[Cob] VT-NH Was Heart Throb

[Ron Becker]

Hi Travis. With out seeing a jar test of the local my comments could be 
pretty far off base. It is possible that if someone were hell bent of 
build cob in your area, the amount of added clay required could be 
easily transported in a car [as more was needed] as the percentage of 
clay you need to add to make a good clay soil isn't that much. Here in 
NM on this particular site the jar test told me I only had about 10%  
clay. This was a surprise I thought this area was adobe heaven. But the 
point is a few shovels of pure kentucky ball clay added to a mix did 
the trick. This kind of clay and most others comes in 50lb bags and you 
could get quite a few in a car trunk. That said, if the soil is low on 
clay and full of silt it might require more. And that said, there is a 
very astute point made in The Hand Sculpted House, that it's best 
utilize what's already on your site. SO, if your local ceramic supply 
house is 80 miles away in a direction you don't ever go.....

Stay warm up there,

Ron
Those who question global warming have a financial or emotional 
interest in the status quo.


On Jan 31, 2007, at 7:12 AM, Travis Miller wrote:

> I live in south east VT in Brattleboro.  There are several straw bale 
> homes in the area and a natural building group.  
> http://www.potkettleblack.com/bang/index.html
> I'm not aware of any cob homes in the area.  My understanding is that 
> we don't have very good soil for making cob here.  Lots of sand not 
> much clay.  Any cob building would require bringing the material in 
> from some distance away.  That may not be the case in other parts of 
> NH and VT.
>
> Travis
>
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