[Cob] birth of the home building professional

[Ingrid Martin]

What a great post! I love to read about the adventures of different
types of cob building, that trying something new even if it rots or
molds or dissolves in a cobby mush, I'll still have learned something:)
I like the idea of teaching kids to build with cob, also. What a cool,
interesting next generation we'll have:)

Part of what attracts me to cob is this reclaiming of natural materials,
and our own skills. It's just an enormously empowering thing to do:
build my own home from the earth. 

Thanks everyone for the great contacts/info/photo!

happy cobbing:)
Ingrid


On Fri, 2004-07-23 at 16:02, Jennifer Hileman-Reinhart wrote:

> 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coblist mailing list
> Coblist at deatech.com
> http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist