Cob: Update: rubble trench, rethinking roof, attitudes

[Amanda Peck]

Drain pipes are good, especially run downhill to daylight.  Well-supported 
four inch round perforated pipe is not too likely to crush, except where it 
hits daylight.  In the little log building I'm/We're doing, we also felt we 
had to put a drain at the bottom of the bank--also to daylight.  And if this 
still isn't enough, I could put a swale up in the woods later (we just had 
what were described as the 30-year floods and as a result are feeling a bit 
cautious here).  Check what "Ianto says" on the subject in the Hand-Sculpted 
House.  My copy's loaned out so I can't quote for you.

My log cabin guy finished off his less-good drawknife trying to peel hickory 
logs.  Poplar was easy, especially recently when the sap was running, and he 
could take whole rounds off at once (to make baskets with! they're 
gorgeous), pine, which I don't much have, is easy as well, red cedar is a 
pain because of all the little branches, sweet gum is fairly easy, but 
splits wide open.  On the other hand, if I ever do this again, I might use 
new, untreated railroad ties--really easy to come by around here, where they 
are the bread and butter of every little bitty sawmill in the county.

I'm using green wood, going to chink later(logs are vertical).  Not 
applicable for roofs, where we are going with dimensional lumber.

Do you realize that local lumberyards have plain old 2 x 4's from AUSTRIA!  
Cheaper if you don't count as non-renewable the fuel to bring them here.

Is there a house already built that you could take your family to see?  
That's going to work as well as anything.
.................
Chuck wrote:

The circular trench is dug down to a depth of approximately 24" -- here in 
southern Illinois the clay layer begins at about 12".  At this point I'd 
have to agree with the proponents of the shallow trench.  After several 
rains I have a fairly deep pool on the downward slope of the trench that has 
sat there through several days of wind, sun, and dry weather.  The water 
isn't being absorbed into the clay in its unpacked state, so I can only 
imagine how impervious it will be after a good, solid packing.  I'd say the 
total time involved in digging this 20" wide trench with an inside diameter 
of 20' with a garden spade and pick has been about nine hours.  (Perhaps a 
wider assortment of hand tools might have helped on the time some.)  I've 
been considering making a trench within the trench for the drain pipe.  It 
will be just big enough to inset the pipe on the bottom of the main trench 
and will be covered with landscape fabric.  The reason being I'm concerned 
that the weight of the building could eventually crush the pipe and limit 
drainage.

I had wanted to use logs from my property as rafters, staying away from 
dimensional lumber as much as possible.  I don't see that happening now.  
It's an issue of time and energy.  Cutting, moving, peeling, and letting dry 
the logs will be a very intensive process, on top of the very intensive 
general building process, and I think that this is a point at which I can 
compromise and not be too perturbed.  Besides, I HATE peeling logs LOL!!!

I'm starting to catch the attitude from the family: "Mud?  You're going to 
build a house out of mud?  What's going to keep it from washing away?" etc, 
etc.  No matter the logic of the argument, there's no changing preconceived 
notions of what a house should be.  I guess only the finished product will 
suffice.  My son (16 y.o.) is more open to the whole idea, with his 
questions being more like "then why aren't more people doing it".  Then we 
get into the whole sociopolitical concept of housing, money, and 
governmental control.

Mike F. -- about the solid tires....my dad had a Sears wheelbarrow with a 
solid rubber tire.  I used that thing all through my adolesence, which is 
why I swore I'd always have a pneumatic tire on a wheelbarrow LOL.

Chuck

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