[Cob] length of straw and general research

[howard at earthandstraw.com]

I would say the poor folks who built most  
of those cob houses in England didn't go to natural building school  
or do a lot of research into it. They simply dug the dirt up, mixed  
straw into it, and slapped it into a wall. 

Actually I'm pretty sure they had a very long historical development of technique passed down for generations.  But, yes, that is how one learns from their mistakes which can them be shared so others can avoid the same.


Howard Switzer, Architect
668 Hurricane Creek Road
Linden, TN 37096
931-589-6513
www.earthandstraw.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Damon Howell 
  To: coblist at deatech.com 
  Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:08 AM
  Subject: [Cob] length of straw and general research


  To John and Others,
  I see the interest in knowing the minimum length of straw in cob,  
  but my fear is when the research results become requirement by  
  building departments. Also, we should be able to build a home with  
  what we have available right here on our land and not need a trip to  
  the store for our materials. If we use store-bought materials  
  (additives which are not natural and abundantly available) in our  
  research, we'll never be able to build the simple, cheap homes we  
  want. On our journey of learning how to make the best cob homes,  
  let's keep in mind the old saying "KISS." Us Americans tend to want  
  our homes to last forever, but do they? Through all the research of  
  modern building technologies, our homes have become less sturdy and  
  more susceptible to damage because people just want a cheap house and  
  contractors love to cut corners. Cob houses have been known to last  
  for centuries and how many of us are going to be around to see the  
  demise of them? Not many I imagine. If they're built by sensible  
  builders they should last a long time (much longer than a stick  
  built). I'm not sure, but I would say the poor folks who built most  
  of those cob houses in England didn't go to natural building school  
  or do a lot of research into it. They simply dug the dirt up, mixed  
  straw into it, and slapped it into a wall. What more is there to  
  know? We seem to be so thirsty for the knowledge of how they did it  
  back then that we're over analyzing a very simple idea: we can build  
  our homes from dirt and it will last for generations as long as we  
  keep it from getting soaked with water. What a wonderful idea that  
  is. I celebrate everyone who sees the benefits of building this way.

  Damon in Georgia

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