[Cob] birth of the home building professional

[GlobalCirclenet]

I suppose I'm going to have to make another obvious point that seems to get
completely overlooked. Yes, you have cob and earthen houses built ages ago,
by people who certainly weren't professionals by todays standards. This
does not mean you can or will, without any experience, go out and build
yourself a similar home. 

Those "cob homes that have been standing in the UK for 450+ years" need a
closer look. You can build a mud hut today, but bear in mind they lived
without indoor plumbing and sanitation, without electricity, without
central heat and air, with few windows -- many comforts you have come to
expect in a home today. Those "cob homes" have timber framing too. Further,
they were not built by first-time novice homeowners at all, but like any
other trade they were built by people with experience. 

Cob has its uses. But if you don't know first how to build with
conventional methods and materials, you'll never run out and build a
liveable home of cob or anything else. Those who have built successfully
with alternative methods and materials first knew plumbing, ventilation,
electrical work, and appropriate heating/cooling equipment. And they spent
the money to make a house actually liveable, not just something to talk
about at some seminar.

paul at largocreekfarms.com
http://medicinehill.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/30/2004 at 5:18 AM Molly Coghill wrote:

>Jennifer,
>You have very eloquently, IMHO, stated some of the best reasons I've
>encountered for building with alternative methods/materials, and many of
>the
>reasons that I myself have decided to go this route.  May I borrow some of
>your eloquence when I plead my case to the local permit department? :)
>-Molly (first-time poster)
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Jennifer Hileman-Reinhart" <jennlynn at kiva.net>
>To: <coblist at deatech.com>
>Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 6:02 PM
>Subject: [Cob] birth of the home building professional
>
>
>> 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
>>
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