On July 11, 2009, I moved into my newly completed cob house. It’s now been over a year since the move-in, and there have been many learning lessons along the way. I’d like to present a number of those lessons here in my one year report of living in a cob house.
Here we go…
Posts under ‘Earthen Plaster’
The One Year Report: Life in a Cob House
Lorena Stove Whale Mosaic
We had some extra earthen plaster from re-plastering the portion of the house where the cob bed was, so we slapped it on the oven in the temporary outdoor kitchen. And then I made this little whale mosaic. I kinda like how it came out!
Earth plastered cob bed and bench
The very last thing to be completed in the house was applying finish earthen plaster to my cob bed and bench. (The bed and bench were still not completely dry by the time I was ready to plaster the walls, hence I did it after doing the finish floor… not ideal, since it was a [...]
Finish Earthen Plaster: Part 2: Applying Earth Plaster
Once you have mixed your deliciously smooth finish earthen plaster, it’s time to apply it to make your cob walls shine. It’s a seemingly simple process, but there is a certain hidden finesse that will make the job easier with time and practice. I’m no expert, but here’s how I went about plastering the interior [...]
Finish Earthen Plaster: Part 1: Materials and Recipe
Applying finish earthen plaster may be one of the most satisfying parts of building a natural home. Smoothing over rough cob walls with a creamy earthen plaster mix is incredibly satisfying and brings about a truly dramatic transformation. What was once coarse is made buttery and gracefully smooth. For a successful earthen plaster job, it’s [...]
Finish earthen plaster application in the works
The past three days I have been busy applying finish earthen plaster to the interior of my cob house. I expect it will be done tomorrow. Here are a few photos of the plaster work in progress, along with some of the mosaics that are being installed underneath the rafters of the reciprocal roof.
Making a mosaic in earthen plaster
A few days ago, Tamar suggested that perhaps I’d want to do a mosaic on the outside of my house. I’d been doing the exterior earthen plaster and was nearly complete, and I had only a small portion of wall remaining near the entryway. I took her up on the offer.
Making and applying an earthen plaster exterior finish
A week or so ago, while the weather was still reasonably comfortable, I decided to experiment with making an earthen finish plaster. I settled on ingredients and a recipe for my earthen plaster mix relatively easily after talking to others who have done plastering here at Dancing Rabbit in the past.
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 [...]
