Building with COB

@katprice (805)
United States
December 28, 2006 8:30am CST
I have recently become interested in building with cob. There are houses in Devonshire in the UK that were built with cob over 500 years ago and they are still lived in to this day. Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, water and straw and it is placed atop a foundation and then left to dry and harden. About 30% of the worlds structures are built from earth, and it makes sense. Cob homes are fireproof, wind resistant, energy efficient and insect-proof. More information can be found at http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/dc_cob.htm Let me know if you're interested in cobbing too so we can discuss this.
1 response
Willowlady
@Willowlady (10657)
• United States
28 Dec 06
Cob building book - Learning this method will be a boon to our homestead. Straw,clay, sand, and water
I am interested in this topic since we have straw bale buildings going up in the States. I have a project of building a chicken house and as soon as I get the foundation in I have the framing to go up and would love to build with straw bale or your cob. Teach me and I shall give it a try.
1 person likes this
katprice
@katprice (805)
• United States
2 Mar 07
The best thing to do is to attend a workshop in your area and help to build a cob structure. In turn, those people will come help you when it's your turn to build something out of cob.