Building with cob (and buildings of cob construction) still has its sceptics and one of the most common misconceptions of cob walling is ‘it’s built from mud, so it can’t possibly be strong enough’. Typically, this type of comment has come about from first-hand witnessing of cob walling in a state of failure.
Cob walling does have its sensitivities and if it becomes saturated alarm-bells should ring! Cob isn’t as [structurally] forgiving as contemporary building mediums when excessive moisture [within the substrate] is prevalent, particularly to the cob wall base. That said though, a ‘dry’ cob wall has comparable load-bearing strengths to that of concrete and structures of 3-storeys have been achieved.
So, when we set out to manufacture and supply our cob blocks and cob bricks, we wanted to make sure that they provided as much integral strength as possible without the need of additional components like cements, limes, hardeners etc. These are known as SCEB’s (Stabilised Compressed Earth Blocks).
