Cob: Temporary shelter

[Paul]

Thanks everybody for the tips. Actually Barb is the one wondering how much
roughing it I will tolerate ;-)

--paul

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

On 1/31/02 at 5:09 PM Banks wrote:

>snip<<  What do people do to
>get some kind of shelter so they can live on site while building?
>--paul>>
>
>Depends on your comfort level & experience with the outdoors.  If you're
>married, get dead serious about how much inconvenience your spouse can
>truthfully tolerate.  Turning raw land into a homesite, then building a
>house while living on the site, can be very stressful.   People you love,
>and your own health, are more important than land or houses, so stay
>flexible and be aware of those needs.  Less-handy folks will have more
>stress and be more dependent on tradesmen, neighbors, etc.
>
>RV's are what most people use here in the rural southwest for quick,
>temporary housing.  They come in handy long after you're done with them,
>too....  guest quarters, storage, etc.
>
>We bought a used 31-ft. travel trailer, a generator for power, and rented
a
>temporary septic tank from Roto-Rooter; they pumped it out every 10 days
>until the septic was dug.  Built wooden additions to the travel trailer
and
>this worked real well for 5 years.  Not the cheapest solutions but there
>were 9 of us, my husband is an electrician/builder, we had income, and he
>kept everything running.
>
>...But, building from scratch is time-consuming esp. with a family to
>support.  After 2 more babies, we set aside the earthen house plans and
>bought an older single-wide in good cond.  Singlewides have the plumbing
>done, if you want indoor plumbing.  Easy matter to re-route sinks & tubs
>for
>graywater use.  My husband liked this better than doing all the plumbing
>from scratch.   We're learning earth-building skills on smaller projects
in
>between everything else.  I still plan an earthen floor, earthen plasters
&
>bancos for the addition.
>
>Closing words of advice:
>
>Don't expect 'a simple life on the land' to be simpler.  It ISN'T.  It's a
>lot harder in every way.  Hard physical work, often when you're least
ready
>for it.  More time needed for everything, from heating the morning coffee
>to
>keeping warm, clean, and dry.  More wear and tear on vehicles, tools,
>hands,
>backs, and brains.   More dirt, laundry, bugs, and other surprises than
you
>ever imagined.  No where to store anything, so more trips to town for
>supplies.  More afternoon naps to recuperate.  Often more money spent than
>if you lived in town.
>
>I highly recommend that people start small.  Don't start with a full-blown
>house.  Do some cob garden walls.  Design and build a permanent cob
>doghouse
>or chicken coop.  Experiment with your soils and techniques.  Learn some
>basic carpentry, too.  Read read read.
>
>There's lots of ways to go....  most times, real life sneaks in and you
>make
>compromises, but that's part of the learning curve.   It's all worthwhile
>if
>you're willing to try!
>
>Joy