[Cob] just a little clarification

[GlobalCirclenet]

Getting red-flagged is the least of your worries with mold. The risk of
dying is your worry. Remember Legionnaires' Disease? Whenever you get a
mold problem it's because the house isn't properly sealed against moisture
where it should be sealed, and you have to move out. Then it costs a
fortune to rehabilitate the house (or cheaper to bulldoze and start over).
There was a widespread problem with black mold from improper building in
Texas, and insurance companies bailed out and a lot of people lost it all.
Mold is #1 cause of sick building syndrome.  Try to sell a house that's not
insurable.

Structural failure is not the issue. Even if you keep cracks maintained,
moisture that got inside strawbale (or any other kind of wall) from
condensation or any other source will stay there and mold will grow. Straw
will mold faster than wood. Cob or other earthen material will not mold. 

I don't know much about any code that might exist somewhere for cob
construction. I do know that adobe and rammed earth were only recently
coded in New Mexico. If you get caught in a house that's not permitted in
your state you get red-flagged and/or fined no matter how you built it. All
it takes is a nosy neighbor. 

paul at largocreekfarms.com
http://medicinehill.net
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/24/2004 at 11:34 PM Mary Lou McFarland wrote:

>Considering the current conversation, I find that I absolutely have to
>ask 
>if anyone has been "red-flagged" for their cob construction or even for 
>their cracked plaster/mold problem.  Can you even be red-flagged for mold?
> 
>If mold is the response to a plaster crack, wouldn't you have time for 
>repair before  having any structural degradation?  Wouldn't  a good 
>foundation, stem wall and proper roof support  system be a tad more 
>important than a plaster coat?  As important as a good plaster is, it 
>doesn't keep the roof from collapsing.
>
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