cordwood alternatives?

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Greetings. I have had some experience being employed in building with cordwood, but I was following the owner builder's direction. I was hoping that someone could answer some questions about alternative matterials. Because of the expense of concrete, and the difficulty of finding dry sawdust on the wet west coast... If I had an insulative cavity of say 8-10 inches in a 24 inch cordwood wall, is it possible to substitute a balled up newspaper page, or rolled up cardboard for dry sawdust and lime, in the center of the cavity? Wouldn't this create more dead air space, and stop possible air infiltration in shrinkage gaps? Also has anyone ever heard of a cob stackwall? I would be using a timberframe to support the roofing. I'd just prefer working with clay over concrete any day.

-- roberto pokachinni, coastal B.C. (pokachinni@yahoo.com), December 28, 2001

Answers

Hello Roberto, If you are cutting your cordwood with a chainsaw, I know that you will have an abundance of sawdust. I heat my house only with wood and I can make a huge pile of sawdust in just a short time. If the sawdust falls onto wet ground then maybe you can put a tarp under your cutting area and collect it that way.

Now, if your wood is already cut, I suppose you could fill the cavity with just about anything that is dry. Newspaper sounds iffy, I would recommend roll or blown insulation instead.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 28, 2001.


Hi Roberto, As you probably know, Cob has been used for HUNDREDS of years in Europe and some of those buildings are still used.

By all means, use Cob for filler. It takes a while to dry completely, but it is very insulative. Make it from 2 parts sand, 1 part clay (this mix is arbitrary depending on the earth that you use)and enough water to make it into a bread dough consistancy then begin adding straw. Add as much straw as you can. To mix all this stuff, use your feet. Moosh it up on a tarp, turn it every so often and moosh it up some more just as if you were kneading bread dough with your feet. Use bare feet as it will pull anything off. I suppose you could use a cement mixer, but that feels like "cheating" to me. You can use it right away or cover it and use it the next day or two. It will need air to dry, but if you are using cordwood that should be porous enough I would think. Concrete between the cordwood would not be a good idea with Cob on the inside of the wall tho.

You could use Cob to put together the cordwood like you would cement. Your eves will need to be longer and your foundation higher to keep rain splash off the Cob. Also it is recommended that you "plaster" the Cob on the outside to protect it and make it look nicer. Use a piece of board to scrap the ends of the straw off the outside wall before plastering (use your own plaster receipt, not the boughten stuff). Add blueing for a nice color or sparklies to make the house twinkle in the sun.

This was fun to talk about. I recommend reading "The Cob Builders Handbook" by Becky Bee and another terrific resource would be "The Cobbers Companion, How to Build Your Own Earthen Home" by Michael G. Smith. I'm building my place beginning this spring. I have half the floor area dug out right now.

Good luck with your project and let us know how it is coming along!

-- Susan from almost Northern MI (smb7705@aol.com), December 28, 2001.


I recall seeing the cob in an old Countrysdie, forgot how far back. I'll try to check and see, I have a ton of them. Geeze, wish you were in AR, we just purchased a lovely ranch that had a sawmill on it and we have TONS... and i mean tons of sawdust. We also ahve enough cull lumber to buid a subdivision!

You might want to try Mother Earth News or Backwoods home magazine's sites.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 29, 2001.


Try daycreek.com and go to the forum and ask this question. I think you will find answers you need.

-- Mike in wny (jake@2ki.net), December 30, 2001.

ROBERTO....DROP BY MY BOARD ON CORDWOOD.I`M THE ONLY BOARD OWNER WITH EXPERIENCE.[36 YEARS] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cordwood

WE JUST HAD SOME POSTS ON MY BOARD FROM PEOPLE IN B.C. LOOKING FOR OTHERS.

[1]INSULATION OPTIONS.I DON`T LIKE TO USE THE SAWDUST LIME MYSELF BECAUSE IT TENDS TO PACK.I LIKE TO USE STYROFOAM BEADS BECAUSE THEY AREN`T AFFECTED BY MOISTURE AND ARE FREE FLOWING TO FILL ANY VOIDS. MOST INSULATIONS LOSE THEIR R-VALUE WHEN WET.[FIBERGLASS IS SUPPOSED TO LOSE 50% R-VALUE WITH ONLY A 1% MOISTURE CONTENT GAIN] PAPERCRETE MIGHT BE AN OPTION.BUT NEWSPAPER BALLED UP WOULD PROBABLY SUPPORT MOLD AND FUNGI.PLUS IT WOULD SETTLE ALSO.THEN AGAIN IT HAS NO REAL R-VALUE LOOSE. I THINK SOMEONE DID A CLAY/COB STACKWALL HYBRED IN ENGLAND.

DROP BY THE BOARD

CORDWOODGUY PS:THE OTHERS IN B.C WOULD BE GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU.THEY ARE LOOKING FOR EXISTING HOMES TO VISIT.[I`M ON THE EAST COAST].PLUS THEY WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE WITH EXPERIENCE AS WELL.

WHAT MORTAR MIX DO YOU USE OUT THERE?

-- CORDWOODGUY (cordwoodguy@n2teaching.com), December 30, 2001.



Cordwood guy give us the addy please.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

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