Cob: RE: Cob insulation idea

Fri Dec 20 14:45:30 CST 2002

jakc of the universe ; temporarily residing in new brunswick wrote:
just wanted to know what you mean by 'slip-straw'.
i'm down in new brunswick and i'm thinking about cob-building . i have been
trying to find out about insulating problems associated with cob building in
these climates here in new brunswick,probably similar to yours.
where can i find info. on this subject,or is everyone ''flying by the seat
of their pants/thinking on their feet",etc.
let me know.

 Hello Jakc of the universe and other interested parties. You may mean me
(Jen). We'd like to build a cob place in west Quebec where its also tres
cold. I read about slipstraw on the Kleiwerks website (www.kleiwerks.com).
Its basically chopped straw tossed like a salad in light clay that dries
quite hard. One can even make forms for it to dry in and build walls
apparently. My web research made me think it may help up the insulation but
I certainly didn't get any hard facts. We have been seriously thinking of
going the Cordwood route. I believe there's a number of such buildings in
N.B.  I asked Rob Roy of the Earthwood Building school if it is possible to
use cob as the mortar and this is what he wrote:
Dear Jen, Andy and family: Yes, cobwood appears to be successful here at
Earthwood in our garage building with a good overhang. Cuts cob mixing down
to about 20% of a cob house and I believe the result is far more
energy-efficient. We built a cobwood panel here two years ago with Ianto and
Linda. My new book, coming out in January (Cordwood Building: The State of
the Art) will tell a lot more. To learn about 2003 workshops, check our
website, www.cordwoodmasonry.com <http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com>  towards
the end of November or send us your snail mail address and we will put you
on the list to receive the 2003 brochure in January. First workshop is May
24-26, but the best one is the Cordwood Workweek, July 14-18, 2003. Rob Roy,
Director, Earthwood

So there you go, maybe some food for thought. Cob inner walls would have to
be built at the same time as the cobwood outer walls so the buiding's walls
settled together. The traditional mortar for this type of building is
Mason's cement, lime and sand. I personally love the fact that it too is
cheap because you are using the log ends, beautiful, can be built without
timberframing and is proven warm and long lasting in cold climates.
Good luck!, Jen in Ottawa

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<FONT SIZE="2">jakc of the universe ; temporarily residing in new brunswick wrote:<BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT SIZE="2">just wanted to know what you mean by 'slip-straw'.<BR>
i'm down in new brunswick and i'm thinking about cob-building . i have been trying to find out about insulating problems associated with cob building in these climates here in new brunswick,probably similar to yours.<BR>
where can i find info. on this subject,or is everyone ''flying by the seat of their pants/thinking on their feet",etc.<BR>
let me know. <BR>
</FONT> <BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE> Hello Jakc of the universe and other interested parties. You may mean me (Jen). We'd like to build a cob place in west Quebec where its also tres cold. I read about slipstraw on the Kleiwerks website (www.kleiwerks.com).  Its basically chopped straw tossed like a salad in light clay that dries quite hard. One can even make forms for it to dry in and build walls apparently. My web research made me think it may help up the insulation but I certainly didn't get any hard facts. We have been seriously thinking of going the Cordwood route. I believe there's a number of such buildings in N.B.  I asked Rob Roy of the Earthwood Building school if it is possible to use cob as the mortar and this is what he wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>Dear Jen, Andy and family: Yes, cobwood appears to be successful here at Earthwood in our garage building with a good overhang. Cuts cob mixing down to about 20% of a cob house and I believe the result is far more energy-efficient. We built a cobwood panel here two years ago with Ianto and Linda. My new book, coming out in January (Cordwood Building: The State of the Art) will tell a lot more. To learn about 2003 workshops, check our website, www.cordwoodmasonry.com <<FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U>http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com</U></FONT>>  towards the end of November or send us your snail mail address and we will put you on the list to receive the 2003 brochure in January. First workshop is May 24-26, but the best one is the Cordwood Workweek, July 14-18, 2003. Rob Roy, Director, Earthwood <BR>
<BR>
So there you go, maybe some food for thought. Cob inner walls would have to be built at the same time as the cobwood outer walls so the buiding's walls settled together. The traditional mortar for this type of building is Mason's cement, lime and sand. I personally love the fact that it too is cheap because you are using the log ends, beautiful, can be built without timberframing and is proven warm and long lasting in cold climates.<BR>
Good luck!, Jen in Ottawa<BR>
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