Cob: COB in the tropical rainforest?

[mike stone]

Hey David,

Great ideas. Hopefully, though, I won't need the air conditioning. I'm 
looking at land about 2000 feet up in the mountains and the weather there is 
pretty mild. Most of the houses I saw in the mountains were wooden and had 
lots of window openings with nothing covering them except for maybe screen. 
Many had no coverings at all. Even though I'm a naturalist and wildlife 
freak, I'll probably want to keep the insects and other critters outside, so 
I'll want screen at least.

I figured a wooden house will take a beating from the moisture and termites, 
so a cob house should be ideal. But, I definitely want to look at health 
hazards like mold. I'm assuming that a cob house with lots of ventilation 
and air movement should suffice but I don't know. I also assume I'll want a 
tin roof with a lot of overhang to keep excess water away from the outer 
walls...it rains every day from may to november.

I like the bamboo idea! How does bamboo fit into cob construction?

mike


>From: "David Knowlton" <pilot1ab80 at hotmail.com>
>To: costaricacob at hotmail.com, coblist at deatech.com
>Subject: Re: Cob: COB in the tropical rainforest?
>Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:26:41 +0000
>
>Mike,
>
>Lucky you have fun! I would study public health and thermodynamics, and 
>some engineering --
>then I would learn the local building methods that the natives have used 
>for millenia and upgrade it.
>
>i think it no sin to use bamboo lathe and mud - and then air condition the 
>place.
>
>david in tampa
>
>
>>From: "mike stone" <costaricacob at hotmail.com>
>>Reply-To: "mike stone" <costaricacob at hotmail.com>
>>To: coblist at deatech.com
>>Subject: Cob: COB in the tropical rainforest?
>>Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 13:04:50 -0500
>>
>>Hi Everyone!
>>
>>I just joined the list a little while ago. I was directed to cob 
>>construction a couple weeks ago by someone in another forum when I 
>>inquired about alternative and green building. Originally, I was thinking 
>>about monolithic domes but was surprised by their high cost so I'm hoping 
>>cob is for me. I have a few questions and I hope someone here can help me 
>>out.
>>
>>I'm currently living in Texas (Austin and Houston) but I just sold my 
>>house in Austin and I plan to move to Costa Rica within the next six 
>>months. From what I've read about cob, it seems to be suitable for cool, 
>>damp places like the Pacific Northwest, but I haven't seen anything about 
>>how it fares in warm, damp places like the tropical rainforests of Central 
>>America.
>>
>>Here are some of my questions?
>>
>>Has anyone built any cob houses in a warm climate with lots of rainfall? 
>>How did it work out? Any problems with mold? Any problems with erosion of 
>>the building?
>>
>>Would a concrete slab facilitate the construction of a cob house in the 
>>rainforest?
>>
>>Does cob construction lend itself well to the creation of a two-story 
>>building, or at least a house with a loft?
>>
>>Lastly, are there people in Houston or Austin that have cob homes that I 
>>could see? Also, any interest in either of these cities for a group to 
>>meet to discuss and possibly do some cob construction?
>>
>>Thanks in advance,
>>mike
>>
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