[Cob] strawbale, geodesic domes, and igloos

[GlobalCirclenet]

I understand what you're saying about plastering with cob as opposed to the
usual cob material and process, as I said in reply to the other post, so
I'm not ruling it out. What I'd like to stress though, is the plastering
either way is not for amateurs. Yet amateurs are the only ones trying straw
bale or cob. I think amateurs should be forewarned about the difficulty and
mold risks of not getting it right and maintaining it over the years. The
alternative is paying professional plasterers and then you get into serious
money. For non-builders to play around with alternative methods and
materials is inviting disappointment or disaster, and those pushing these
alternatives without the drawbacks aren't helping the cause of
sustainability and energy efficiency. 

paul at largocreekfarms.com
http://herbfarmer.net
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/23/2004 at 11:03 AM Amanda Peck wrote:

>That link seems to have been taken directly (with or without permission) 
>from Cedar Rose's book on natural plasters.
>
>Here's the link to the book from Charmaine Taylor:
>
>http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com/natplasbook.html
>
>Yes, she IS a professional PLASTERER.  While she does mention SB and I
>seem 
>to remember cob, the three-coat procedure is straight from the old-time 
>plastering manuals, whether what you are plastering on is straw-bale, cob,

>or what you run into in old houses, wood or metal lath over studs.
>
>As a professional, she would be concerned to have her work look smooth, no

>wrinkles, all the irregularities from the substrate smoothed out.  In a 
>word, gorgeous.
>
>Is it necessary for amateurs to achieve that level of perfection?  Up to 
>you.  But that IS how you get it.
>
>High-end woodworkers tend to think that sandpaper is for the birds, that
>the 
>best finish comes from plane and scraper, not sandpaper.  I agree, I know 
>why, but I'd really be more likely to use rough-sawn than go through all 
>that work and the nice long learning curve only to find that I liked the 
>funky look at least as well.
>
>As recently as six or seven years ago, the standard finish for straw bales

>in my area was still concrete pumped onto the surface by somebody used to 
>doing swimming pools.  One of the buildings I was familiar with was
>further 
>covered with latex paint (I screamed about it, but....).  A couple of
>years 
>later it had what was thought to be a mold problem.  We drilled lots of 
>holes through the concrete inside the building in order to both pinpoint
>the 
>source of the problem and let it breathe. All I ever smelled was nice
>fresh 
>straw.  I wonder now if the problem was really a leak in the silo-type
>roof 
>onto the straw in bags up in the attic.
>
>And, a couple of months ago, I heard that the people were still happy
>enough 
>with the building to be planning a larger straw-bale structure.
>
>Shannon's right.  Lots and lots of ways to get all of this done.
>
>............
>Paul wrote (snipped):
>http://www.webace.com.au/~agstraw/cedar.html just doesn't support sealing
>strawbale with cob.
>
>It's clearly about thin coats of plaster, not cob at
>all. It recommends earthen plasters. The difference is significant because
>cob is not the same as earthen or any other kind of plaster. Plaster is
>applied in very thin coats, esp the first coat to "key" into the straw.
>
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