Ray Sackett

My town has an ordnance stating that chickens are not allowed to be raised / kept within city limits. Has anyone tried or succeeded in having a city ordnance amended or special exception given to allow chickens ? Would love to hear from anyone who has gone thru this. Good or bad.

Yea, the drawing is not to scale. It's just a rough rendering. The 2 1/2 x 8 opening is aprox. 2" long. It's tapered down from a 6" square riser. Drawing did not reflect this very well. But below the slanted opening the J tube is within 1/2" or less of meeting the preferred 1 - 2 - 4 ratio. I'm with ya on the slanted portion. I was trying to maximize the cooking / floor space.
Feel pretty good about the cement and insulation. used Hi-temp cement and hi-temp blocks. The outside surface never got the slightest bit warm. Not sure what the ratio on perlite to cement was.
Like idea of doing a fire inside the oven. Look forward to trying this. Thanks.  

Used a mixture of oak, pine and Cyprus twigs for fuel. Oven only got up to 295 degrees f. Inside the oven, placed a small wire rack with volcanic rocks piled on top to capture heat. Rack is setting raised over the riser opening. Opening is aprox. 2 1/2" x 8" close to the back of oven. Oven door is 2 1/2" thick wood. The entire burn chamber and riser is insulated with perlite and cement, 2 to 3 ". After it was drawing good I turned down the damper to 1/4 open to retain some heat. The chimney comes down into the oven by aprox. 8". Again trying to retain heat between the top of oven and chimney opening. The only thing I can think of is to use ALL hard wood. Wouldn't think that would make that big of deference. Any input or suggestions are greatly appreciated. It needs to get HOTTER than 295. f

Wondering if there are any advantages to using charcoal in a cob mix ? A charcoal slurry painted over a typical cob wall ? Or perhaps charcoal mixed directly with the clay, sand, straw ? Anyone have experience adding charcoal in some form or fashion to their cob structure ?

Here in central Ga. I built a small cob cottage. I'd say it took most of a year for it to completely dry out. After a year I started building a rocket mass heater. During construction a small patch of mold developed on the wall near the floor. Cutting a hole in the wall for the heater I'm sure was the culprit. Took care of the mold repair and finished the rocket heater. It's now been over 2 years. And no sign of mold. After a heavy rain I would run a fan for a few days. But now that everything is dry, no need for a fan. And no sign of mold.

Doing cob in TN. should be just fine. May want to consider 2" rigid foam panels in the middle of the cob for insulation. I've just finished building a cottage size cob house. I used 2" and 3" rigid foam panels sandwiched in the middle of the cob. Then built a small rocket mass heater inside for added warmth in winter. I cranked up the stove 3 or 4 hours before bedtime and it did just fine all night. Now getting into summer temps. and it stays 5 to 10 degrees cooler inside all day. This is middle Ga. weather. So we'll get several days in the 100's. Curious to see how it does this summer.

I'm in central Ga. (Perry). Have started a small garden. Just finished building a greenhouse to house a aquaponics setup. Started a small cob structure about a year ago. Today it's about 90% finished. It's all closed in on 4 sides. Roof is completed. Just been building up interior walls to proper thickness. All the electrical work is done. So light and power help me work longer. With a traditional building background, it's been a more creative endeavor. Natural building (at least COB) is more ME than stick frame building. Hope to help and learn more from other locals.

I would recommend the same as Chris. This is very similar to what I used. Built foundation with 2 wide ICF blocks, put up plywood forms to create 400mm thick wall. then did a rammed earth on that. Used a 3 to 5 % dry cement mixed with clay and sand. Slightly damped. Ended up with a 4 ' high rammed earth wall. This was all below grade. Then built aprox. 3' high cob on top of that. I did use vertical rebar between the rammed earth and cob.