[Cob] rebar

[dhowell at pickensprogressonline.com]

Tony: ...the services of tensile strength that rebar offers in  
earthen and concrete structures is justified to ridiculous extreme.

Damon: Possibly. But also, cob has been proven to hold up just fine  
without rebar. So which side is doing it the right way? Whichever  
side has the most money, I presume. Generally cobbers are poor people  
and we all should be able to build our homes with what materials we  
can afford and not be denied housing because of code costs. There are  
cheaper ways than concrete, steel and sheet metal. Believe me, I  
think about what will make my building stand up as I'm sure anyone  
who looks to build their own home would. Tensile strength is an  
important issue. I bet after a few collapses and possibly deaths,  
traditional cob builders noticed the more straw in the wall, the more  
weather resistant. Straw provides our tensile strength, we don't need  
rebar too. Cob does have its place and California is hard on it. But  
they are adapting it to their environment. What is required in one  
place may not be required in another. Let's not pretend like this is  
a brand new material that the world has just discovered.