My Studio home build I Primitive & Modern I Home Build. Building with Cob - A Natural & Affordable Way to Build a House. Cob Building Basics: DIY House of Earth and Straw - Green Homes. In early 1999, a young woman from Florida happened across an article online about the recent revival of an ancient British method for sculpting dirt houses.
Intrigued, she used her savings to travel to Vermont for a five-day workshop, where she learned how to mix clay, sand and straw by foot, and then knead lumps of the stuff into solid walls nearly as durable as concrete. After returning to Florida, she and some friends used the techniques she had learned to build a small pottery shed in her parents’ backyard. Some people predicted Florida’s humid air and torrential rains would melt her “mud hut” back into the ground. Following Hurricane Lili in 2002, however, the sturdy little building, which had cost just a few hundred dollars and a summer’s labor to build, proved to be one of the few buildings left standing in her neighborhood. Groundwork Episode 1 - Building With Cob. Forming Natural Adobe & Straw Bricks. Construcción con Adobe Sismo Resistente.
Cob tiny house from start to finish. Cob (material) - Wikipedia. Building a wall out of cob.
In technical building and engineering documents such as the Uniform Building Code, cob may be referred to as an "unburned clay masonry" when used in a structural context. It might also be referred to as an "aggregate" in non-structural contexts, such as a "clay and sand aggregate" or more simply an "organic aggregate," such as where the cob is an insulating filler between post and beam construction. 'Cob stitch' repair on old traditional cob cottage in Devon, England Cob structures can be found in a variety of climates across the globe.
European examples include: An example of a modern, Pacific Northwest-style cob home. Sota Construction Corporate Headquarters in Pittsburgh, featuring cob walls. When Kevin McCabe built a two-story, four bedroom cob house in England in 1994, it was reputedly the first cob residence built in the country in 70 years.
Jump up ^ Wright, Joseph. Cob Houses: An Ancient Solution to a Modern Problem. Images of a cob house built for under $250 in England two years ago have been re-circulating the internet lately, inspiring tiny-house-enthusiasts and back-to-the-landers with hope that living off the grid on a low budget might not be too far out of reach.
While this does appear to be a true story, beautifully captured in this Telegraph.com slideshow, it might not be quite that easy or cheap for the average American to build. Alexander Sumerall of ThisCobHouse.com says it’s a misconception that cob homes are always “dirt cheap.” While the cost of materials – clay, sand, straw and water – is low, the “prices for earthen buildings vary dramatically around the world,” he writes. “Luxury earthen homes in the American southwest can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. At the low end of the price spectrum, somewhere on the other side of the world, you might be able purchase a smaller earthen dwelling for about the cost of your Starbucks latte and afternoon meal.” Cob building. What is it?
Cob is an ancient earth building technique using a combination of clayey subsoil, sand, straw and water. These materials are mixed together either manually, by stomping or dancing on the mix on tarpaulins, or with machinery. The mix is then formed into lumps or cobs and compressed together to form the walls of a building. The mix can also be compressed in moveable wooden forms into wet blocks, which are integrated into the wall.
Guids. Plans. Workshops. Cob House Designs & Natural Building - This Cob House. Natural Building (Full) A tiny house, a place to live, a gift from Pachamama. When you build in this way the walls are loose and flimsy during construction.
This allows you to adapt the shape of the building to your needs as it takes form and you start to understand the space you are creating. This way of building is referred to by Alexander in Pattern No.208, 'Gradual Stiffening'. Jan and Andrea fixed bottles and sheets of broken glass with string to the frame of branches, later stiffening the frame with cob, a mixture of clay, sand and straw. To protect the exterior from rain and moisture the cob was plastered with one part slaked lime to three parts sand. The walls were then painted (left) with cactus starch (right) mixed with slaked lime and iron oxide pigment.
Unique Cob Cottage on Mayne Island, BC. Cob Cottage Company. 14 Characteristics of Cob Homes - This Cob House. Build A Cob House And Live Debt-Free. Please Share This Page: Google + stumbleupon tumblr reddit 1 Build A Cob House And Live Debt-Free!
Here is a great video by w8mk about Cob Houses.The builders of these cob houses on the west coast of Canada have created some wonderful living spaces! There is much debate in the world’s governments about the need for new housing. It’s only to be expected that those organisations that lend money are keen to keep their customers in debt – as individuals and governments are finding all over the world. This is beginning to change with some building suppliers offering more competitive sustainable products – and interest is growing rapidly in using natural alternatives. If you are thinking of a taking on a project like the ones featured here, it’s important to know where you stand with planning permission in your area.
Here are some further sites all about sustainable building, full of useful info to get you started: (UK) (US/Canada) Okay, here is the video: