Lucynda Riley

But . . .  Straw smells nice.  Is it possible that it's psychological?

Tim Wells wrote:my cob cracked when drying, so i upped the sand, it still cracked, was it too thick? was 2 inch thick on wattle

Could it have been too wet?

I spoke with the home owner about this a few months ago. He didn't have a vapor barrier under his floor or enough gravel between the ground and his earth floor. He has since corrected this by ripping up his old floor and putting down a vapor barrier, a layer of insulation and then a thicker layer of gravel before putting down the earthen floor. He also installed a french drain around the house to keep water away from the walls. These improvements have worked.