[Cob] finding stats

[Jon Kerr]

On May 24, 2007, at 1:55 AM, Shody Ryon wrote:

> Are any cob houses built with gothic arch windows and
> doors?
Yes!  from the reading I've done you can have basically any kind of  
arch you want. They're just harder to make since you have to use a  
form to fill in the hole while you're layering cob up around it. With  
regular rectangular windows, you just lay a strong enough board over  
the top. There are tons of building in the middle east with arched  
windows, go for it!  Here's one at Ahimsa sanctuary:

http://www.peacemaking.org/ahimsawebfiles/main.html



> I assume that cob walls are usually built lower
> rather than taller so there is not usually room for a
> lot of wall between the top of the window and the roof
> for a gothic arch (that would not require a header),
> and the load on the wall would increase from wind and
> seismic forces and incresed labor of more cob which
> would usually be more of a problem than most would
> wish to deal with.
Nah, wind forces on a cob wall are just going to make the cob wall  
laugh until the wind gets really pissed and comes back with it's  
tornado big brother. OTOH, seismic forces don't care how big your  
wall is, it'd be like us caring about the difference between the  
lifting the weight of a post-it or a full sheet of paper. The taller  
walls will be thicker at the bottom, so proportionally, it's the  
same. I'll see if I can find a picture of the gigantic welsh or  
english farmhouse. I think I saw a picture of it in the Hand Sculpted  
House, but it's just HUGE. Twelve foot ceilings I think.
This isn't it, but it's a 2 story addition in UK: http:// 
www.cobcottage.com/node/121

>
> As for up-lift on the roof,
-snip-
I think someone else pointed out about putting dead men in the walls  
as you build the walls. You can simply cut notches in the logs and  
insert your rafters' ends into the notches.

Good luck!

Jon

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