Cob Construction
Josh's interest in straw bale houses made me think about something that I had read about a long time ago: cob construction.
Cob is an ancient, but low cost and durable construction technique that uses natural materials (clay, sand, and straw). If we went back to such basics, it could help cure homelessness and keep people off the debt/finance treadmill. There's a lot more information and examples of cob construction than there was a few years ago. Try it out in small scale: build a doghouse first.
Here's a link to a video of a cob cottage in Oregon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLf8J7k69j0
Here's a link to an organization dedicated to promoting cob construction:
Tags: construction
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cara on
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This is a cool idea! There's a few places I know of in Arkansas which have cob houses - they are mostly retreat centers in the Ozarks.
http://www.riverspirit.com/lodging.html
http://www.wattlehollow.com/cobstory.htm
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Permalink Reply by Munky on -
The economy is very bad. It amazes me to think of the people that I know who could be classified as near-homeless due to the consequences of the economic downturn. Cob construction is so cheap that it would provide an opportunity for even very poor people to have affordable shelter, if only they had land to put it on.
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Permalink Reply by Munky on
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I loved your links. I was pleased to see that cob construction is being done here in Arkansas. It was also interesting to look at the pictures of construction at Wattle Hollow. Most of the workers were women! That is not what I would have expected of working with heavy, messy mud.
It seems to me that what is needed most for cob construction is the application of modern construction materials and techniques. For example, the cob could be mixed in an old cement truck, poured into formed walls, and vibrate it in place to insure that the forms are evenly and thoroughly filled. The construction time and labor could be reduced substantially.
Cara said:This is a cool idea! There's a few places I know of in Arkansas which have cob houses - they are mostly retreat centers in the Ozarks.
http://www.riverspirit.com/lodging.html
http://www.wattlehollow.com/cobstory.htm
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Permalink Reply by Linda Ives on
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Seems Habitat for Humanity could do more builds more affordably with this technique or even Mission Builders etc. etc.
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