The Top Reason Why Buildings Fail & Why Cob Walls Protect Against Mold and Moisture

Рет қаралды 5,692

Жыл бұрын

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Пікірлер: 50

@johnterry8958 Жыл бұрын

Great presentation. One thing to note is that adding portland cement to the cob mixture as a stabilizer is bad, because it interferes with the moisture buffering properties of the clay. Portland cement should not be used in conjunction with cob except in the foundation under the cob, or in a bond beam on top of the cob wall, or window sills. The walls must be natural materials, with exterior waterproofing being accomplished by lime plaster, NOT portland cement based stucco or other plasters containing portland cement. Portland cement has all the drawbacks you described for the house wrap material, that is, it is not vapor permeable, so if stucco is used over cob, it causes moisture to accumulate inside the wall. In Britain, some cob houses that were hundreds of years old have collapsed because of putting portland cement based stucco or plaster on the exterior, blocking the water vapor from escaping and causing moisture to accumulate inside the walls. Just say no to portland cement.

@231rft 4 ай бұрын

Would 10% cement mixed into the cob affect it breathability 100% I haven’t used cement in my building but considered it for some ceiling mounding I am going to make with cob. Maybe I’ll just add lime instead.

@johnterry8958 4 ай бұрын

@@231rft I think using lime is a much better idea than using Portland cement. Cement is basically not compatible with the nature of cob. If you add 10% cement powder you are basically getting a somewhat weak concrete, not cob. Concrete is a nice material in its place, but mixing cob and cement is a terrible idea.

@heatherwylde Жыл бұрын

Great info, thanks 😊

@mouthfulacoque3580 Жыл бұрын

In response to a user, Objektive One, I would be very happy to join your team on youtube as an editor. Your content is invaluable and it would make me happy to see improved production value. Something to change you from a knowledgeable craftsman to an accessible and engaging teacher.

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm open to ideas to improve my videos.

@objektivone3209 Жыл бұрын

Hey Alex. I think you will go further with your videos if you make your presentation more pedagogical. Eg. write with the touch pen on the videos for "before" and "after" an improvement / a deterioration. Like if you had to teach a class with a blackboard and chalk. Some of us like it when house construction is explained down to atoms.

@mouthfulacoque3580 Жыл бұрын

I was considering offering my help as an editor being a graphic artist of 16 years and an animator. I'd love to see this for the channel as it would allow him to keep talking to his heart's content but give us cat brain stimulus junkies sokething to retain information

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the idea! Do you know what kind of software/equipment I'd need for that? I'm open to trying that!

@mouthfulacoque3580 Жыл бұрын

@This Cob House I was offering to do it for you so you can keep your hands free, but editing your own content would allow you to get a feel for what an editor/producer would look for in raw footage. I use filmora rn. I'm looking to upgrade to Premier in due time. GIMP and Inkscape and my go-to graphics software with krita for 2D animation. These are best handled with a tablet like a cyntiq. I enjoy using my Intuos Pro L for raster. If you want higher quality audio, I strongly recommend Ableton Live 11. You can take the raw audio, de-ess, gate, compress/normalize, and sculpt the audio with eq to match broadcast quality audio. Again, I'd love to be your editor, but I can appreciate the desire to do it yourself. I think that's a quality we share 😂

@mouthfulacoque3580 Жыл бұрын

@@thiscobhouse something else that came up as i was watching another channel. if you ever do reaction content and you talk over a speaker, you can "phase invert" the audio of the original clips, line them up with their dithering line, and the audio of the source will magically disappear. we call this zeroing out. a little 1-1= kinda deal that you get in headphones, cars, etc.

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

Cool. Yeah, I've always been a one-man show here. What do you charge? I'd be interested to see a portfolio.

@jsartsandcrafts 11 ай бұрын

hey! i'm considering building my own home, and i think cob is a super fascinating material, but i live in norway. and here you could get down to -30 degrees celcius and some meters of snow in the winter depending on where you live. it is also quite wet. So my question is, what type of building would you recommend for such a climate? like what kind of insulation, stemwall, finishes etc.

@JarkkoKokkonen 10 ай бұрын

This sounds great. I’m wondering what happens exactly with the moisture or water. If it comes through the wall, inside the house, when does it go out? Like at the moment we have a moisture level of around 60 percent inside (it’s autumn) and during the winter it gets down to 18 percent. Would water permeable walls balance this and how?

@realpieceofwork Жыл бұрын

I appreciate your videos and the info. Might I suggest using a neti pot, it can help with chronic sinus issues.

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

I have sinus polyps, which have been getting inflamed the past few winters. Neti pots don't help me, unfortunately. Thanks though!

@roamsy Жыл бұрын

Maybe you know but dairy inflames sinus polyps, many people are allergic to dairy. I suggest trying to go completely vegan for 1 month and seeing how it clears up. Good luck 🍀

@necrokittie2291 Жыл бұрын

hi i'm in humid south texas were the building codes are below the national standards so most homes down here start rotting with in a few decades. i'm kinda stuck in place in a moldy house built in the 1950s outside layer brick but the eaves/attic exterior walls are wood... my attic is all loose fluff asbestos on top of the sheet rock, no insulation to the roof so it gets into the 190f ranges in my attic and my house leaks air like crazy. there are a few small cracks in the morter/bricks because they made the concrete too strong so there are some broken bricks too. they are fine small cracks on a solid slab concrete foundation so i am not worried about the remodel i was going to put zip system with 2 inchs of insulation on the roof top and then a metal roof and eaves. below is brick which i want to lime wash. i was hoping the lime could also seal fine cracks in the bricks and cover up the ugly light orange color. i was also considering tadelakt the kitchen and bathroom. then after getting all the plumping redone and the electric upgraded. i'd clean off all the moldy gypsum wall board with bleach and patch it with a lime plaster. then lime wash every surface possible since learning mold doesn't grow on lime. i was considering if any wall board had to be fully removed i might use light clay straw and then lime plaster over that. when i can finally move out in a few years, and maybe even build a new house, I'd like to do adobe or at least light clay straw and lime as my finisher for interior and exterior. so, remodeling my current house is me getting the skills down before making a house i am serious about staying put in. but the biggest problem i see on youtube is a SERIOUS lack of information on how to remodel an existing house with any of the health friendly methods adobe or any of the other nicer healthier ways of building. i do kinda want to remove the asbestos but my attic is legit a crawl on your knees and hand space and I'm a heavy girl. if i wasn't so chunky I'd attempt to remove it and replace it with light clay straw since it is going on top of a single layer of gypsum board.

@sheriewirgau9906 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your videos. They are informative. What about straw clay? Does it breathe as well? When would you choose the thermal mass of cob over the insulation of straw? Is it difficult to regulate the interior temperature of cob (thermal mass)?

@williesung6830 6 ай бұрын

Yes Look at nature. Look at beaver house.

@juwairiyahummabdullah 4 ай бұрын

Does this apply to tiling a blacksplash in the kitchen or bathroom on top of earthen walls too? Or would that small area not affect the wall?

@ChiannaNycole 3 ай бұрын

Excellent question. I want to know too.

@Feed_Outdoor Жыл бұрын

great video we will be dead and gone but a majority of people my age will be building this way

@BootsOfLeather Жыл бұрын

Hi Alex! just started watching your videos, so much information! Do you have a opinion on Aircrete? Yay or Nay>

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

I like aircrete, but from what I understand it's not load bearing. So, I wouldn't use it standalone for structural components like lintels in a cob house. It's good for the dome systems people use it for though, and other non-load bearing things.

@BootsOfLeather Жыл бұрын

@@thiscobhouse considering aircrete is poris and air can move though it, would using tadelakt over stucco be a good move? Thanks again!

@JetcannonM Жыл бұрын

nice

@esoterraearthenbuildingbys5366 5 ай бұрын

Plastic is not an appropriate vapor barrier. Tyvek or other ASTM products are used

@thiscobhouse 5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I really needed to use some Tyvek for this model, but didn't have any. I seem to have created a lot of confusion there.

@jamesbailand4311 Жыл бұрын

You're in the South East of the US, so not a massive need for insulation? It can be quite humid in that part of the world, do you have any experience of how straw bail walls perform medium to long term in your climate?

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

Right, we don't have as high insulation requirements down here. I don't know of a lot of examples of strawbale down here though. I've seen some in the mountains of North Carolina that have lasted a good while though.

@CostiDima Жыл бұрын

Your wall is missing some key components: on the exterior wall you don't put plastic membrane, it must be a vapor permeable membrane, and on the inside, between the drywall and the insulation you must have a vapor barrier (preferably with variable SD value to allow moisture to migrate from the insulation to the inside of the wall in the summer time). At least that's how is done in Europe where i live.

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

Thanks! The outer plastic layer is supposed to represent Tyvek. I don't think anyone puts a vapor barrier on the inside here in the Southern US. Thanks for your comments!

@MarkWilson-ij9jd Жыл бұрын

@@thiscobhouse Tyvek isn't a vapor barrier, it wicks the water from any exposed point and allows it to evaporate before it reaches the wood. Tar paper is a superior product, and is also not designed for the purposes that you state. I like your page a lot, but you clearly haven't built a conventional home with modern building sciences.

@roywall5231 Жыл бұрын

@@MarkWilson-ij9jd Sure, but modern houses suck balls.

@sandro5019 9 ай бұрын

That's because in colder climate warm moisture which enters the wall from inside condensates on that outer plastic, so there has to be vapor barrier from the inside, and wind barrier on the outer side, and a ventilated facade which allows moisture to escape the structure. But even this not guarantee from building up mold:( Good ventilation is a key

@4850937 Жыл бұрын

I don't think you understand vapor barriers. They are supposed to be on the inside in the cold states, where it's colder outside. They tend to put a permeable layer (like tyvek) behind the siding.

@thiscobhouse Жыл бұрын

Yes, sorry. The plastic layer in my model is supposed to represent Tyvek. I should have noted that.

@IvoryOasis Жыл бұрын

The problem with cob is just the horrible R value. If they had a highly insulated cob, then it would be great. But without that it just doesn't have enough to make heating / cooling practical. Sure it can hold onto temps better and keep swings down. But without that ability to insulated it just isn't viable for a lot of places. Straw bale is a nice middle ground. BUT it still doesn't have enough R value to compete with a well insulated modern wall with mineral wool or something like that.

@kikilove1029 Жыл бұрын

I live in the cold north and strawbales laid flat (not on end) is more than enough r value for our needs. Where do you live that you need that high of an r value?

@IvoryOasis Жыл бұрын

@@kikilove1029 I'm in Maine. The higher R-value the better efficiency the house will be and lower the heating bills longer term. Like you can have a house of lower r-values, just it means you need to run the wood stove or heat pump more.

@MarkWilson-ij9jd Жыл бұрын

I helped build a straw bale house over 20 years ago in Saskatchewan, which is north of North Dakota and Montana, and in winter, it sees temperatures well below -40 F. We have replastered the outer layer of lime once, and it is extremely warm, having a much higher R value of mineral wool.

@kevinthepilgrim5441 2 ай бұрын

Check out CobBauge composite cob developed in the UK and France.