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Cob
Building
by
Chuck Hall
 Throughout
most of the history of humankind on this planet, homes have been
made of some type of earth. In the Mesopotamian region, bricks made
of clay and straw were used for construction for thousands of years.
Variations on this type of adobe can be seen all over the world. In
fact, most homes today are still made of some sort of earth.
A method of
building with earth, called cob, is similar to adobe construction.
Cob, like adobe, is a mixture of straw, sand and clay. The
difference in cob building is that with cob you don’t form the
mixture into bricks. It is built layer upon layer ‘freestyle.’
Once the walls are built, they are covered with plaster to seal them
from the elements. Cob is durable, comfortable and non-toxic. It can
be modified to suit almost any climate. There are cob homes still
standing in England that were built in the 16th century!
 Cob
is a versatile and aesthetic material in that it can also be used to
build sculpture, garden walls and outdoor ovens. Since its major
component is clay, it can be sculpted into any shape that will bear
the weight of the materials. Cob is literally 'dirt cheap' since it
is made from materials readily found in nature. Not only that, but
it's so easy a child could do it. If you ever made mud pies when you
were young, then you've already got most of the basic skills to
build with cob!
One drawback of
working with cob is that many building inspectors are unfamiliar
with the material. This can usually be worked around by finding an
architect or an engineer who has experience working with cob. Cob is
not covered by many building codes, but adobe often is. If you can
convince your local building inspector that cob is a modification of
adobe you might have better luck than you would otherwise. Get an
architect or construction engineer to work with you, and most
building inspectors will issue a permit. The amount of difficulty
you may have obtaining a permit will depend on the local building
inspector’s experience with alternative building materials. It can
sometimes be an uphill battle, but as more inspectors become
educated in this great sustainable alternative, the process will
become easier. The beautiful results that can be obtained are well
worth the extra effort. If you’ve never seen cob construction,
http://www.cobprojects.info/ is a great place to start.
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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