Cob Re: Status From Mauk

[Patrick Newberry]

Ok here is the quick version:(ok, maybe not that quick)

(I can't remember if I'm repeating myself or that was another list)

A about two years ago I needed a quick building for an office as I 
was offered a job at home. I was preparing to build our family home 
at that time, so I didn't want to invest much time or money.

I was at home depot(building supply store) and saw a 4x8 sheet of 
fiberouse cement board (my name for it). I told myself, heck soak a 
4 x 8 piece of carpet and you'd have the same thing.  So I build a 
octagon office with 8 foot pieces of 2x4's some rocks, some cement 
some carpet, plus a little insulation and sheet rock. 

a photo is at:
http://www.gnat.net/~goshawk/losroom.htm

Now if you look at the photo, you won't be able to see much of the 
roof section because it was painted with cool seal and seems to blend 
in with the sky behind it. But the roof is about 1 1/2 inches thick 
and the cement was really worked into the fibers of the carpet. In 
some cases this was not easy (good stain guard?) but the roof was the 
easiest and the walls the hardest (oh yea, the walls are build from 
this stuff too) It has no overhangs. Last winter I found 2 small 
cracks which I filled with a cool seal fill product. thus stopping 
the small leaks.

The bigest problem as been at the base where with all the water 
running off the roof and the rocks in my foundation not being very 
even, I would sometime get some water leakage there during heavy 
rains.  I did not insulate the roof (but the walls have insulation) 
and when I run the little window ac to keep my computer happy in the 
100 degree summer days like today, I sometime get a bit of 
condinsation on the under side of roof/ceiling. Also I only plastered 
the outside of the carpet, this resulted in some musty smells during 
rains that lasted over a few days. (we get about 50 inches of rain a 
year here).

So in the house's case I will make the following changes

1. plaster both sides of the carpet.
2. use it only in the roof sections with good slope so no water sits.
 
   (the roof it's on now actuall has small "ponds" where the water 
sits after a rain) (I realize that's wrong but this is a proto type 
so I figure if it can work under the worst conditions...)

3. add some kind of layer between two layers of carpet for 
insulation in the roof. (clay straw (moisture problems?) earth (heavy 
but good) etc)

for a solid roof:

top:  carpet/cement
middle:  earth, clay straw etc (other ideas?)
bottom: carpet/ cement.
support: 2x4 in proto-type (this could be   dropped but 
not sure about spans etc. The 2x4's stayed in place for the 
proto-type. I walk on the roof but walk mostly on the 2x4's.

I will be building both a dome roof and a shed roof with this 
technique. For the dome roof I'm looking at building something like a 
sweatlodge structure over the walls and then lay the carpet on that. 
The shed roof will just be sitting on 2x4's or something. 



That's my end of of the elephant.

Pat



> Date:          Thu, 25 Jun 1998 08:02:12 -0700 (PDT)
> From:          Don Stephens <dsteph at tincan.tincan.org>
> To:            coblist at deatech.com
> Subject:       Re: Cob Re: Status From Mauk
> Reply-to:      coblist at deatech.com

> On Wed, 24 Jun 1998, Patrick Newberry wrote:
> 
> > the best bet for me is to go with some kind of masonary roof. I'll 
> > probably use the carpet and cement but still need to design the 
> > form/frame....Pat
> 
> Tell this "blind man" more about how you do a "carpet & cement" roof, if
> you will.  Sounds interesting, but it's one I don't recall encountering
> before at my end of the elephant....Don 
> 
> 
"There is No Hope, but I may be wrong."