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Has anyone dealt with a cob house?From what I understand it is made out of straw and mud.I assume an engineered approval since the code does not address it.Any information would be appreciated.
I assume you are referring to straw bale construction. The Virginia USBC does not have language referencing this type of construction. The 2015 IRC does have an appendix (S) that deals with this type of construction. However the provisions in the appendix are only applicable if the appendix is specifically adopted.
I dealt with a straw bale house in one of the jurisdictions that I worked in. It was basically post and beam construction, with walls in-filled with straw bales. I believe that Colorado has a code for these and there is an engineer in California that had written a book about this type of construction, when we received this project. Since we can’t use another states code outright, we went through the book and the available codes from other states to come up with what we were going to require, since the code requires that we allow alternative building methods. Let me know if I can be of any help. Shoot me an e-mail with your number or shoot me an e-mail and I will send you my number, if you think that I can be of any assistance. It would be easier to communicate that way.
Gary M. Wallace
Code Compliance Investigator II, gary.wallace@fairfaxcounty.gov
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