Ready to Dig

Well, not really. The picture above shows a limestone line of where I am going to dig the foundation. Once I drew the first line (the outside dimension of 10' diameter) I knew that the 2' foundation I imagined was WAY too big. In fact, it was over a foot too big. These are things I am learning while building. The reason why it is too big is because I was reading literature on structures that need to support a second story, people, roof load, etc etc, and span far greater distances. It wasn't hard to realize that what I drew was not only wasteful but takes away too much space on the inside.

So, those lines are drawn and I don't see a problem with the width. I imagine once I start digging they will get a bit wider by an inch or two. I am not going to dig today just in case I have a sudden moment of 'OH NO' and think that this is a terrible idea. I'm going to sleep on it and think about it tomorrow morning.

I trust my instincts on this, but I don't know how to build. I've read lots and lots about cob and what kind of foundation it needs, but I've also seen how people just 'wing' it. I've seen thin walls and I've seen thick ones. Ultimately, I'd rather make it thinner than I first drew and have to suck up not putting a great green roof and maybe only a thin one than have thick walls that eat up so much space the shed isn't functional. And most importantly if I'm right, I really did learn something from the internet.

:]