/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.456926]

Hey /diy/

Lately I have been reading a lot about cob houses.
Some time in the near future I would like to construct one, due to the relatively low cost as compared to concrete.
Does anybody here have experience with cob based houses or just cob in general? In your experience what would be the pros and cons?

Pic related.

[Anonymous No.456941]

>>456926
There's not many cons, if you have designed and built the structure correctly. Some cons are finding people willing to help and having to listen to people who think you are crazy. More realistic cons are plumbing and wiring. Make sure to design those things into the structure. Like if you embed a 2 inch pipe into the walls, with junction boxes to access it, and use it as a conduit for electrical wiring it will make things much easier to change in the future for whatever reason.

Redoing sections or installing different sized windows and doors in the future may pose a small problem for anyone not familiar with cob.

With a good roof and foundation there's really not much between that can't be done or would be a real con.

[Anonymous No.456950]

>>456926
>In your experience what would be the pros and cons?
There aren't really too many cons, except that cob can be a huge pain in the ass to build with in areas with high ambient moisture, plumbing, wiring, etc. can be tricky (and especially replacing doors and windows in case they break or you want new ones or whatever) and modularity is virtually nonexistent; if you want to add on a sitting room then you'll have to very, very carefully knock out what's almost equivalent to a few feet of concrete. On the other hand, they're cheap, easy to make, are very easy to take off the grid and are extremely comfortable inside due to their insulating properties; if you heat them then then they stay warm even if it's cold as fuck outside and if you don't heat them then they remain very cool inside even when the temperature outside is brutally hot.

[Anonymous No.456961]

>>456950
>modularity is virtually nonexistent

Are you shitting me? Cob is one of the most easy materials to make modular. Just drill a few holes in the existing walls, place ancors, and cob over the anchors. Done deal.

>if you want to add on a sitting room then you'll have to very, very carefully knock out what's almost equivalent to a few feet of concrete.

Are you a contractor or work for one? Because that is something a contractor would to do increase profits.

>huge pain in the ass to build with in areas with high ambient moisture,

No, no it isn't. Just because it is made out of "mud" does not mean it has problems with ambient humidity at all. Which is why it is used even in very high humidity places. Every state in the USA and every country in Europe have cob structures that do very well.

The only time it is a pain to build with cob is if it is raining. Which is the same problem with all other forms of building.

[Anonymous No.456967]

Holy shit... I watched a few videos and saw the potential that you could have in building a cob house... the walls look so awesome and comfortable, and being able to build furniture out of cob and cover it with cushions is an amazing idea... plus you can have so many more windows in different shapes.

Wow. I want to learn more about this, it would be amazing to build my own little house. I'm going to go draw some ideas and maybe get some clay and make model versions. This would be so fun to do for a living too if you studied up on electricity, carpentry, and plumbing.

[Anonymous No.456984]

>>456967
Check out heating systems like "rocket stove thermal mass heater" and "rocket stove mass heater" in google images.

[Anonymous No.456988]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZS2ZEN2bTs

Pretty cool vid, shows a bit of what you'd need to do if you lived in a cold area.

[Anonymous No.456996]

Take a gander at this too. I think it's fucking awesome to imagine sitting in a house you built with your own hands (and feet!) Wow, these look better than most other houses I've seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbM2In5Hfx4

[Anonymous No.457477]

Does /diy/ think this would be a good option for a large shed? It'll actually be used as a detached guest room / somewhere to drink beer and watch horror movies that the wife doesn't want to overhear at night. Electrical but no plumbing.

I have six+ months to plan, won't be buying a new house for that amount of time and will probably spend my time on other things first before undertaking this huge project. I was thinking cinder block, but this could be more fun. What do you think?

[Anonymous No.457503]

>>457477
I've never built with cob before but as a mason I'd have to say it looks a hell of a lot funner than laying block and seeing some of the houses built with it it is a lot prettier.

[Anonymous No.457525]

>>457503
Cob over stone foundation is always awesome.

[Anonymous No.458905]

Is it possible to make cob look less Lord of the Rings, and more Starwars?

[Anonymous No.458920]

>>458905
Of course. You can make it look like anything really.

[Anonymous No.458939]

>>458920
you would need a slanted roof on it though, wouldn't you? To protect from rain?

Would a dome like >>458905 be possible?

[Anonymous No.458941]

>>458939
If you have the right support while it sets, yes.

[Anonymous No.458942]

>>458939
I should clarify, I have seen cob domes, but they all seem to be in dry climates. I live in England where it rains all the time.

[Anonymous No.458958]

>>458939
You can't let it rain directly on the cob like that. you need to have a moisture barrier of some kind over the cob. You can still do a dome, but it just needs to be protected properly.

[Anonymous No.458972]

>>458958
that's what I suspected. I'm interested in using cheap, earthy materials but I don't really like the aesthetic of most cob homes. I suppose it's possible to make something less Disney-looking. I like the idea of a 'green' roof.

[Anonymous No.458977]

I'm going to make a stab in the dark and assume that plastering the structure is fine for the walls, but isn't enough for the roof.

[Anonymous No.458981]

>>458972
>I don't really like the aesthetic of most cob homes.

People don't tend to take pictures of "mundane" cob homes. People that talk about cob the most are usually rather artistic in spirit at the very least. If you want to make a simple house with a simple roof then go for it.

[Anonymous No.458982]

>>458977
It depends on the type of plaster and the local climate. I'm sure there's an expensive waterproof plaster out there somewhere and it is probably similar to cement..

[Anonymous No.458983]

>>458981
>making something mundane out of cob

Disgusting.

[Anonymous No.458994]

>>458981
>>458983

I wouldn't say I was looking for something 'mundane', just not too hippy-looking. Something modern even. I really like this interior.

idk, I could procrastinate for years about this sort of thing.

[Anonymous No.458997]

>>458994
You can basically make anything you want with it.