Cob: steel reinforcement

[David Knowlton]

i agree with all said, but will add that 'steel is our friend'

use the right material for the job: steel trusses for living roofs (which 
are very heavy) might be really cool.

steel is the most recycled material on earth.

david


>From: Taylor Publishing-DirtCheapBuilder <tms at northcoast.com>
>Reply-To: Taylor Publishing-DirtCheapBuilder <tms at northcoast.com>
>To: Brad Calvert <bradcalv at netspace.net.au>
>CC: coblist at deatech.com
>Subject: Re: Cob: steel reinforcement
>Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 10:24:28 -0700
>
>My opinion---why mess  with  good thing?  adding metal to a natural 
>material that has been used for thousands of years by itself , is  proven  
>(ala' 5 story earth walls in Yemen, Africa, and elsewhere) and simple, very 
>low cost to do... K.I.S.S ( the last S = sweetie). ya know.
>
>Metal will rust over time, so why have the expense and trouble of using it, 
>plus the aggravation of future  people to come upon metal eroding away as 
>the building goes back to nature.
>
>Papercrete builders found placing pole, rebar, rods, etc inside walls only 
>served to break the uniform mass, and the apeprcrete pulled away fromthe 
>embedded material.  this eweakens the wall at that point, allows moisture 
>to collect ( metals do not absorb moisture as wood does, allowing water to 
>soak onto the cob, straw or paper wall)
>
>Is your concer for code approval? mistrust of   cob wall strength? 
>earthquakes?
>
>
>Ms. Charmaine  Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
>http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com    http://www.papercrete.com
>PO Box 375, Cutten (Eureka) CA 95534 707-441-1632     tms at northcoast.com
>
>
>

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