[Cob] (no subject)

[Lee Shultz]

Hi, David.

You know, you could build cob houses for people and give people beautiful homes for much less (since the materials could be very inexpensive), and you could still make a good profit. And hopefully these people would not have to have a mortgage. (Though I think the owners would be missing something special not to at least help in the building process.)

I remember a point made by Charles Long in his book, "How to Surive Without a Salary:" most people work an average of 15 years just to pay for a roof over their heads, whether they rent or own. Considering that, can anyone afford not to take time off to build for themselves? And I know many people who have done it, and I plan on being one of them soon.

Sorry, a 30 year mortgage, or any mortgage for that matter, really, really, really, really sucks. If one has a job they love and also makes enough money in that job to pay the mortgage, he or she will probably not feel enslaved. But most people find themselves in high-stress jobs they hate to pay the mortgage. I would think that would feel a lot like endentured servitude. And especially when the job is a 70-hour a week job. Our technology in the US is getting better and better, but most people are working longer and longer hours. And this reminds me of something Laurie Anderson said: "We are in a race with speed."

Well, the hell with that race. I would rather own my own life. 

Bye for now,

Beverly

-----Original Message-----
From: David Knowlton [mailto:pilot1ab80 at hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 12:19 PM
To: dealy at deatech.com; JILLPRUETT at peoplepc.com
Cc: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: [Cob] (no subject)


hi,

i angered some folks by suggesting that someone engineer a way to make
sustainable building commercially profitable. my idea was that if it's good 
for
the planet, why not make money at it? money is good. (i'm conservative)

detractors felt i had tainted an idea central to cob - that being that by 
doing
it yourself you can be free of a 30 year mortgage, which i think they viewed 
as
being a nasty capitalist form of enslavement.

more power to the folks that have time to do it themselves. more power still 
if
you can afford to eat while you build your own place.

meanwhile - cob is still grass roots. if someone out there figures out how 
to make
mud houses commercially viable - please post. i'll buy stock certificate 
number 1.

good building to you. david


>From: "Shannon C. Dealy" <dealy at deatech.com>
>Reply-To: dealy at deatech.com
>To: The Pruett's <JILLPRUETT at peoplepc.com>
>CC: Cob <coblist at deatech.com>
>Subject: Re: [Cob] (no subject)
>Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2004 11:30:50 -0800 (PST)
>
>On Fri, 2 Apr 2004, The Pruett's wrote:
>
> > What is the average cost per square foot (or length foot) of cob?
> > Not including all the other house building needs there are, of course.
> > A site I follow says it is $400/LF for adobe. Isn't that a lot?
> >
> > jill
>
>No meaningful average is possible.  If you do it yourself (and don't pay
>yourself), use only materials from the site, the cost is $0.  If on the
>other hand, you hire someone to do it, have all the materials trucked in,
>then it depends on a whole lot of things (foot mixing or mechanical
>mixing, do you hold a workshop to offset some of the costs, how readily
>are materials available in your area, what does it cost for trucking,
>etc.)
>
>That $400/LF for adobe is almost certainly for paying someone to do it,
>but there are many factors not stated which need to be considered: how
>tall is the wall (1 LF 8' tall is alot cheaper than 1 LF 16 feet tall),
>does this include foundation, was it engineered for a heavy earthquake
>zone, how far are the adobe blocks being trucked to get them to the site,
>are they figuring just the wall costs or are they averaging in the total
>cost of the building, etc.
>
>Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
>dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
>                       |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
>Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
>    or: (541) 929-4089 |                  www.deatech.com
>
>
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