Suggesting that I pay attention to construction process. The arches were wobbly and would not hold their shape until I put a small buttress on the outside of them. These observations bring up questions as to whether a double course wall will be adequate without support. I dug out some old masonry books and now have some examples of 3 and 4 course walls. I now have to decide whether I need my walls to be 1, 1.5, or 2 feet thick. Decisions....decisions..

Thing 3. Cultural resistance. I expected problems from the township building inspector but he is in support. I am getting the most resistance from my wife and some close friends. A couple of weekends ago, I mixed up some earth and lime into a nice little plaster and made a test patch on a teeny 2 ft section of unfinished drywall in what is to be our new family room. When my wife saw that she went ballistic. She wanted me to "Get that dirt out of her house!" and she also wanted to know if I knew what kind of dead animals or bugs were in that sh--t. She made it perfectly clear that she wants only sterilized stuff that comes from a store in bags. Do you hear me bring it here in bags. (Perhaps I share too much here... She really is a wonderful college educated, heartfull, computer geek type woman.) And soooooo I convinced her to let the plaster dry and see if it would be ok. I also convinced her that nobody sterilizes anything before they put it in bags(including your bread). And that bugs, bones and cow feces are just an added bonus for which there is no extra charge and no labeling requirements. The plaster got really hard and is really smooth and is really stuck to the wall. And so it is sort of OK. She says, "Kinda amazing really." What is important in all this is that that the building in mud idea takes some getting used to. "Normal" people have a hard time with it. The model seems to be a concretization of the concept and a pretty clear indication that there really is going to be a mud building around here. The model has moved my wife from the "That's nice honey" stage to the "Where are you going to put that thing? How big is it? What is it going to cost us?" stage. The model has stimulated community input. Everyone knows without community input there would be no building. (Unless of course I put it behind the polebarn where we don't care what mama don 'low.)

I have gone on way too long about my little model. It has been a lot of fun so far. I don't think I would try this project without one.

Thanx for all your support;

Michael Fitzgerald
Anthropologist/Woodcarver/Puppetmaker