[Cob] Earthberming a cob house?

[Clint Popetz]

On Thu, Nov 27, 2003 at 09:23:01PM -0600, Sharon Cox wrote:
 
> The other question I have is I realize that the cob breathes and that it 
> has great thermal mass, but what about insulation for colder climates?  
> If you were to put say straw bales on the outside and then a thinner 
> layer of cob, would the cob still breathe?

Yes indeed, and you get the best of both worlds.  I've heard it called
a cob-strawbale sandwich.  If the bales are going to share a load with
the cob, be aware that they have dramatically different compression
characteristics.  The Hand Sculpted House has bits of information
about connecting the two materials.

I haven't done a sandwich, but I have a cob wall with bales on the
outside of it, uncovered, for insulation.  It's working very well in
this early winter (20-40 degree) weather.

			-Clint