[Cob] cob for the masses!

[Jennifer Hileman-Reinhart]

> The bottom line is, people who need cheaper, alternative construction
> simply don't have the luxury of taking the attitude of some people out
> there - the attitude that well I'll learn from my mistakes and do it 
> over
> if it's not right, and so forth. Most of us can't afford mistakes and 
> can't
> afford to rebuild. We can't take months off work to try some latest 
> fad in
> home building just because it's cool and we can feel trendy or
> earth-friendly. If you want earth-friendly, build with earth.  Like 
> maybe
> COB

"Owner-builders are usually idealists, risk-takers, and 
self-actualizers.  In these times, building one's own home is 
considered abnormal and risky, but this is merely a return to practices 
that were utterly normal for most of human history."
from How Not to Build Your Own House, by Buzz Burrel

found that quote on
http://herbfarmer.net/
excellent little article I thought - thanks for posting a link to your 
site!

Say it again folks - Build it yourself! Do what works for you!  Cob is 
the ultimate in cheap alternative construction.  Small homes of any 
material are another option for obtaining a cheap home.  In some places 
straw is trash - waste material that is considered worthless - why not 
build a house out of it - for those people strawbale is a fantastic 
option.

Use what you have - do what comes naturally - whatever works for you.  
Personally, I believe that cob should be at the top of the list for 
people to consider when they are thinking of building a home for all of 
the reasons I hear discussed on this list.  Cheap -  sustainable - 
reusable - eco-friendly - easy to build with - etc. . . .

I would like to clarify that my family does not have a lot of money - 
our bale/cob home will cost us about $500 - mostly materials for the 
rubble trench foundation with urbanite stemwall, floor for our loft, 
and roof.  Or a lot of time - we need to be under roof by the end of 
september to avoid the cold.

I must admit that when I start reading statements like  "take months 
off work to try some latest fad in home building just because it's cool 
and we can feel trendy or earth-friendly,"  I feel like some pretty 
sweeping judgements are being made about people who are just names on 
the coblist.  ZOWIE!  I prefer to think that I am part of a group who 
are working to shift the current way of looking at building a home.  
And we are not all the same - that is the beauty of this movement - 
diversity of people, situations, ideals, and technique.  To recognize 
that not all homes will be the same because not all the people living 
in them are the same is key to the success of this movement - well, I 
think that it is at least one of the key ideas. . . .

We build with alternative methods and try new things (now read 
carefully) so that we can teach others and save them the trouble of 
making those mistakes.  I am so sorry that someone believes my 
motivation is to be trendy and cool.  And I find it curious to see 
someone make that assumption. Regardless, we have made a choice - a 
commitment - it goes beyond building a house.  It is a lifestyle.

Currently we are house sitting for a friend but in three short weeks we 
will live exclusively in a travel trailer (a 1970 "Covered Wagon" 
manufactured in Evansville, Indiana!) that is 8ft wide and 15 feet 
long, cook outside on a camp stove, solar shower or at a friends, in 
the name of creating our own home with our own hands.  In this way we 
can afford to have one of us take several months off from work to build 
full time.

  We have spent 6 years planning and learning so that we can take this 
on and begin teaching others how to create a home and lifestyle that is 
part of a greater cycle.  We have a workshop planned for september - 
feel free to email for more info if you would like to come learn with 
us.   The cost is minimal as we are dedicated to making this something 
that is available for anyone who cares to learn.  It is not trendiness 
nor is it a fad.  Building with earth has always been and will always 
be an option. If it all ground to a halt tomorrow - I could still build 
my house.

Cob is a phenomenal option - and I think that building with earth is 
the ultimate in sustainability. I admit it freely - I love cob - I 
fantasize that everyone uses it and creates beautiful and eclectic 
homes.  But i believe we need to recognize that a textbook cob home 
might not work for everyone in the same way that the poorly insulated 
baby boomer ranch home facing the street off gassing toxic chemicals 
does not work for everyone (and I can say from experience there are 
people who will say it works for them better than cob ever could.)

Cob (alone) is not an ideal option for many people who use a space 
intermittently or in very cold places as a building that has a lot of 
mass can take a long time to heat once it is cold.  If you are not 
heating it every day it can become rather chilly and if it is very cold 
(like minnesota say) it might not be something that will heat well at 
all.  I hear a lot of folks on this list and in workshops voice 
concerns about maintaining a decent temperature in the winter in a cob 
building.  Cob/bales is a viable option, a way to both speed up the 
building of a cob house and add valuable insulation to a wall in a 
northern climate.

Finding ways to marry cob with other locally available materials will 
make this style of building more accessible to the general population.  
That is one of the reasons that I am on this list - to hear all the 
great and wonderful ideas that other people have - to learn, and hear 
about the things that went wrong when someone tried it.  I must 
confess, I am partial to hearing from experienced cobbers regardless of 
their level of "professionalism" as a builder.  And I love to hear 
others ask questions that I have never thought to ask.

I hear you saying that you are looking for tried and true methods that 
will give you a home you love.  Affordable, built in a reasonable 
amount of time and meeting all the preconceived notions of what "home" 
is to you.  If you want to avoid making mistakes workshops and 
workstudy are a great option.  I think the fact that you are using 
natural materials is amazing.  Cob is beautiful and sustainable and 
cheap!  Cob does need plastered (in most\ situations) and I am curious 
what you have to say about this and how it differs from plastering 
strawbale that makes it a superior choice. . . .

We are all teachers and I thank all of you for what you bring to this 
group - I learn much through reading what each of you has to 
contribute.

Feel free to email me direct for photo's!  We don't have them up on the 
web yet . . . .


-j
__________________________
May you live every day of your life
-Jonathan Swift