>So YES you can use cob, but ask if you should, do you have the skill sets to use it properly, and is it the best choice for a region you are in compared to other vernacular architecture.
That's definitely me (in my relative infancy learning about this topic). I am taken with cob's aesthetic and cost. I think our right angle housing world offends my sensibilities (whatever the hell that means).
That said, I'm also pragmatic. So if it doesn't make sense (we're getting a -10 night coming up in the next few days) then I won't do it, and aesthetics be damned!
My thinking has changed a bit to a hybrid design where there's bale on the outside, but with the straw oriented vertically (some research suggesting a higher R-value in this orientation) and then 8-10 inches of cob inside.
More work? Definitely. But this is going to be our home for 3 (or more) decades and there are many other buildings on the site so it mitigates the urgency to some degree.
Again, my thinking (and knowledge) is pretty sophomoric at this stage and largely idealistic. Luckily my research/pragmatic side brings me to you lot!
So thanks, you lot!
Brian
