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 ‘Reciprocal roof’
The One Year Report: Life in a Cob House
A Recommended Cob and Natural Building Book List
There are a few books that I referenced and relied on throughout the process of building my cob house. I’ve come up with a short list of books for aspiring cob builders to get inspired and get set on the path to actual construction of a small cob house similar to my own. Check them [...]
Making a custom tractor tire skylight
You may remember reading about how I stumbled upon a perfectly sized tractor tire that I decided to use for the frame of my skylight atop my reciprocal roof. Well, I finally installed the actual skylight to the tractor tire frame a couple of weeks ago with the help of my friend Tamar. Read ahead [...]
Strawberries on a living sod roof
Here it is…. the first food from the sod roof of my cob house. Mm mm.
Building a living sod roof for a cob house
At long last, I have a living roof! I’ve been anticipating this day for over a year now and it’s finally done. On Monday, a group of about twelve folks assembled to help me lift sod onto the top of my roof, and in two and a half hours, it was effectively covered.
Starting to build the living roof
Lately I have been focusing a lot of my attention on building the living roof (a.k.a. green roof, sod roof, or turf roof). Last week, I finished building an edge board – a sort of retaining wall around the perimeter of the roof to help hold the soil from sliding off the roof. I debated [...]
How to build a reciprocal roof frame
This is a long-delayed post about building my reciprocal roof frame. This entry documents the details of building my reciprocal roof frame, including the type of wood I used, the number of rafters, and the work process itself. I hope that this will be useful for individuals who want to attempt building a similar frame. [...]
Getting in the last building work before winter
I will be headed out of Dancing Rabbit in three short weeks to go back to New Jersey for the holidays. Within the past couple of weeks, I have accepted the fact that I will not absolutely “finish” the house before that time. By “finish”, I mean complete the roof, finish the floor, make my [...]
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 [...]
Dressing up the reciprocal roof
Before the EPDM went on the roof, I wanted to add a cushion of cardboard on top of the rafters and decking to protect the membrane. And before the cardboard went on, I wanted to add some kind of fabric so that the cardboard would not be visible from inside of the space. I bought [...]
