Is Cob the Building Material of the Future?
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- Опубліковано 2 лис 2022
- Cob is a natural building material - made from clay / subsoil, sand, and straw. Brick kilns account for 2.7% of total global emissions. What are current constraints associated with building using cob? And is cob the building material of the future?
COMMENT your thoughts!
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Zimbabwean me chuckles a little inside as this has been building material for centuries in my neck of the woods. European colonisers called them primitive too.
Some Ancient British Homes are made of Cob :)
Worldwide, really.
Zimbabwe doesn't have the same climatic issues like europeans
Wear it as a badge of honor ... "We Zimbabweans have been doing our part for the environment for centuries! It's only you westerners that are behind the curve!"
😂
I much prefer a house that lasts for a long time. Wood just isn't that permanent.
i wish i could build my own cob house. i just love the soft curves and i can imagine running my hands around the house. it's so much nicer than brick
You should try! I feel the same way but understand it is extremely labour intensive. Embarking on the journey to build a cob house is definrtely a big commitment.
It was only in the last century and a half that lumber became so ubiquitous and cheap to acquire that we changed our building techniques away from stone, brick, and mud as the primary wall material.
that 2 year potential wait time seems like a big deal and i never see mentioned
I think you could probably still live in it before that point (most sources quote it's safe after a few months), it's just that your house might not be the healthiest humidity. Really depends on where you live though, I doubt somewhere like New Mexico would require two years
I would love to have a cob home….and perhaps a cob greenhouse!
You should give it a go! I would love to see the construction process documented, so please do share if you do... I am thinking the cob wall I want to create could be a project for this summer.
@@greenfutureyt
M
Great. Concise. 😊
Great video!
Woah this video is really underated! Idk how this isn’t popular, I’m guessing that you will be famous in a few months, so pls remember me!
Thank you so much for the support!
I agree!
This is a truly beautiful house 🏠 😍 ❤️
I want to build my own cob house in my Country, To ask as a chef, what are the ingredients? And for the house in the thumbnail, how much can it cost? estimation
I like how you've phrased your question. In simplicity, cob is a mix of soil, sand, water, and straw. Depends on where wood can be sourced. For example, if you had unlimited time and land containing unprotected forestry, you could prepare wood from your own land, which would cut costs considerably. In general, raw materials for natural homes are not extremely expensive. However, if you were to assign a cost to your labour, they would be.
❤❤❤❤
Great video! Can the drying time be sped up with dehumidifiers?
Thanks! Increasing heat and air flow should speed up the drying time. I think a dehumidifier could have a minor impact. Whilst it would remove moisture from the air surrounding the walls, moisture within the walls might not be removed.
@@greenfutureyt Ok, That makes sense. Again great video i hope more people find you channel you deserve it!
@@ChickenManiac Thank you! Your support is really heartfelt. Have a nice weekend.
The walls will be built up in layers. This process, unless one had decant man power, will take weeks. Each day you will want to wet down all the wall that has already bean built, before adding another layer. If its hot, the wall may need to be wet down more then once in a day. The slower it drys the less it will crack.
@@greenfutureyt I think capillary attraction will aid the dehumidifier greatly to extract the moisture from within because nature abhor a vacuum. Additionally, I wonder by drilling holes to the centre of the walls in a staggered "say' 1m centre would speed up drying. Afterwards, the drying holes are stopped and rammed with earth and the plasterers will hide the stopped holes with the finish coating.
Can they survive hurricane winds and rain?
I imagine if the foundations are raised and strong enough, walls are thick enough, and you coat enough straw around the house it should withstand most weathering.
Haven't got hard facts around exactly what wind speeds and rainfall speeds they could take, but would depend on a lot of factors including (but not limited to) design and the exact mix used.
@@greenfutureyt there are some of the oldest buildings in the world made of a cob/adobe mix. There are ones in England so I think that they stand up to hurricane winds and rain if built right.
The oldest still-standing cob house is estimated to be roughly 10,000 years old. I would say that with proper maintenance, it's probably the most durable type of house on the planet.
use mortal mixer to mix cob to get it to dry faster use more sand and some portland cement to make it more stable
Yeah mixing it could definitely be easier.
I was considering building an outhouse but including cement in the mix. Feels like cheating a bit though, as cement isn't dug from my garden. Although, to be honest, I don't have sand in my garden, so that would be imported from the local shop too... might make a video on it too
@@greenfutureyt cant hurt plaster of paris is a good alternative or use some hydrated lime and sodium carbonate in the right proportions sets up like portland cement
I have used paper instead of straw or sand and it makes the mix hold up to heave down fail and being soaked the most resilient way to make a cob/adobe mix. It does take longer to dry.
What about a cob based earthship?
Ideal depending on your location! I am guessing you mean to include a lot of sustainable features which you would typically see on Eathships e.g optimal tilt windows, large thermal mass, rainwater harvesting etc?
@@greenfutureyt yeah
@@greenfutureyt I’ve been trying to figure how to earhship type homes set up in a circle and they’re all connected together in a solar micro grid
@@shizuwolf you've gotta try it out now... then share the results here
@@shizuwolf You certainly could power them all at the same time. You'd just need more resources. I have actually been thinking about this a lot recently. Living with people / around people is in a way more sustainable. By sharing labour and resources your micro-economy can be more efficient and sustainable in the long run. As such, I think as nation's we have so much potential to be sustainable, and to exhibit much improved productivity. The advent of very advanced deep learning models is assisting with the productivity side of things, but lacking in the sustainability side....these models use A LOT of energy.
When the walls have straw bales in them covered with cob inside and out it makes more than 2 feet wide or deep walls . Mine is getting below 0 f. At times and stays 70 to 80 with a wood burning stove. In summer its like having ac. Yes intelligence is in nature
Straw integrated into the cob mix or a wall of straw in between (alike to cavity wall insulation)? Sounds restful. Have you got any photos of your cob construction?
@greenfutureyt there's whole straw bales stacked in and between a wood frame structure then cob clay and straw mix no sand on inside and outside of structure. Ya I have some pics.
@@greenfutureyt don't know how to share them here tho
This could be used in desert areas where you will not get flesh floods
Would be ideal. Cob tends to wash away with the rain so isn't ideal unless you protect it from the water
Desert areas are notorious for flash floods
@@gregkosinski2303 we nave have heave down fail in the desert.
I think leaking toxicity from tires into the leaving space is BS, other than that it's a great video.
Hi, thanks for the support and for interacting! Tyre "off gassing" is a thing, and we do know that tyres contain toxic compounds. Although, the quantity of toxic "gas" which leaks into the living space, and the impact that would have, is definitely up for debate. Unfortunately I was unable to find a research article which investigates the amount of toxicity in an earthship, and if that toxicity can be traced back to tyres in the structure... it would definitely be interesting to see those results.
I think Compressed Earth Blocks are a better material. Just because it goes up faster and handles rain much better even during construction. But I like them both.
the traditional type of cob is unlikely to be the future of construction but 1 added with modern materials combined with a more innovative(efficient) building technique can come very handy
I have been looking at my local authority planning guidance and it seems you need to be pretty flexible around materials used in natural self builds - as they will likely need to "reinforce landscape character". So not being fixated on only cob is probably a good thing!
Mix tell ya got a seal.
Thanks for interacting! What do you mean by this though?
@@greenfutureyt On the tarp, after each good mix, the tarp is wrapped up and flipped opened and mixed more. Until after a flip, when the tarp is opened back up, the mixture is so well combined it looks like a sleeping seal laying on the tarp. One should be able to gently stand open its back. If it bares the weight without cracking, its ready to use.
@@ChrisBGramz4u Ah I didn't know about the "mix until it looks like a seal" phrase! Looking back on it...I see it now. Have you built much with cob before?
@@greenfutureyt Not as much as I'd like. I've been trained and have taught some.
@@ChrisBGramz4u That's wicked, were the trainings you were involved with mostly practical workshops?
I love the idea of having a communal area where people can learn, contribute to, and part own natural homes.
Some images move too fast.
Thanks for the feedback! Looking back on the video I thought the same thing... for my next video (on the future of energy storage) I am trying to optimise the transitions so that images / videos stay on the screen for at least 2 seconds, in line with other popular youtube videos. The video I just mentioned should be released on 15.02.2023.
I AM IN NEED OF A COB BUILDER FOR MY DREAM HOME; IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A COB BUILDER PLEASE LMK!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you already got planning permission? If so, I would love to track the progress of the project with photos and videos.
I don’t need permissions with the type of land I am buying!
@@nicolecoralluzzo1964 you have me hooked. How have you managed that?
@@greenfutureyt loop holes!!! If there is a will there is a way!!!!!
I have found that if you mix paper products in stead of straw it doesn’t erode or melt away.
You found that? Do explain please
@@nofurtherwest3474 I was watching all the videos on YT about alternative building and papier-mâché and all other kinds of like projects , and I like the idea of using free things. I started experimenting and found that clay and paper pulp doesn’t resolve even when Salt and water like adobe misdeeds of clay sand and straw does. How ever it does take longer to dry.
@@nofurtherwest3474 I was watching many different videos on alternate building videos as well as videos on Paper-mâché projects. I like using free materials and paper and cardboard I can get for free, as well as clay. The other videos I watched were on making paper bricks for fire logs. It dawned on me that I could use paper instead of straw for a binder since straw is not Readily available and is expensive in my area. I was experimenting and found that with the proper mix it doesn’t wash away or melt away when standing in water or a heaven rain. I’m sure you would have to experimenting with your clay source. To get the right mix.
@@nataliegist2014 That's is very interesting. I hope you keep experimenting. Maybe you're on to something big.
2 obstacles in America. Zoning and labor. Rarely meets codes for certificate of occupancy. And we're just too damn lazy.
Not sure exactly what codes state per state but had a look at building regulations in the UK and it does seem possible, albeit difficult... But yeah, honestly, so much labour goes into building these houses. If accounting for cost of labour, cost per house would likely be much higher compared with a "normal" new build.
The building industry will NEVER support, endorse or promote using such a logical building materials.
FYI not every “earth ship” uses tires, that’s nineteen seventies technology.
Now we are using other foundation materials.
Regardless of what you build with, the foundation will always be the most expensive and time consuming part. It should be, if your doing it right.
Forget it. Too slow too much work and no machine to do the mixing? Thanks but no thanks. Let's talk about it after industrial civ. collapses to the ground, then it can be a realistic alternative for most folk.
not a bad idea though if u're unemployed and u want to make a living by building homes
I gave it a thumbs down because although you had good intentions you just don't know.
What don't I know?
@@greenfutureyt it's just that we're only scratching the surface of what we're actually capable of using.
Such as bamboo balers are not even made yet we can construct the garden walls (cell wall) of every home to take on multiple rolls like bee hives and hanging gardens.
You made it seem as though it's out of reach for the masses when really I could take a farm tractor and turn it into a full time adobe mill that sends out truckloads of mix every day.
I just solved the housing crunch and nobody understands what I'm trying to say.
@@OzkAltBldgCo-bv8tt depends on what materials are locally available. In the UK bamboo is scarcely available, and not locally sourced.
Building using cob is still far more laborious than using conventional bricks. Whilst you could churn out a lot of cob, you still need people to build with it. By applying a cost to labour it becomes clear why conventional brick houses are the norm
@@greenfutureyt not even whenever you make an adobe dedicated ditch and are cranking out that mix you don't have to make a brick you completely skip that step it's more stable when it dries an entire layer at a time.
There is zero reason why one of the greatest textiles plants known to mankind cannot be grown in the UK there is some available in your area you have to really look for it but there's so much more that can grow there. And I'm not talking about making rungs for a rail or a ladder only there's just so much more that you can do with bamboo besides floors think of never having to buy steaks for your garden think about bent LVL Timbers laminated vernacular Lumber boards of Bamboo with massive contour bends.
@@greenfutureyt Peg joinery has barely even begun
Right now and nobody's building Garden walls made of bamboo and plastering it with Adobe. Nobody right now is putting greenhouses on top of their cabins. Not a whole lot of people have even thought about these below ground greenhouses having stem walls built of rock and Adobe. We're going to burm up the north side of the greenhouse and then plant bamboo on top of the mound for optimal buffer against the weather and elements. Exotic LOCAL fruit will be a thing everywhere even in the UK.