Saturday, October 12, 2013
Two Foot Milestone
The cob portion of the walls are now two feet high all the way around the cottage.
Here are the stats for those keeping track. 25 work days total, 18 of which have been half days. 148 batches of cob for an average of 6 batches per day.
At this rate 50 more working days to the six foot milestone.
The bench alcove area will be left alone for now with focus being on the walls.
Looking northeast.
There is still some trimming to do.
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Craig, I can't believe how fast this is going - at least to me! Can you post a bit about how you mix the cob? (Or have you done that and I missed it?) How difficult will it be when you need to use a ladder to build the walls?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
BA
I'll do a detailed mixing post in the future but here is a quick summary. A "batch" is a five gallon pail of clay, half a five gallon pail of sand, half a pail of straw and one gallon of water. These ingredients are mixed together. The traditional way to do it is to mix by foot but I am using a cement mixer. The water is added to the clay in the pails first to presoak and break down the clay. Sand goes into the mixer first, then straw, then the clay. At present I'm getting better mixes by mixing a half batch at a time. The mixer has to turn only 3-5 minutes. The batch is dumped into a wheelbarrow and taken to the wall.
DeleteThe walls are to the height now where a step up would be helpful. I'm going to have to start thinking about using a ladder or scaffold. The higher the walls get the slower the process will go since the cob has to be lifted to height. Some fork the material onto the top of the wall but I have been making "cobs" - kneading a loaf sized ball of mud in the wheelbarrow, moving it to the top of the wall, pressing it into place on the wall and then sewing it into previously placed ones with the fingers. The result is a monolithic mass of wall.
So fascinating - thanks for that explanation. Do you wear gloves? Or just count the exfoliation as a free bonus? lol
ReplyDeleteI hope I get to help you mix up a batch at some point, just to experience it.