[Cob] new earthen floor on old concrete floor

[Sabrina Free]

Hi JB,
Your point is well taken and appreciated.  I actually had considered that,
and thought of not putting that sentence in my post in order to not have
this very conversation. :o)   But I am a fairly blunt and honest person,
(although I guess my living situation puts that into question...) and at
this point I don't have a lot of other options.  I didn't want the
assumption made that this was residential, because, it isn't.  I could
probably go outside every night and walk the 100 yards to the overpass and
sleep under there with the other people who do not have homes right now, but
even before I sold my house I was here 99% of my time anyway.  I don't sleep
for long spells, 3 hours here or there so had a bedroom here anyway, known
to the landlord and maintenance man.
Not trying to justify what I am doing, and I hesitate to elaborate, but the
impact I have here already is probably already much more positive than
negative.
I am only planning to be here a short time longer, and any improvements I
make will only increase the landlords chances of renting my space out
again.  (The building is approximately 50,000 SQ and I have a lease for
4,000 with another 10,000 being used by me on a month to month basis).  The
place was infested with racoons when I moved my business here, and they did
a LOT of damage.  There are no more racoons here.  (This is not the high
rent district.  At all.)
I am cognizant and respectful of your opinion and agree with you for the
most part.  I did weigh the pros and cons before deciding to stay here, and
would be very surprised if anyone ever realizes that I no longer "go home
from work".  I do not, however, believe that natural building, or green
building or even cob for that matter needs to be restricted to only
residential buildings.
IF I decide to stay where I am as far as geographical location (as opposed
to moving out of state) my intention is to eventually take over about 2/3 of
this warehouse and turn it in to a retail environment with as much cob and
natural plaster and earthen floors as humanly possible, and it will all be
approved somehow.  I figure this will do a lot to enlighten people who
otherwise would never know one thing about it.  I sell used furniture and
while this very impoverished neighborhood is a very good place to have that
sort of retail business, I would love to be able to show these people that
there are other inexpensive opportunities for housing than what they are in
now.

Sabrina



On 8/24/06, JBurn48309 at aol.com <JBurn48309 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>  Good morning - My greatest concern about your situation is whether the
> information you seek of the people here who are experienced in cob
> construction is asked under circumstances that will hurt greater acceptance
> of it in the building industry.   After 4 years of learning from these
> folks, I believed one of the important goals of this list discussion was to
> help people who wanted to build a cob home convince architect engineers and
> the engineers at county building departments that cob is a legitimate,
> affordable and environmentally friendly form of housing.  This, in my humble
> opinion, means when a discussion occurs on this list, everyone assumes the
> chosen site is  both residential and habitable.  I grew up in Europe and
> lived in and around houses built of stone and earth in a small village
> that dated back to the 1800's  -- my home will repeat the best of those
> memories.  I am grateful for the wisdom shared on this mail list because,
> otherwise, I would never be able to afford to own a home again.  Thanks for
> listening.  JB
>
> In a message dated 8/24/2006 12:49:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> sabrinafree at gmail.com writes:
>
> My house
> recently sold and until I decide where to live, am going to live here,
> (albeit not exactly legally).
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