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.
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!
(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!)
A little over one year ago, I started building my first cob house. And simultaneously, I started The Year of Mud to document the entire building process. I have kept regular documentation going since I started designing my house, all the way through making an urbanite foundation, to building cob walls, constructing a reciprocal roof frame, and more recently, making a rocket stove and living sod roof.
You can help spread awareness about cob building by helping The Year of Mud to continue to share cob building stories and information.
At this point, all that remains before I move into my new house is finishing and sealing the earthen floor, doing the interior final plaster work, and installing a skylight.
The plaster work will probably take the longest length of time among these three things, since I want to do a bunch of tile mosaics inside as I plaster. Those mosaics can take a while…
My skylight (a 60″x60″ piece of 1/4 in. clear polycarbonate) should be arriving at the end of the week, and I’ll probably start mixing my finish plaster tomorrow, as soon as I get some more cow manure.
Of course I’m tempted to estimate when I’ll move in… I figure I’ll give it a month. The floor and walls will need some time to dry before I can move my stuff in, so even if I finished in a week and a half, I can’t move in immediately.
Today I heard a funny story from Ashley, a guy who passed through Dancing Rabbit last September on the Superheroes bike ride.
He told me that while he was here, he and his then-girlfriend were looking for a peaceful, quiet location to have a challening conversation. They decided my house would be a good choice if it was empty, and it was, so they had their talk there to discuss ending their relationship.
We joked about how my house could serve as the go-to place where couples could break up thanks to its soothing atmosphere.
I was amused.
It feels like building season is almost upon us. There’s a hint of spring warmth in the air, and I get antsier with each passing day as I think about the prospect of finishing my humble abode. I have a building sequence of events that I’ve been thinking about today.
Other than finishing the living roof (I won’t load the topsoil until the spring rains have largely passed, so I’m not in an immediate rush to finish the other roof work that remains), there is a fair bit of interior work to be done.
My friend Mark Mazzioti (who I must credit for inspiring me to build a reciprocal roof), is building a strawbale house at Red Earth Farms. Mark is an experienced natural builder with lots of exciting and creative ideas and building plans, and I encourage you to check out this information he has posted about his strawbale house construction and natural building internship:
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This is the official end of the 2008 building season for me. I am in New Jersey for the holidays. The work site has been cleaned up, the house has been sealed, and the EPDM pond liner has been tied down.
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This website is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. In 2012, we started offering Natural Building Workshops, so you can learn essential hands-on skills to build your own natural home.
