Hello there I have just started building a
cob round house in Zimbabwe. We are building on the edge of Hwange national park in the communal lands. I have read a lot on natural building techniques and did a natural building
course in South Africa which was amazing but I still have some questions. The dry season is soon to end, there is no rain for 6 months of the year and the rains are about to start, it doesn't rain constantly, there can be a thunder storm in the evening everyday for a week and then it stops for a while. Is this going to be a problem for the cob whilst building? I will keep the walls covered with plastic as the roof will only be built at the end, this is because termites are an issue in this area and I don't want any wooden poles directly into the ground. We are making the foundations at the moment out of stone and a cob/(no
straw) lime mortar. Also I will be building the walls on my own most of the time in the mornings when I am free, if I don't have time to do a complete circuit of the house with the cob in the same day does it matter? As it is very hot during this season I was wondering if it will dry out too quickly? Can the cob be left for a week or so before carrying on from time to time, will there be be a strong
enough bond between the dry and the wet cob? Sorry lots of questions i know...one more:
I am planning to make a metal termite barrier between the stone foundation and the cob, all the information I have found on physical termite barriers are companies in australia who install them, no information on how to make you own! I have galvanised sheets which I plan to lay on top of the stone stem wall with metal rods coming up from the wall to fix it too. The question I have is will the cob be attached firmly enough to a metal sheet? is there any danger of slipping or is gravity enough?( the walls will be 50cms thick)
Thanks for you help!
