[Cob] mold or fungus?

[howard at earthandstraw.com]

I've experienced this and the mold disappears once the wall dries completely.  The bleach is not necessary and you should wait for the walls to be dry before plastering.


Howard Switzer, Architect
668 Hurricane Creek Road
Linden, TN 37096
931-589-6513
www.earthandstraw.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Christopher Reinhart 
  To: Tys Sniffen 
  Cc: coblist at deatech.com 
  Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 2:58 PM
  Subject: Re: [Cob] mold or fungus?


  Tys,

  I experienced a similar issue with small patches of white mold growing on
  cob walls before they were completely dry.  I live in south-central indiana,
  in a heavily wooded area, and it can be quite muggy in the summer time.  I
  thought similarly to you, and sprayed the areas with a bit of bleach water
  once the walls were completely dry and before plastering them.  Haven't had
  any problems since then.  I do wonder if the mold would have disappeared on
  its own without the bleach water, but I was impatient to begin plastering
  and didn't want to take a chance.

  -Chris Reinhart
  Bloomington, IN

  On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 9:22 PM, Tys Sniffen <tys at ideamountain.com> wrote:

  > Hey all,
  >
  > As we keep cobbing here in Northern California into the winter, I see some
  > strange white mold or fungus patches showing up, generally on the inside of
  > our walls.  That seems pretty odd to me, but of course, here in the woods a
  > wispy white spider-web-like mat of mold is not uncommon.
  >
  > This is on the cob wall itself, right about where the wet part meets the
  > dry
  > layers from batches past.
  >
  > Any thoughts on this? We're thinking of going around with a spray bottle
  > with bleach-y water in it, but I'm also thinking that a couple plaster
  > layers will take care of this... but I don't want mushrooms popping out of
  > my walls later on.
  >
  > Tys
  >
  >
  >
  >
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