Cob anyone?

[NCW_Woodnymph]

Ok, so I'm probably insane (at least my family thinks I am :D) but I am completely obsessed with the idea of cob. For anyone that doesn't know what cob is, it's a mixture of clay, sand and straw used to build anything from ovens to houses. It's basically the ultimate green building material. I have been interested in it for a couple of years but for the last couple months I have been itching to build something. We rent so I can't :mad: but, I figured maybe talking about it would help. Has anyone heard of cob or, better yet, has anyone ever built with it? There is a lot of it in Oregon but I haven't been able to find much in Washington. I am hoping we have enough clay in our soil to make it work but I will have to wait until spring to find out. :)

If any one is curious,
check this out (http://youtube.com/watch?v=cFoRj9Q_nkQ)

:hippie:

[PEACE FROG]

Very nice my friend. Hey take a look at this site:Solar living (http://www.solarliving.org/) I've actually attended a couple of classes here. Browse around, they have a class on cob building and lots of other really cool stuff. Also Nymph check out the Sol fest!!!! :heff2:

[NCW_Woodnymph]

SolFest sounds very cool! I wish we lived closer. What kind of classes did you take? They seem to cover just about everything.

I'm kind of frustrated by the cost of cob workshops. It seems like they have nearly doubled in price since last summer. It costs between 250$ and 400$ for a weekend workshop! I understand that they need to pay instructors but they are also essentially getting free labor. Most of them provide meals but they are vegetarian and you camp out so the overhead can't that high. Oh well, I guess you have to spend money to save money. :D

:hippie:

[PEACE FROG]

Intro to P.V. and green building. I think the reason it's so high is because # 1 THEY CAN #2 people use this knowledge to make big bucks and they know it. The last class I went to there were people from all over the world in attendance, no shit. It is less than 100 mi from where I live which is cool. I wana go to either cob or strawbale building just for fun. Did you see the thread "What do you do?" As I explained I wanted to be a green builder (I'm a General Contractor) bad times right now though. However that does'nt make me any less enthusiastic or passionate about it. I also dig any kind of artistic crafts, anything handmade.

[NCW_Woodnymph]

What exactly is PV? A green building business would be great. It seems like the whole "go green" thing is getting bigger, so there should be more people interested in green building. It's nice when such things are trendy.:D My only concern is that it sounds like it could be difficult to get permits, especially for cob structures.

My dad is a general contractor. He was self employed so I worked with him from when I was about 13 until he went into business with some friends. I miss the sense of accomplishment when you get to see something finished. :) I can't wait until we can start building something of our own. :D

:hippie: