[Cob] Sill plates?

[Kim West]

Nice to see the recent posts on clay and cold temps. We had stopped 
cobbing 11 days ago due to it being "too cold" to cob--as well as it 
being so rainy (we do it barefoot (:D) and the cold was becoming painful 
on the toesies).

Last week it warmed and dried up some so we took the initiative to 
re-start our work. Being that there aren't too many cobbing days left in 
the season, we decided to use the tiller to mix the cob. It went so much 
faster than mixing by foot, and we weren't nearly as exhausted at the 
end of the day! Two people were able to do much more per day with a 
tiller [with much less effort] than three had previously done per day by 
foot. I wish we had used the tiller all along--we would have been 
finished months ago had we done so--but 1. our butter beans had grown 
across the garden gate and we didn't want to damage them by getting the 
tiller out of the garden, 2. we were afraid of damaging the tiller since 
we would not be able to replace it any time soon, and 3. we were afraid 
the mix would not be as good. 1. The butter beans have shot their wad 
for the most part; 2. We are checking the oil level frequently and 
cleaning the tiller of cob and hay after every two or three passes; 3. 
The mix is excellent though at times we have to remix parts back into 
the next batch due to too much of one thing or another.

Anyone who already knows what a good batch of cob should be like and who 
isn't against using machinery should give tiller cob a try. We are 
impressed! [Thanks Ed!]

All that aside, we do have a couple questions if anyone here has 
answers. We are almost to the top of the door frames on the first story, 
and the second story will be stick frame or something similar. We are 
wondering if a sill plate will be necessary under the floor joists 
between the first story cob and the second story, or can the second 
story be added with each floor joist sitting in the cob, or sitting in 
the cob atop a short piece of wood, or what?  Wouldn't it be more stable 
if a sill plate were used to distribute the weight of the second story 
across the cob much the same as the wide foundation was needed to 
distribute the weight of the cob across the earth?

Thanks for any help--

Kim



Shannon C. Dealy wrote:

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>As one of the few people dumb enough to build with cob in winter in a
>moderately cold and very wet climate, it's only to cold to mix if the
>mud cracks when you stomp on it :-)
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