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Aug 21
Love6

You Can Build This Cob House For $3000

By Resources, Cob Building

Cob House: Gobcobatron

Curious about how to build
your own natural home?

Check out our Natural Building Workshops outside Berea, KY. We offer courses in cob and straw bale building, timber framing, and more.

When designing my cob house, it was an important goal to keep my building costs very low and to obtain as many building materials as locally as possible. Natural materials were my first priority, and recycled building supplies were preferred over new materials. Few materials were purchased new, and about as few are synthetic.

In this very detailed entry, Recipe for Building a Cob House, you can learn what it took to build my cob house for about $3000 in material costs. You’ll also learn exactly how much cob I made (all by foot!), and specific amounts of material that went into the construction. Read More

Aug 12
Love0

Photos around GOBCOBATRON

By Uncategorized

gobcobatron
ra-1

So I haven’t uploaded any interior photos of Gobcobatron yet… I promise I’m getting to it. I’ve just been delaying until the interior was sufficiently furnished… I suppose I’ll have to get on that now! Expect those photos soon!

Anyway, here are two photos taken by Ramin Rahimian, a photographer who recently visited Dancing Rabbit to take some photodocumentary-style pictures. I like ’em.

Jul 21
Love0

This is GOBCOBATRON, where I live

By Uncategorized

gobcobatron-ws

I have officially moved into my cob house! On July 11, I carted my possessions from my grain bin apartment to my new home. I set my books upon the cob shelves, moved in a set of shelves and a (pretty crappo) desk, threw some temporary air pads and sheets on the bed, and settled in.

Read More

Jul 07
Love0

Days away from moving in

By Uncategorized

Apologies for a recent lack of updates, but I’ve been away for over two weeks and recently returned home. But I am now days away from moving in after oiling my earthen floor over the weekend. 

Expect more updates very soon about finish earthen plaster, laying and oiling the finish earthen floor, and moving in!

 

gobcobatron

(p.s. The silly looking jugs in the garden in this photo? They are to detract voles and/or moles from eating up the vegetable plants. [Which is actually more important when the plants are very young.] It actually works, although it’s not the prettiest sight!)

Jun 19
Love1

Finish Earthen Plaster: Part 2: Applying Earth Plaster

By Hand Tools, Clay Plaster

finalplaster-01

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 of my cob house.

(This entry is a continuation from Finish Earthen Plaster: Part 1: Materials and Recipe.)

Read More

Jun 17
Love2

Finish Clay Plaster: Materials and Recipe

By Clay Plaster
Clay Plaster - Interior Finish

Applying finish clay plaster on straw bale walls

Applying clay plaster may be one of the most satisfying parts of building a natural home. Smoothing over cob or straw bale walls with a creamy clay 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 clay plaster job, it’s important to carefully prepare and mix your material. In this post, I will explain the preparation methods and recipe I use for most of my natural building work.

Read More

Jun 16
Love0

Living earthen floor?

By Earthen Floor

I have been away from Dancing Rabbit for the past week, and friends have been monitoring the drying of my earthen floor, which I completed about a week before I left for New Jersey. My friend Liat just sent me some images of what the floor looks like… it isn’t dry, and there is now both grass and mushrooms popping up through the floor.

The last week has been quite damp there, but damn… it’s already been two weeks since the floor has been finished. (It’s 1.5″ of new material, so it’s not that much stuff that has to dry out.)

I’m a little concerned about what looks like definite mold… but should I be worried? Anyone experience a situation like this? I won’t be able to pluck the grass and mushrooms and wipe the mold until the floor dries…

livingfloor?

Hmm.