Natural Building Colloquium The History of Cob MICHAEL SMITH Ancient Roots Because of its versatility and widespread availability, earth has been used as a construction material on every continent and in every age. It is one of the oldest building materials on the planet; the first freestanding human dwellings may have been built of sod or wattle-and-daub. About 10,000 years ago, the residents of Jericho were using oval, hand formed, sun dried bricks (adobes), which were probably a refinement of earlier cob. Even today, it is estimated that between a third and a half of the world's population lives in earthen dwellings. Earth construction takes many forms, including adobe, sod, rammed earth, straw-clay, and wattle-and-daub. Exactly when and how cob building first arose in England remains uncertain, but it is known that cob houses were being built there by the 13th Century. The stiff mud mixture was usually shoveled with a cob fork onto a stone foundation, and trodden into place by workmen on the walls. Future Trends
Cobworks :: Cob and earth house workshops and design Latest News: | Cob Cottage Company Mesurer un taux d'argile pour des enduits terre Le bon taux !! Torchis, pisé, enduits terre et chaux.... Les anciens se servaient de la terre, matériau à moindre coût qui les environnaient, pour construire, bâtir et isoler. Ses qualités d'inertie thermique sont indéniables surtout associées à des fibres. De nos jours, en restauration du bâti ancien, son retour se justifie tant pour ses qualités et son adéquation aux matéraiux d'origine que pour l'économie en matériaux qu'elle permet. L'idéal pour se servir de la terre comme liant, c'est qu'elle soit argileuse à 30%. Pour être au clair avec le taux d'argile dans la la terre dont on dispose, rien de tel qu'un test simple. Le test Le sable se dépose tout doucement au fond du pot assez rapidement. Utilisation A environ 30%, elle est pratiquement "prête à l'emploi" à titre de liant. Lorsque le taux d'argile est trop faible (inférieur à 10%), la terre n'a plus de fonction de liant. Jusqu'à 30%, elle devra être complétée soit par de l'argile soit par de la chaux.
Building with Cob The RIC Good Wood Guide Sculpt your own House by Ianto Evans - reprinted from Permaculture International Journal, March '95 Contents at a Glance.. Introduction Standing Strong in the Rain Earthquakes? Elegant Climate Control How Fast can You Build? Materials A Cob Cottage for $500 Why Bother? Introduction Cob is one of many methods for building with raw earth. Working with cob is a sensory and aesthetic experience similar to sculpting with clay. With the soaring price of timber and increasing interest in natural and environmentally-safe building practices, cob is enjoying a renaissance. Once the basics are understood, cob building is amazingly simple. Cob workshops should include other information that you will need: site-selection, foundations, windows and doors, attachment of wood and other materials, detail work and finishing. Standing Strong in the Rain Cob is highly resistant to weathering. Earthquakes? Elegant Climate Control How Fast can You Build? Materials A Cob Cottage for $500 Why Bother?
Cob St-Ambroise | Constructions Écologiques Natural building materials: straw, sticks, clay or a mix You may find cob cottages particularly cute, but taste isn't reason enough to choose one natural building material over another. Like more manufactured products, different earth materials all have different uses: straw bale is a great insulator, cob is a nice thermal sink as well as one of the easiest materials to sculpt if you're looking for lots of curves in your structure. "There's a dozen ways you can build a wall using pretty much the same materials: clay soils, straw, sand, sticks", explains natural building expert Michael G. In this video, Smith shows us some of the uses for straw bale, cob, slip straw and clay wattle (a variation on wattle and daub) in the homes and buildings of Boonville, California's Emerald Earth Sanctuary.