Skip to main content
Tag

cob building

Oct 28
Love2
true cost natural building

Interview About the Reality of Natural Building

By Cob Building, Media, Timber Framing

true cost natural building

Oliver Goshey of Adundant Edge recently interviewed me for his podcast series. In our chat, we talked about the reality (or realities) of natural building, including the importance of building for your climate, the true cost of building a natural home, and some common misconceptions about natural materials. One piece of our conversation focuses on getting real about the expenses associated with natural building and the myth of the “$1000 house” (for lack of a better term). Although materials may be affordable, labor costs can be spendy for folks who aren’t able to do the work themselves.

We also talk some about the shou-sugi-ban wood preservation methods I’ve been experimenting with lately. Check out the full interview and tell me what you think. Questions and comments welcome.

Listen here: The reality of natural building and designing for your climate with Ziggy Liloia from “The Year of Mud”

Mar 03
Love5
Clay Plaster Benefits

The Unique & Beneficial Properties of Clay Plaster

By Clay Plaster, Cob Building, Light Clay Straw, Straw Bale Building
Clay Plaster Benefits

Clay plaster base coat application in process

Clay soil is one of the most ancient, rudimentary, yet effective building materials on the planet. Besides being naturally abundant across much of the earth, clay has unique properties that make it not only suitable but very desirable as a natural building material. Clay is used for the production of fired brick, sun-baked adobes, cob, and natural plaster finishes.

In this very basic introduction to clay soil, I will highlight some of the unique water-loving features and other useful attributes of clay when it’s used as a natural building material, particularly as a plaster finish.

Read More

Feb 26
Love2
The Year of Mud 10 year anniversary

10 Years of Mud

By Cob Building, Workshops

The Year of Mud 10 year anniversary

It’s 2018, and that means The Year of Mud hits double digits this year (!). Ten years ago, I started The Year of Mud blog when I began my foolhardy journey into the world of natural building. Well dang. I’m not one to boast, but it’s been a lot of work to keep this website chugging that whole time. I certainly had no idea where I was headed when I decided to “build a mud hut” all those years ago. But one thing is for sure: natural building has been a huge focal point of my life since I first stuck my hands (and feet) in a batch of cob.

Read More

Feb 16
Love9
insulation thermal mass

The Differences Between Insulation and Thermal Mass

By Cob Building, Resources, Straw Bale Building, Winter
trimming straw bale wall

A highly insulated straw bale home under construction

If you’re new to natural building, two of the most important fundamental concepts to understand are thermal mass and insulation. Materials for constructing walls typically fall into one category or the other. Understanding the differences will be critical if your goal is to build an efficient, comfortable house appropriate for your local climate. Let’s look at thermal mass and insulation in the simplest terms possible.

Read More

Jun 07
Love1

Ziggy on The Permaculture Podcast

By Cob Building, Homesteading, Media, Permaculture, Straw Bale Building, Timber Framing
Clear Creek Road

This is Clear Creek, the valley we now call home

Last month, Scott Mann of The Permaculture Podcast came to our neighborhood to re-visit the community here on Clear Creek, the place we now call home just outside Berea, Kentucky. Last summer, he came for a visit to record a podcast and he had such a positive experience that he decided to make another trip. During his initial visit I was in Vermont attending a Permaculture Design Course, ironically enough.

Read More

Mar 29
Love2

Grand Finale: How to Build a Better Outdoor Pizza Oven

By Cob Oven
Homemade Pizza Party

This is the final installment of my outdoor pizza oven building guide!

If you’ve been following along with my “How to Build a Better Cob Oven” series — great! If you haven’t, you can catch up by reading part 1 and part 2. So far I’ve described how to site your new oven and build a shelter, how to prepare and build the foundation, install the hearth, door opening, and build the cob dome itself. So let’s see where we are now… I think it’s time to talk about insulation, plaster, and wrapping things up.

Here’s the final installment of How to Build a Better Outdoor Oven.

Read More

Feb 16
Love3
how to make cob

How to Mix the Perfect Batch of Cob

By Cob Building, Uncategorized
Building With Cob

Stomping a batch of cob on a recycled lumber tarp

In the seven years I’ve run The Year of Mud and written about building with cob, I realize I haven’t written a simple ‘how to mix cob’ post. For many folks, particularly anyone coming across my various cob oven articles online, it may not actually be obvious how you mix cob, whether it’s for an oven, bench, building a house, etc. So, better late than never — here is a handy reference if you want to mix the perfect batch of cob for your project!

Read More

Dec 12
Love0

This Mayne Island Cob House is Stunning

By Cob Building, Photos
Mayne Island Cob House 00

This Mayne Island cob house is one of the most beautiful, built in 1999

This cob house is one of my favorites out there. Built by CobWorks and the Cob Cottage Company in 1999, it’s the first fully permitted cob house to be built in Canada, specifically on Mayne Island, BC. Read ahead for more beautiful photos of the home.

Read More

Oct 13
Love0

Useful Tools: Trombone Pressure Sprayer

By Clay Plaster, Cob Building, Lime Plaster
Hudson Pressure Sprayrer

The Hudson pressure sprayer is a great tool for working with natural plaster and cob

A pressure sprayer is an undoubtedly useful tool in the natural building realm, especially when working with cob or plaster. Sometimes a hose is way overkill, or simply not possible to rig up. A portable sprayer fills the void, and can be especially good when you want a lot of control. When you need to wet your walls down to lay up plaster, for example, it’s useful to have something that you can work with a certain amount of finesse, only spraying what you need and not saturating everything else in the process.

Over the years, I’ve burned through any number of pump-style pressure sprayers. You know the ones — the tools with the plastic tank and plastic handle that you pump for a minute, and then try to eek enough water out of the plastic nozzle before you have to pump again… annoying, to say the least. And usually pretty cheaply made.

However, I’ve been using this Hudson trombone sprayer for a couple of years now, and can vouch for it. It’s come in quite handy during all of the plaster work we’ve been doing lately.

Read More

Sep 24
Love0

Our Recent Cob Bench Creation

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops
Cob Bench

Our Cob Building Workshop participants and the cob bench they built

Our recent Cob Building Workshop participants were able to build a cob bench from the foundation up, and I was very pleased with what we came up with. A cob bench is the perfect beginner cob building project, as it is simple, yet provides enough of a design challenge to be interesting and engaging. The best cob bench will be comfortable, inviting, and of course visually interesting. With a bench, you can “try it on” as you go and sit and feel out the dimensions and adjust as necessary. You don’t even need a tape measure.

Read More