One of the greatest things about cob
building is that it is a social activity. If you were to build a
stick-built home, each worker would be isolated, doing his own
particular job. Running a saw is noisy work and doesn’t make for good
conversation. So is swinging a hammer. It’s hard to talk to someone
who’s pounding nails.
On the other hand, cobbing is a quiet activity. The
work involves materials that don’t make a lot of noise. It’s easy to
have a conversation while you’re stacking cobs. It’s even easier to have
a conversation when you’re mixing cob. Doing the ‘cob dance’ in close
proximity to your neighbors makes conversation hard to avoid. In fact,
due to the rhythmic nature of the cob dance, people who are mixing cob
routinely break out into spontaneous song!
There’s something almost instinctual about cob building. I
remember as a child growing up on a farm in the late 1960s and early
1970s, I experimented with a lot of cob ‘forts’ out in the woods behind
my parents’ house. I didn’t know back then that the technique was called
cob building. It just seemed like a natural way of going about building
with natural materials. I’ve found that this is a common experience
among people at cob-building workshops who had a rural upbringing. It
seems that cob building is a natural ‘next step’ from making the mud
pies of childhood.
If you hang around for a while with people who do cob
building, you’ll see that they talk about it in terms usually reserved
for people who’ve had a religious experience! There’s something almost
magical about seeing a building literally rise up out of the earth.
Frequently, people who pass by stop to ask questions, and then end up
getting involved in the final process. So if you’re looking for workers
to help you build your home, you shouldn’t have a problem. Cob building
enthusiasm is contagious!
Having a cob party is one way to get people excited and
interested in building with cob. Simply spread the word among your
friends and family about what you’re trying to do, then pick a weekend
sometime to show everyone the basics. Once they’re familiar with how
it’s done, they’ll be glad to participate. Just warn them ahead of time
to wear some old clothes. It also helps to have a hose or other water
supply so they can wash off before going home. In general, once people
have experienced cob building firsthand, word spreads. It’s infectious.
As more people learn about what you’re doing, expect a big turnout!
So what if you don’t have enough friends and neighbors
nearby to help out with building your cob home? Well, cob workshops are
springing up all the time. Check to see if there’s a cob workshop in
your area. If there’s not, don’t be too worried. Cob builders are a
gypsy lot…they may be willing to travel to your area. Find the nearest
cob building instructor and ask them if they’d be willing to do a
workshop at your building site. There’s a list of cob builders in
Appendix D. Cob builders are usually willing to do workshops because
it’s a win-win situation. They get the fees for people to attend their
workshop on your building site, and you get the freebie of having a
group of ready and willing workers to help you construct your new home.
You might want to take one of these workshops
yourself if you’re considering building with cob. Such a workshop will
give you practical experience in working with this versatile material,
while letting you know if this is the right path to home ownership for
you. It may also give you valuable contacts when assembling crew and
materials to build your home.
If you take a workshop and decide that cob building
is right for you, welcome to the world of cobbing!
There’s something almost instinctual about cob building. I
remember as a child growing up on a farm in the late 1960s and early
1970s, I experimented with a lot of cob ‘forts’ out in the woods behind
my parents’ house. I didn’t know back then that the technique was called
cob building. It just seemed like a natural way of going about building
with natural materials. I’ve found that this is a common experience
among people at cob-building workshops who had a rural upbringing. It
seems that cob building is a natural ‘next step’ from making the mud
pies of childhood. 
So what if you don’t have enough friends and neighbors
nearby to help out with building your cob home? Well, cob workshops are
springing up all the time. Check to see if there’s a cob workshop in
your area. If there’s not, don’t be too worried. Cob builders are a
gypsy lot…they may be willing to travel to your area. Find the nearest
cob building instructor and ask them if they’d be willing to do a
workshop at your building site. There’s a list of cob builders in
Appendix D. Cob builders are usually willing to do workshops because
it’s a win-win situation. They get the fees for people to attend their
workshop on your building site, and you get the freebie of having a
group of ready and willing workers to help you construct your new home.