SB: Re: Cord wood (OT)

["Robert W. Tom" <ArchiLogic@yahoo.ca>]

7/26/02 1:05:24 PM, "david morrison" <davjen@paulbunyan.net> 
wrote:

>embedding wood disks into a straw bale rendered wall might attract 
moisture
>into the wall.  wood tends to absorb moisture and act as a wick.

attheriskofbeingannoyinglyrepetitiousbyreiteratingwhathas 
alreadysubmittedinthepasttothislist...

Well, I've had enough of that silliness. If the written English language 
was as effective without punctuation, capitals, proper spelling & 
grammar etc., I'm sure that the Anglos would have eliminated them 
long ago. "Industrious" is not a descriptor that comes to mind when ... 
well enough of that too.

There are many cordwood structures in this part of Ontario, both 
historic and "newer" ones built during the cordwood revival of the 
Groovy-back-to-the-land Sixties. There is a huge 3000+ sf just a 
road over from my home which was built by the author of a couple of 
books on the subject, as his own home for his family. (He has long 
since moved out)

In almost all cases (even the barns), the cordwood walls have been 
covered up  with other materials in attempts to insulate, air seal, 
weatherproof  and rodent-proof the things (with varying degrees of 
success)

This is not surprising. 

There are a bazillion interfaces of dissimilar materials(wood (which 
shrinks/expands regularly)+ mortar(which doesn't)), each presenting 
opportunities for air leakage, and bazillions of thermal bridges at each 
mortar joint and at best, under ideal conditions, wood provides an R-
value of  1.25 per inch for softwood and 0.95 per inch for hardwood 
(generalised) .
    (Note that even though a 24" log might rate a nominal R-30, 
     the mortar joints between each log reduce the effective R-value 
     of the wall assembly significantly in proportion to the area of the  
      wall which is mortar. Taking a wild-@$$ guess, without doing 
      any number-crunching, I'd say that a reduction of 40% or more 
     wouldn't be out of line.)

And the most hygroscopic portion of the insulating material (ie the end 
grain) is left exposed to the elements, ensuring that the wood will be 
very athletic and prone to deterioration, not to mention the fact that 
absorbed moisture will further lower the effective insulating value. 
Any sensible builder who knows wood will take great pains to protect  
end grain (whether it be on siding or beams)  from being exposed to 
the weather.

And ants, termites. centipedes, sow bugs etc ? There're few things 
they like better than nice moist cellulose conveniently laid open to 
them by the inevitable cracks in the end grain and shrinkage cracks at 
the mortar line. 

In order to overcome the  problems inherent in the method, one 
would most likely have to build double-wythe,insulated core wall and 
clad it with some kind of breathable siding like the delightful, 
environmental "poison", vinyl. 
 
About the only good thing that one might  say about the method is that 
it is cheap and simple. Unfortunately the "cheap" part extends only as 
far as the initial costs, as a poorly insulated/leaky building will present 
the occupants with higher-than-necessary operating costs for the life 
of the building. There is a cordwood list (on Geocities I think ?) 
where one can debate these issues amongst sympathetic souls . I 
know this because one of them flamed me the last time I posted 
uncomplimentary comments about the method.

Me ? I think that Scott's aspens (essentially big, rhizomey weeds) 
would best be left to compost to buildup/enhance the thin soil from 
whence they came, as was probably Her Master Plan when they 
were designed. I don't think that She designed poplars just so that 
(hu)Mankind could find a use for them.

OTOH, I'm pretty sure there're entire chapters (okay, verses anyway) 
in the Holy Bible, the Koran and the Torah about using straw.

One that comes to mind:

"Tis easier for a camel  to build a straw bale house than it is for a rich 
man to enter into Heaven."  

--- * ---
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<ArchiLogic@CHAFFyahoo.ca>
(winnow the "chaff" spamguard from my edress in your reply)

Please visit http://www.theHungerSite.com daily







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