[Cob] birth of the home building professional

[Jennifer Hileman-Reinhart]

Here is something that I find myself thinking about. (Sorry if I am 
being redundant or if I digress a bit- I get the digests each day 
sometimes I miss stuff! ) Anyway - my two cents.

When did building homes become a profession?  The cob homes that have 
been standing in the UK for 450+ years - who built those?  I know that 
there is a history of architects and builders creating massive and 
ornate buildings - usually public or religious places.  But it seems 
like for many years creating shelter was the domain of the person 
needing that shelter, supported by their family and community.

Everyday I drive past homes that are still lived in - built by pioneers 
of the early 1800's.  They were not professional home builders.

Every conventional home I have lived in has a mold/mildew problem - 
some oldish and some new - but there is mold in the basement on a moist 
wall or in the kitchen behind the fridge - sometimes much worse.  . . . 
some to the point where I have broken the lease and moved out.  All of 
them built by "professionals"

The women of mexico who plaster their homes each year - are they 
professionals?  They make no money for it.  They have no formal 
education.  It is a way of life.  All over the world people create 
their own shelter.

I think that "Natural Building"  offers us an opportunity to recapture 
what we have lost in this era of having more money than time and so we 
pay someone to build something that is standard.  I helped my parents 
build part of our home that I lived in as a child.   My three year old 
is helping us build our cob/bale home right now and he will grow up 
totally immersed in this - I hope that someday he will build his own 
home and he will teach his children these skills.

Can we reclaim the building of a home as something that most people 
know how to do?   That people do, rather than builders.  That the 
builders are the owners.  Or at least that is an option for those that 
choose to.  I would argue that as one of the big reasons why I chose 
cob and bales.  Because I can do it. We have learned in hands on 
workshops from experienced builders.  We have considered things like 
moisture and freeze thaw cycles.  We have done the research to know how 
to build walls to carry the clay tile roof we will have.  We have 
learned how to use plasters and applying them is not rocket science - 
If we have a question we seek out someone who will know the answer.  
All of our decisions are made with great care.

Unless we foster a network of people who are able and willing to answer 
the questions for owner-builders the ownership of a home will remain 
out of reach for many.

I know that even with folks that are considered experienced - there 
have been some real tragedy's when they push the envelope and try new 
things.   But I think also it is a real shame to think that  
"non-builders" playing around with alternative methods is so 
detrimental to the movement.  There is much to be gained through 
experimenting and making mistakes and if we are to live in fear of what 
might happen if we do something different - well I would hate to 
imagine where we would be today.

I am experimenting with cob and bale cob hybrids and things that are 
far from mainstream - I am building my home - I will live in it and it 
will be mine.  I am not building it for a resale value.  I am building 
it because I want it to be a space that I am comfortable in.  And the 
fact that I could go to most malls and spend more on one outfit than we 
will on the entire house is phenomenally interesting to me.  I have a 
home that is mine.  Outright.  And that is security - not knowing that 
I have a home with resale value that I will work the rest of my life to 
pay for and what if I lose that job. . . . .

I guess we might be totally unique - Our decision was that if our 
cob/bale home rots to the ground we will build another one. It is 
simply a matter of a few months to do that labor- we would be able to 
reuse all the roofing material, windows and doors and do it another 
way.

If I have a mortgage and my home starts to mildew/mold/rot it would be 
a real tragedy. . . .

There will always be folks who need tried and true methods and folks 
who are willing to experiment and push the envelope.  Everyone finds 
something that works for them and my take on the bale/cob combo (where 
my interior wall is 6inches of cob that comes in direct contact with a 
bale) is that I won't really know if it works until I actually do it.

-jenn
__________________________
May you live every day of your life
-Jonathan Swift