[Cob] Cob in British Columbia

[Firstbrook, Will]

Hi, 

Most of the cob construction is closer to the coast where the winters &
summers are milder due to the ocean. We built a strawbale cabin in the
Shuswap and were intending to build a cob, strawbale, strawclay,
earthship hybrid there. One of the things that was attractive was the
area we built in is not zoned so no building permits or inspectors are
necessary. We did require septic inspection and electrical inspection. 

Perhaps you can inquire if any of the area around hope is not zoned or
do all buildings in the region require a building inspector. You might
want to talk to Patrick or Elke of www.cobworks.com Patrick invited all
the building inspectors on Maine Island to his cob workshop so I believe
his cob cottage was the 1st code approved cob structure in the region. 

With regards to the cold climate around Hope. You might look for an
south facing slope that is not hidden by the mountains to the south. Or
your winters will be quite cold. You might consider cob for the parts
facing the sun and strawbale, cordwood or strawclay for the North and
sections that do not get much sunlight. Also build in a masonry stove
with lots of mass to keep the winter months warm and comfortable.

Regards,
Will

-----Original Message-----
From: coblist-bounces at deatech.com [mailto:coblist-bounces at deatech.com]
On Behalf Of coblist.to.theq at xoxy.net
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 5:02 PM
To: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: [Cob] Cob in British Columbia

Greetings all (first post here)!

Can anyone tell me how cob construction is viewed in BC? We are hoping
to
purchase some land in the Hope area, but need to know if cob is a viable
construction technique in that region, both in terms of cold winters as
well
as with regards to permits.

Where can we go to find out more? I've dug up the phone number for the
Hope
Chamber of Commerce.. I can just picture a cold-call: "uh, who do I call
to
ask if we can move there and build a cob cottage?"  ;-)

Thanks for any help or advice!


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