Building with Cob.........Anyone here ever do it?

[Valiantone]

I want to get some opinions from people who have actually built with Cob. And I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has built with Cob in my area, and how it held up. (MD, PA, WV)

I thought it would be really cool to build an out building with cob as a starter project.

Thanks for any info and experiences!

Chris E.

[Earthbound]

I've been involved in many cob building ventures. We helped a friend of ours build a house that turned out really neat! we are in the midst of building a 8ft round cob bedroom that we will hook up to our yurt, hopefully we will have it finished for early spring. its quite labor intensive and dirty, but fun! We have access to free clay and hay as we live on an island where clay is plentiful. Also we run the cob through a large cement mixer as opposed to the stomping thing. On the coast here, it rains and rains and they hold up really well, just the odd spring patch up. i have no idea how one would hold up in your climate.
corry

[TundraGypsy]

Does the wood eventually break down? I was thinking about building a cob wall for my root cellar; then I thought that the wood might rot out on me since one part of the wall would be imbedded in the outer soil of the cellar.

[TundraGypsy]

oops, sorry, I thought you said cordwood house. Duh. Here is a website on cob house building: http://www.cobhouse.net/index.html There are lots and lots of photos and information on cob houses as well.

[Modern Pioneer]

I have played with cob. Also cob/cordwood hybrid. I never built a structure with it, but i did make a garden bench. It was a massive thing. Did it bout 10 years ago, its still there and in great shape. That is in Ohio, btw. It is labor intensive, but its dirt cheap. Especially if you have good heavy clay soil like we do here in S.E.Ohio. I think an outbuilding would be a good project. Although the building season is late, can always get the site and such ready. Make sure you get everyone in on the project, even kids are a great help. You will become good friends with a tarp. Whatever you do dont get into a hurry, cause it wont do any good. Cob is very slow, but very rewarding.

Keep your powder dry

[Valiantone]

Thanks for the info I guess it is a GOOD thing that our soil is very good and isn't very clay like, but I'll have to go in search of clay soil. Something that I think most folks would not want to do!

Thanks again

Chris