Cob: Difficult to build uson>>mall cob housing

[Russell Theodore Holzinger]

It helps if you are using a dryer mix with more straw next to the existing structure.  
The same is true when building up to a roof that is in place  or other wooden features.

Russ

-----Original Message-----
From: otherfish
Sent: 2003-07-04 11:02 AM
To: Taylor Publishing-DirtCheapBuilder; Wendy Smyer Yu; coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: Cob: Difficult  to build uson>>mall cob housing


Hi Charmaine,
Thanks for your continuing informative postings.

My experience is that new cob abbed to old ( ie: well dried ) does not bond
AT ALL.  In fact, the benches we added to the Troth building, actually
shrunk AWAY from the wall they were intended to be attached to.  Since cob
shrinks as it dries, this was a real world ( but unexpected ) result of
adding to previously built cob.

One lesson from this is that if you are planning to add to a cob building
later, what you are adding needs to be designed to be independent, and not
reliant structurally on the original building in any way.

Had I to do it over, I'd have integrated the bench incstruction to occurr
concurrently with the building.

john fordice

 

on 7/4/03 10:28 AM, Taylor Publishing-DirtCheapBuilder at tms at northcoast.com
wrote:

> - the fact that a cob house can be built upon, changed, adapted.
> 
> Chuckle...talk to Elishiva and Misha who built a cob house in N. CA,
> and assumed they could just "knock" out a wall whenever they wanted to
> add a room or door.
> 
> this is some info on their site:
> http://www.northcoast.com/~tms/cobhouse.html
> 
> Elishiva said  the cured cob was so hard it took 3 long weeks with a
> pick ax (tough manual labor) to open a small window portal thruh the
> thick cob.  They assumed it would be easy too...we all keep trading this
> same information on how it can be added on to etc. which is TRUE,   but
> this was a real wake up call.  PLAN where you will want a future
> doorway,  or frame it in, and infill with light straw clay or
> something....I carefully observed what had to be done on  their  cob
> wall, and she was right, cob dries as hard rock.
> 
> Anyone else have an easier time of it? We need anecdotal evidence so the
> real work tally can be known.
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> 
> 
>