Cob: RE: breathing cob walls

[Sarah Kopp]

What? what?  hold on - tile right onto the cob wall...we are so terrified of
what the water in the shower/bath area could do to the thick adobe plaster
in our strawbale houses - actually what it could do to the straw
underneath - that we are taking outrageous steps to waterproof that
wall....I had wanted to just tile it over with a good grout.

How do the cob walls hold up in a shower/bath?

Sarah
Tsfat, Israel
-----Original Message-----
From: W <uwu at angelfire.com>
To: 'Bob' <owl at steadi.org>; coblist at deatech.com <coblist at deatech.com>;
Kelly, Sean <SKelly at PinpointTech.com>
Date: éåí ùìéùé 16 îàé 2000 14:18
Subject: Re: Cob: RE: breathing cob walls


>good question.
>
>I helped to build a cob hom in BC and I wondered the same thing (though for
some reason not out loud...) as I built cob walls to be tiled in the form of
a shower...
>
>anyone else?
>---
>PeaceLoveLightLifeBeautyTruth
>W.
>
>On Mon, 15 May 2000 12:37:42   Kelly, Sean wrote:
>>In the same vein, how does applying tile to a cob wall work?  I mean, say
I
>>wanted to put up tiles in a bathing area, wouldn't putting up glazed tiles
>>with mortar seal the wall, and wouldn't that be bad?  Or could you just
>>embed the tiles in the cob?  I also had a friend who was thinking of using
>>tile to mosaic the outside of a cob building...  Would this cause
breathing
>>problems?
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Bob [mailto:owl at steadi.org]
>>Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 11:57 PM
>>To: coblist at deatech.com
>>Subject: Cob: breathing cob walls
>>
>>
>>I'm glad someone brought up the need for cob walls to breathe.  In New
>>Mexico the restorers had the bright idea of coating the outside of a very
>>old adobe church with mortar to protect it from the weather etc.  It
almost
>>destroyed it, however.  Moisture that is in most all air entered the wall
>>from the inside and got trapped just under the mortar. Over the years it
>>softened the clay in the raw (unfired)  bricks.  Watertight sealants will
>>gradually soften the clay under them.  It may not show in a year but it
will
>>over time.
>> This church was in a quite dry climate near Santa Fe, New Mexico.  If you
>>would like more details I will look up the recent Smithsonian article and
>>put the page and issue on this net.
>>
>>IT IS DANGEROUS TO TRY TO SEAL AN ADOBE OR COB WALL.  THEY NEED TO
BREATHE.
>>
>>Potassium silicate, I believe is a sealants that can cause this gradual
>>deterioration of unfired clay walls.    You may be undermining your
>>building.  Just what potassium silicate would do to garden walls is
another
>>question.  Perhaps they would make the wall last longer than an
unprotected
>>rain drenched wall.  Much better are the ideas of putting a roof on the
wall
>>with an overhang and putting stones in it that stick out.  Even terracotta
>>(cooked earth) tiles that are not glazed, just low fired, would be good
>>protection even though they are a little porous.  Most of the rain would
run
>>off.  If the wall breathed the little moisture that went through into the
>>wall would likely work its way to the sides and evaporate.
>>
>>What is important to remember is that even inanimate things are dynamic,
>>changing slowly or fast depending on the climate.  In the Egyptian desert
>>they can last for thousands of years but there are few places  that dry in
>>the world.  Even the ancient hieroglyphics thousands of years old, when
>>inclosed and viewed by too many  tourists can be destroyed by the moisture
>>evaporating from their bodies.  So we have to bend with the weather and
the
>>impacts of changing climates and recognize that every move we make impacts
>>the world of future generations.  Acid rain, thanks to our  blind use of
>>technology, is decaying even stone monuments that lasted thousands of
years.
>>The automobiles in Athens are destroying the ancient Athenian buildings,
for
>>example.
>>
>>Americans look for quick fixes.  When they are efforts to short cut
natural
>>processes they always backfire.  Cob is great because it is mostly a
product
>>of nature and when properly used and cared for can last for ages.  Tune
into
>>it and it will give you a singing house.  Try to defeat the natural
process
>>and they will let you down, or let the roof down on your heads.
>>
>>Bob
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com
>