Welcome! I hope you’ll follow along as I continue to build my first cob house. Please consider subscribing to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I recently got back from traveling. I have been away for six weeks, so I have not been able to closely monitor the condition of my cob house throughout this very [...]
Posts under ‘Cob walls’
Cob walls complete, windows and door installed, and more!
The past week or so has been quite eventful. There’s been mostly positive progress, but some negative, too.
Cobbing complete!
With Karen’s and my dad’s help, I completed cobbing. The walls are finally done! In just a few days, the gap between the walls and the roof was closed. It was very satisfying to see the final [...]
The cob walls are complete
194.5 batches of cob stomped by foot and applied by hand and you get:
Yesterday afternoon and this morning, I put some final touches on the cob walls, leveling them in preparation for the soon-coming reciprocal roof. After I smoothed out some of the last cobs, I took a minute as I stood on the lean-to [...]
Cob walls are 99%
Here’s a couple of photos of the 99% complete cob walls. I figure I’ll be able to finish them off tomorrow, perhaps Sunday if it takes a couple more batches than I expect. Reciprocal roof: here we come!
Also, in the top photo you might notice a post near the entryway. This black locust post will [...]
The end is (seriously) near
With the help of my superstar work exchangers Dan and Danielle, the cob walls are nearly complete. Unfortunately, D&D departed today to begin their own pursuits, but I am hopeful that I’ll be able to complete cobbing by myself by the weekend. I suspect it will take 10 or so batches to level out the [...]
The story so far
Recent highlights the past week included cobbing above the south window, removing the door brace (ahhh for easy entering and exiting!), and sticking in most of the deadmen for the roof rafters. It feels more and more like an actual house with each passing day.
Moonlight cobbing
This weekend, I had a strong urge to do some cobbing after dinner, during the sunset hours. So, last night we (myself and Dan and Danielle [my two work exchangers], later joined by Liat) ate dinner and stomped a batch of cob as the sun went down. By the time we were done stomping, it [...]
Installing shelf joists in cob and inching closer to the roof
(Satisfied after today’s good progress – See the new cob at the top of the wall there?)
With help from my most enjoyable new work exchangers Dan and Danielle, I am inching closer and closer to the roof of my cob house. Today marked the completion of one of the few remaining and more challenging elements [...]
Installing lintels above windows
The past week has been extremely productive, thanks to some help from Apple and a few other folks from Sandhill Farm. The cob walls are nearing 85% complete, I’d say. But before I finish them, there are other things to take care of, too. Namely, I need to install lintels above my windows and doorway, [...]
Cob water damage
Here’s a normal cob wall (with no/near zero significant water damage):
And another wall that has been pelted in a flash flood:
The damage isn’t that significant (it’s just surface runoff), but it sure still bugs me…
