Cob: foundation idea

[Miranda Sterling]

Robynn,

Will you be building anytime real soon?  I'd love to hear your experiences, 
if you would.

The ground around here is mostly chunks of pre-compressed limestone.  I 
mean, digging is extremely difficult below two or three inches--you're only 
prying up rocks.  Not much topsoil in most places.  I'm wondering how much 
of a foundation do  I actually need?  We hardly ever have freezes that last 
for more than a day or two, though every few winters, there are longer ones.

To excavate enough to lay in the bottom trench, I'd probably need one of 
those huge rock saws I see driving along the road.  Looks like a chainsaw, 
only as long as a man.  That's the tool that is used to cut the trenches 
for the septic tanks around here--no sewage system in this town.  This is 
the reason septic is so darned expensive here.

Miranda

At 07:20 PM 6/14/2002 -0600, you wrote:

>Miranda,
>I agree!  I got this idea from looking at the way railroads are built.  They
>seem to last forever and are simply piled up gravel/rubble, as far as I can
>tell.  It seems to me that something like this would be better than
>inflexible concreate or that seems to crack eventually, no matter what you
>do, and it would certainly be simpler than a stone foundation!
>
>-- Robynn
>
>
>
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