[Cob] Weatherproofing a cob bench

[Terra Incognita]

Brina,



There's an uncovered cob bench at the Merritt College landscape
horticulture building in Oakland CA. I don't know how long it has been
like that or how it's held up/been maintained. I should figure out how
to contact them...



I really like how your bench has the roof supports incorporated right
into the body of the bench. Since I've already built this one, that's
not an option.



thanks,

~Dirk

--- On Tue, 12/16/08, yewberry at wavecable.com <yewberry at wavecable.com> wrote:
From: yewberry at wavecable.com <yewberry at wavecable.com>
Subject: Re: [Cob] Weatherproofing a cob bench
To: nomadbuzzahd at yahoo.com, coblist at deatech.com
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 2:56 PM

Terra Incognita wrote:

> I've seen uncovered cob benches elsewhere. 

Where?  And do you know if they held up long-term?

> Is a lime plaster my best bet or are there other options?

Lime is water permeable if water is left to sit on it (in the case of a
horizontal surface, like a bench seat).  I can't think of any natural,
waterproof coating that will hold up to the elements for more than a season in
most of the Continental U.S.  You might have luck with a beeswax/linseed combo,
but I'm guessing you'll have to renew the finish every year.

Cob simply doesn't perform well without a roof.  Any chance you could build
one into the bench (instead of making it free-standing)?  That's what we did
with ours, and it's holding up well:

http://home.wavecable.com/~yewberry/cobbers/back8-4-06.jpg

Brina