Cob: Start to finish openings

[Susan Kleihauer]

Cob Cottage Company still has openings in its 5-week Natural Building
start-to-finish course August 13-September 15 in Coquille, Oregon. An
optional part 2 of working with natural builders is also available at no
extra charge.

Additional details about the course:

It’s called Start to Finish because it’s set up for you to get
experience with each phase of construction—siting, design, drainage,
foundations, walls, windows, doors, floors, roof, plasters. Rather than
rushing to complete one building we’ll work on several projects; we have
two partly finished cob buildings and will begin a third, and will
include you in site developments, e.g. roads, trails, toilets, water
supply etc. You’ll learn to prepare your own basic building materials
from resources on the site.

Instructors:   Expect an overlapping team of experts in Natural
Building, including Michael Smith, Linda Smiley, Dana Gaab, Elke Cole,
Ianto Evans and Chip Boggs. Instructors are responsible for the program,
construction details, safety, etc., so be sure that you can cheerfully
take orders, suggestions and instructions. Expect a diversity of
sometimes divergent approaches; Natural Building is a new and fast
expanding field — we all have different experience and opinions. You
will learn mostly by hands-on building, working long hours 5-6 days a
week. We’ll take off several weekends so you can explore Southwest
Oregon. Crater Lake, the Kalmiopsis Wilderness and the coast are all in
the region.

Our new land is remote and rustic. No phone, washing machine, hot water,
flush toilets, no electric power. We wheelbarrow materials to the sites,
up steep hills, across flimsy bridges. Don’t expect city facilities;
Eugene is 150 miles, San Francisco is 500. Coquille (5,000 population)
is close, 4 miles, with a bank, small natural food store, hardware
store, etc. Local people are nice, conservative and very astute. Not to
inconvenience neighbors, we’ll limit town trips to 1 per day for all our needs.

Camping is in the woods and a 3-acre meadow. It’s coastal mixed
rainforest, so expect camping challenge: bears, poison oak, wet clothes
if it rains (rain at this time of year is possible but not likely). The
topography is strenuous and can be tiring; it’s mountainous.

Food: 3 meals a day, mostly vegetarian and organic. Your fee pays for
instruction not gourmet specialties, so expect basic nutritious fare,
nothing fancy. We can’t cater to special diets yet there will be a range
of options at most meals. Our policy is to use bulk supplies rather than
buy packaging, buy local whenever possible, and avoid animal fats,
products from distant producers and food with poisons on it. We all help
with cleanup and food preparation.

Week 3  we have arranged for you to assist with a Basics of Cob course.
We’ll have a dozen novice cobbers, a rare opportunity for you to
practice what’s you’ve been learning, under supervision.

Week 6 is an optional practicum week, completing parts of the work we
have begun. We’ll take six people who feel the need for a slightly
longer experience, with a small fee to cover food and supervision. Let
us know if you plan to stay on that week, Sept. 17-21. Otherwise we’ll
try to have practicum opportunities ready for you beginning Sept. 23,
with other builders.

Preparations that could help you:
1. Read The Cobber’s Companion and as much as possible on Natural
Building and general construction. (You can email me for the suggested
reading list.)
2. Make sure you’re fit and healthy. Are you normal weight? Do you
easily tire? We work long days and the site is demanding. Toughen your
feet by walking barefoot a lot, up to a month in advance.
3. Visit Natural Building sites (and regular building sites). Ask
questions, observe how buildings are put together, asking yourself about
exactly how each part is attached and why. Help out with anyone who is
building anything with any kind of materials. Get to know technical
terms; expand your vocabulary.
4. Get in the habit of examining and testing soils (see the Companion
Chapters 1 and 4) wherever you go. Get to know the differences. Make
test bricks, observe how well they hold together, if they crack, etc.
5.  Prepare your tool kit. At the mimimum you’ll need: a builder’s
level, preferably 4’ long; a machete; a good sharp pocket knife; a 6” or
8” flat file, in good condition; a shovel; a 16 to 25’ measuring tape; a
hammer; a hatchet; a mattock/pilaski for excavation; a handsaw. Also
very useful are: 5 gallon buckets; a wheelbarrow; a blue tarp, 8’ x 10’
minimum suze; a glasscutter, an old saw for training cob; a cordless
drill/driver; a pool float for flooring; a chainsaw. We expect you to
have the basic kit upon arrival, but if you’re flying some tools can be
bought in Coquille when you arrive.

The course fee is $2400. To apply, send a letter stating how you expect
the program to benefit you and how your taking the course will benefit
society, then call us for a phone interview. You can also send a $1000
deposit which will be refunded if you are not accepted for the course.
Mail to Cob Cottage Co., P.O. Box 123, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Phone/fax 541-942-2005.