Having removed internal walls and plaster, we’ve found lots of holes and gaps in the walls which will need to be filled before the insulation goes on.
The building is constructed of wood frames in-filled with cob, a mixture of local clay, sand and straw. We’ve never worked with cob before so we turned to our friends Chris and Claire for advice. Chris showed us the local clay pit, and Claire gave some advice on getting the mix right.
Working barefoot was definitely easier, and actually quite satisfying, getting the mud to ooze up through my toes! The mix has gone on well, and all the holes are filled, but we don’t think we had enough sand in as it’s shrunk quite a bit. It’s not fallen out, so it will still work ok, but we’ll adapt our recipe next time.
Full of admiration for you guys!
The mud – maybe you had the water content too high? Puddled clay is great for canal linings as it is always wet. but it does shrink as it dries out – think farm corn fields after harvest?
Yes, we had wondered about that, but a few weeks on and it’s still all stuck to the walls, it’s only shrunk a little bit. It’s now hard as nails, but now needs a surface coat of clay from a different village to finish the job.
If you realy like clay ! Ask about the beautiful pale green clay ! Surface coat of so many walls ,in Palamartsa ! It is in the riverbed, just a bit down and out of the village !!