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Kiko Denzer on Art


Cob: sandy soil

Sbay Hi_eagle at hotmail.com
Sun Sep 30 22:57:31 CDT 2001 

Hello,
I am new to this lovely list so I will start by introducing myself.
My name is Sara.  I found cob about a year ago.  I was exploring green building, always thinking there's got to be a better way.  Then I found cob.
I am in need of an emergency type shelter that should last for a while so my kids can use it after we get a more permanant home.
I'd love to go all cob, but codes and stuff will force us to build either conventional or log.
Anyway, our soil is extremely sandy.   Actually it is sand, all sand, nothing but sand.  I had some clay brought in but it is not the best quality.  Nothing like
the clay I used this spring from a lakeshore to build little test structures with my kids.  This stuff is not very sticky, really light tan and kinda sandy or something.
So, do I need to bring in some better clay?  Or just use more than the advised amount of our sandy, not so sticky clay????
I've made test bricks with 50/50 and they weren't as solid as i'd hoped.  
Also I'm not going to build a foundation, so do I need to put the cob a little below ground or just slap it right down on the grass?
And what should I do for a bare bones floor?  Just move the grass and tamp the earth some?
Thanks
Sara
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am new to this lovely list so I will start by 
introducing myself.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My name is Sara.  I found cob about a year 
ago.  I was exploring green building, always thinking there's got to be a 
better way.  Then I found cob.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am in need of an emergency type shelter that 
should last for a while so my kids can use it after we get a more permanant 
home.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'd love to go all cob, but codes and stuff will 
force us to build either conventional or log.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyway, our soil is extremely sandy.   
Actually it is sand, all sand, nothing but sand.  I had some clay brought 
in but it is not the best quality.  Nothing like</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>the clay I used this spring from a lakeshore to 
build little test structures with my kids.  This stuff is not very sticky, 
really light tan and kinda sandy or something.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, do I need to bring in some better clay?  
Or just use more than the advised amount of our sandy, not so sticky 
clay????</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've made test bricks with 50/50 and they weren't 
as solid as i'd hoped.  </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Also I'm not going to build a foundation, so do I 
need to put the cob a little below ground or just slap it right down on the 
grass?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And what should I do for a bare bones floor?  
Just move the grass and tamp the earth some?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sara</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>