Britain: £150 Cosy Cob Home
November 26th, 2013If this sort of thing calls to you, see: The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage by Ianto Evans.
Via: Daily Mail:
Smallholder Michael Buck spent eight months constructing the house using the ancient technique of cob – building with a mixture of sand, clay, straw, water and earth. He taught himself the method by reading a book, even shaping the walls without a single power tool.
He also made the simple wooden roof frame and thatched it himself with straw from his fields. The 300 sq ft of floor space features floorboards rescued from a skip, while an old windscreen from a lorry provided glass for the windows.
With no central heating, you might think it would be a bit chilly, but he says the cob walls and thatched roof make it incredibly well insulated – and the ceiling is stuffed with sheep’s wool from a nearby farm to help keep the heat in further.
It’s a good book, but could perhaps use a little updating.
I took a course with the Cob Cottage Company in Oregon in 2010 and we focused on ‘bale-cob’, which is a hybrid technique that embeds a thick layer of straw (rectangular bales sliced lengthwise) on the outside of the external walls to provide extra insulation.
Nothing beats trying this stuff out for yourself with the help of someone experienced to point out mistakes, oversights, and details.
If you want to build yourself a home and you have no experience, then really – do a few small related projects first: a bench, a shelter, remodel an outbuilding, whatever – before you tackle creating the structure you plan to live in. This holds true no matter what building method you plan to use.
Building something to live in isn’t rocket science, but a bit of research before you set hand to mud (or wood, or brick, or stone…) will serve you well.
* Find out what the local building regulations are. Those may be way more of a burden than any practicalities of materials or location.
* Think about your location and climate. Cob is lovely, but not necessarily the best suited for all climates. Don’t get your heart set on a style which is poorly matched to your locale.
* Siting – which way your house points with respect to sunlight and prevailing winds – means a lot.
There’s a wealth of information on the web to get started. Google ‘natural building’ and just start following links.
We still want to build our own house, but we have to find the right place. As that’s not where we currently are (Germany)…it’ll be a couple of years yet.
Zeke