Kimberly Gainey

Thanks Matt! I didn't consider that. Lived in CO for a few years, but that has been over a decade ago. I forgot that was even a thing! Will definitely look into that option as well. Was researching rubble trenches and stone foundations, but the latter seems really intimidating without professional help haha.

That is a very valid point.... i didn't consider the weight difference in material for the walls in relation to settling. My main focus was on load bearing not the weight of the walls themselves....Sigh... I guess atleast footers would be smart. I would really like to avoid so much concrete as a slab though if feasible.

Thanks. I was unsure if laying a brick and mortar floor would suffice for foundation in place of a solid slab. First attempt at building a cob/recycled building and all the conventional ones I've been a part of were built above ground lvl on blocks or "stilts". Don't want to put in all the labor only to have it collapse in 5yrs hahaha. Especially when I've heard of cob buildings lasting thousands of years.

So this may be a dumb question, because I can't seem to find an answer anywhere.... We were planning on building a small roughly 1,200sf house/greenhouse. The front (north) wall is going to be a cement block based bottle wall using concrete. This wall will also be wrapping the sides for 12' of the 30' side walls. The back (south) wall will be an earth packed tire wall. The sides were planned to be pure cob. With brick and earthen floors. The concern is whether or not I need foundation/footers with it being on a slightly sloped clay bed (over all slope of 8" over a 40' distance) with a 2'x2' drainage ditch all the way around it and a 3' over hang planned for roof? If it matters we are located in South MS. Pretty dry except for a couple of non-consecutive months outta the year