Cob: Report on cobbing at Breitenbush

[John Schinnerer]

Aloha,

Week before last I was at Breitenbush hot springs in Oregon (
http://www.breitenbush.com/ ), where Cob Cottage Co. was just finishing up
two weeks of workshops.  The week I was there was a "cob alumni" work
exchange week.  

The building is a small (just under 120 "round feet," thus greatly
alleviating permitting issues) meditation cottage consisting of a small
entrance vestibule and a considerably larger main space, which is roughly
egg-shaped in plan.  The end opposite the entry has a large window that
looks down a forested path to the river, and the wall to the right has a
series of roman-arch windows that increase in height from the river-window
end towards the door end of the chamber.  There is a cob wall with arched
opening between the vestibule and the main chamber.  The roof will be sod
over EPDM; the roof framing is a round pole framework on a heavy and
beautifully curved roundwood ridge beam, all harvested from Breitenbush's
land by the workshop groups.  Cellulose insulation will be used in the roof,
which is framed with ceiling rafters, purlins across those and then roof
rafters on top to create space for the insulation.

There was a Cob Basics workshop followed by an Advanced Cob workshop, two
weeks altogether, during which about 75% (maybe 80%) of the walls were
completed (rough cob, not fully trimmed and not plastered).  The foundation
had been previously done by a local stonemason, using rounded river rock,
and is lovely (but unfortunately a bit off from Ianto's plans...).  So for
those on coblist who always want to know "how long it takes," there's one
example - up to 80% of the walls done in two weeks by a beginning and then
an advanced workshop group.  I don't know how big the basics group was; the
advanced group was about seven or eight folks as best I could tell.  That
includes being rained out the first couple of days of the basics workshop.

The roof framing took 2-4 people's efforts over four or five days - some of
the poles were already gathered, some were gathered as framing progressed,
and the ridge beam had already been put in place by the advanced group.
There was also some cobbing necessary to bring all of the wall up to ceiling
rafter height.  When I left on Friday afternoon, the framing was ready for
the ceiling planks to be attached to the underside of the ceiling rafters.

The floor was partially completed, awaiting the final two layers.  Finishing
the roof before fall rains was much more urgent than finishing the floor!
Breitenbush has geothermal heat piped to their buildings, and so the floor
got radiant heat pipes buried in the lower layers.  These were temporarily
connected and working while I was there, and the floor was noticeably cozy.

That's about it...nice little building!  I hope they've got the roof done by
now...

John Schinnerer