Cob: The Hand-Sculpted House kudos

[Charmaine R Taylor]

Hi Dave, isn't that a great book???

Besides all the cob info I love the philosophy stuff best...I think I've 
repeated this before here, but  Ianto's idea of "Buy Nothing"...really 
makes you think of all the ways to barter, scavenge, salvage and find 
creative ways to build.

as an example of wood purchasing ....I know this is a cob list, bear 
with me  : >  
I had a friend drive me buy a house, and he commented " That guy built 
the house with any old 2x4 he  could find and bring home"  Now to me 
that makes for a great cheap house, although the attraction for most 
conventional  people is to see a truck pull up and unload piles of 
 brand spanking new materials...but there is something heartening in 
finding free wood, pulling nails and choosing pieces that will fit the 
job needed.   Same goes for windows, flashings, tarps, cabinets, etc etc.

Buying  new stuff is so inculcated in our brains that we are almost 
ashamed to admit to scavenging...but Ianto's words are inspiring...  so 
get out there and dumpster dive!

Beside here's a cool idea I saw in NHome mag...guy used truck/car 
windshields ( or rear windows) as a free glass awning over his door 
entry..it looked fabulous, and no reason why it could not be done over 
any house window too....a simple metal support rod was attached to each 
side of the "awning arch"    some car guys told me back windshields are 
better to use.

Ms. Charmaine  Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com    http://www.papercrete.com
PO Box 375, Cutten (Eureka) CA 95534
707-441-1632     tms at northcoast.com