[Cob] Straw bales vs Clay-slip weeds

[Charmaine Taylor]

P J ---due to the seed heads and other 'mouse food' in the fibers you 
may be best to chop up he bales and simply do a light straw clay where 
the  material is encased in a clay-lime slip and then make a wall as 
thick as you like.  Much more rodent proof and fire resistant-mold 
resistant as well.
[ I always recommend lime added to prevent any growth and to stabilize 
the clay]

  If you can transport the  pre baled chopped up 'straw' then you can 
try it first.  the footprint of the shed will be much smaller due to 
thinner walls, and you can still cob and stone veneer over them.

I am infilling my studio now with just 4-5" of  sawdust -clay-lime and 
expect it to be just fine for our temperate climate.  and heat loss or 
gain thru the ceiling is a big issue too. you can also make precast 
blocks and set those in the ceiling and achieve a good insulation.

as you know there is free sawdust   here in N CA in most areas..try 
that too

a new source I found is a local wood  kitchen boards/ bowls/etc and 
guitar maker CO-OP which puts ALL the sawdust from many woods into   
drums outside   from a blower system. I just get the entire drum  
emptied and  placed it in my car to haul off.   I use a British 
"gardener's bag"  which is a LARGE canvas tote hold 50 gallons of dry 
material and is easy to haul in and out of the car hatchback.

Charmaine Taylor Publishing  books at dirtcheapbuilder.com
PO Box 375 Cutten CA   95534 707-441-1632
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com  www.papercrete.com



On Jul 19, 2004, at 8:11 AM, PJ Benet-Davis wrote:

>  I could wait until next year, he would bale up his field clearing 
> (weeds and grasses) and would charge me only for the bailing.  As it 
> is, he is only charging $1.00 a bale, provided you go get the bales
>
> My question is this:  given the fact that temperatures range from a 
> very occasional
>  -20 (winter) to 110 F (summer) and once a year at most, is there any 
> reason why I should hold out for real straw bales?  The first thing I 
> want to build is a storage shed.  Can I use these bales for something 
> like this?
>  Also, my motto is, "Used and Recycled, Cheap and Free".  Please be so 
> kind as to give my your thoughts.  Thank you.
>
>
>
> PJ Benet-Davis
> Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges
> 213.443.3290
> pjbenetdavis at quinnemanuel.com
>
>
>
>