Ross Norton

Great advice, thanks.

By fatty I mean it's very sticky. Probably like you mentioned that means high clay content.

I done lots of tests for my plaster but never went beyond 1:6 because I felt it seemed a bit sandy and crumbly. (And it still cracked without straw) apparently there's different types of clay and some are less ideal for cob.

Maybe I could try a few sandy base layers and then my straw-plaster mix over the top for strength.

Thank you so much for the quick reply and advice much appreciated!

Ross

Hi there,

I need to make a bench for my rocket stove.
I have a really fatty clay /loam soil, which i dug out from the garden.
I've used it for earthen plaster for the whole house and it worked very well, but I have to put a lot of straw in it. To keep it from cracking.

Now I would like to use it for the bench. But I don't want to put straw in it because it would act as an insulator.

Any advice?