Rethink Your Life!
Finance, health, lifestyle, environment, philosophy
The Work of Art and The Art of Work
Kiko Denzer on Art



[Cob] European Cobbers?

Robert Matthews rob at drtwiggy.com
Sun Aug 8 02:40:25 CDT 2004


Hi 
I am planning a cob cottage for my farm here in Southern Spain (Sierra
Nevada).  Are there any European/Spanish cobers on this list? Are there
any good workshops in the UK/Spain/Europe? 
Thanks

Robert


-----Original Message-----
From: coblist-bounces at deatech.com [mailto:coblist-bounces at deatech.com]
On Behalf Of Mary Lou McFarland
Sent: 03 August 2004 18:15
To: Coblist at deatech.com
Subject: [Cob] professional builders and permits

I've spent the last couple of days re-reading Rob Roy's book "Mortgage
Free" 
and there's an interesting appendix in back that does a comparison of
the 
families who were examples in the book.  Different building methods were

used, different financial strategies but it struck me that not one of
the 
families said that they had had trouble with permits.  One guy said he
had 
not had trouble because he had declared himself an "owner-builder" which

apparently they aren't  as hard on as they are for commercial  building
or 
if the bank is going to be involved.  You also have to remember that
these 
county guys are at the bottom of the barrel.  They went to engineering 
school and they aren't building sky scrapers.  One county engineer that
I 
visited with talked with gave me a list of septic system contractors and

told me that they usually run $6,000 to $10,000. depending on site 
difficulties.....OR.....I could install it myself if he came out and
visited 
several times to make sure everything was going together okay.  We can 
forego a lot of the "professional" builders if we make the co. engineer
our 
buddy.  He is also a wealth of information for local resources.  He
might of 
grown up in the area.  He can tell you what guy in the area does hauling
, 
who has straw for sale etc.  Now getting past their secretaries is
another 
matter.  Those women are real pills.  Perhaps we will have to put
together a 
united front and the guys will have to handle the secretaries and the
gals 
will have to handle the engineers.  Besides the engineers can let us
know if 
we are proceeding safely, for those who are concerned on that score, and
we 
can avoid being ripped off by  the professional who thinks he knows 
everything by virtue of having hung out a shingle.

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