they didn't just enjoy helping, they couldn't get enough! Especially middle grade school kids - the little red head girl in the video was obsessed! She'll be an environmental leader someday... If I die and at least have given some of those kids something new to plant seeds in their life, it'll be enough
This is another reason why I miss Wisconsin because look how much the community sticks together. Great video. ..it definitely makes me want to build a cob home for myself!
great video folks, i admire the passion and the humility and sense of community that these folks have, very informative, This made me smile, Wishing you the bluest of skies and hoping only better things come tomorrow
I've looked at hours of UA-cam video researching different natural builds and this one is the best! The comments were also very helpful. I'm ready; think positive thoughts!
Congratulations from downsouth Mexico, We´re been attending to some Building with earth natural constructions courses , and what you doing in Wisconsin is fabulous, teaching people another option , cheap and ecological, congratulations again...
i lived a few blocks away from Willy St Coop original location when i went to UWMad and ofcourse was a member. I ate there almost daily for years and have only been to the new location a few times. I didnt know they had this, i would like to see this a few years on to see how it looks. Truthfully, this was the best community i ever lived in.
the boots and hat line is one that we used frequently in discussions with people during the building... in reality this wall is more difficult to build than a house structure as I'd have bigger overhangs (wrap around porch type) and the walls all tie TOGETHER the whole structure is extra stabilized as one whole
this is Marlin (from the video): agreed there are great ways to test your materials,,, tried a bunch of them. What I like best is to build test bricks/arches like a toy house with different marked mixtures so I know how much sand/clay/straw mix is the strongest,, then choose the strongest mix! Clay from road cuts and NON beach sand worked the best for us
best demonstration of cob building I have seen in terms of showing the handling. Wish they had given us a final view of the entire wall though. Feel a tiny bit robbed.
sand, clay, cow manure and hay can be readily found mixed in any cow pen. if you pen your cows up in the winter, each spring you can harvest the some cob to make an addition to a wall. eventually you will have a house for free. remember, good hat and good boots and the house will stand forever. a good water resistant foundation and a good roof that has antiquate eaves and your structure will out last you.
My husband teaches middle school CTE (careers and technology edu) and he teaches robotics, electronics, etc. but I feel this would be an awesome classroom experience that he could include all the kids (6th-8th grades)-a cob wall
I assume so that the exterior coating/mortar would grab into the holes and stay on. We build cordwood. Labor and time are the only downers about building natural, eco homes. But, it's also a fantastic way to meet people, have fun gatherings and make like minded friends.
Hello Sweet Diversions!! great questions! there are several different tests you can do yo see if "the soil beneath my feet" is a good material to build with!! first and foremost os the jar test!! get a mason jar, or any type of container you can see through, fill it with the materials you want to test about half way, then fill the rest fo the jar/container with water, shake it up until it all mixes well, then let it set over night, the materials will separate telling you what you have as well,
SOME places have more code improvements. I highly recommend the Coblist listserv where some of the people have done extensive work on codes and the like. You will find them and can sign up for their Digest (or you'll be overwhelmed!) and get lots of good info
eleanor , if you do a search for Cob/earthen building you'll probably find some workshops. I know there are Cob builder/wkshop folks in Vermont that travel a bit
hi im just wondering if you could be more spacific in what you use for the plastering and painting , and how to apply a roof, i just want to make a play house for my kids andd this cob seems perfect :D hope to hear from you , thanks
I am in west Ga and I was wondering the same thing. What I discovered thru research is there really aren't any building codes for these and sometimes you don't even need permits. Check around tho but these are pretty easy to get around permits and codes.
A must see video of how building a home was once done and still should be done. It is an interaction not only with family and friends, but also with our environment. We would have fewer social and health issues if we continued this practice. Just ask The Creator. He will tell you.
building codes are an obstacle when it comes to housing, but probably not something like a wall. here in portland oregon our residential building codes support the practice of straw bale building but we are still struggling to get them to accept cob as a reliable building material there is an engineer named bruce king you could look up. many people are working hard to make natural building more easily accessible in the building world.
the reference to Rome was not about earth building but about "Roman concrete" which as mentioned the Egyptians had done before them. No attempt to besmirch all the mud/straw houses of Africa. In fact, there's several mentions to people all around the world building with the material. It happens that the EXACT style (Cob) from the wkshops were guided by British techniques
Great work, indeed natural building ought to be on a pedestal, more research needs to be done. It would also be great to exploit the potential in developing countries where a definite trend and limiting codes have not been set.
I live in the Lockyer Valley of Queensland, Australia. I was wondering if the dark grey clay in the Black-Soil that abounds here would be useful in much the same way? No fancy colors around this little chunk 'o dirt!
we disbanded as individuals and are in different parts of the country. Eric Nelson (plaster guy), Tona Williams (video lady) and some of the other people besides Randy and Marlin are still in Madison. I (Marlin) will be starting up a version of OuttaTheBox soon and will try to post back to this UA-cam.
Hi Bob, good comments - when all the "survivalists" who think that being a seperatist realize that the only strength we have is by COMING TOGETHER, we will truly have a people's revolution - one of cooperation, not competition - we all (MINUS the criminal elite who convince people otherwise) will benefit. Unfort. the elite also benefit through telling scared people lies about what makes them 'free'
How do regular people build this way? Are there mechanical ways to do the mixing etc. Most of us won't have a team of 20 available to build with us, well at least I probably won't lol. Janice
jksatte roto tiller for mixing, bobcat or JCB for the walls. youtube grand designs cob castle. it's a bit extreme but he uses machines. just remember those things come in smaller sizes.
I got some property I want to do a cob build on I plan on doing a workshop ..But now I find that I may have permit issues doing this .But I still am taking the workshop.
So many videos on this subject make it sound like you can get sand, clay and hay just about anywhere. I've looked at many properties in the northwest and I don't see any hay. And to me clay & sand and dirt all look the same. So, how do I get the hay cheap enough to build a large home or barn, & how do I know if I have the right quality sand & clay beneath my feet? And if I don't have what I need on my property doesn't this turn out to be exspensive because I have to buy the hay, clay, & sand?
great question.... the point of Cob is certainly not "efficency" in the modern sense of the word. There ARE techniques of making clay/sand/straw that use cement mixers etc. to speed up the process. The quality isn't quite as good but will be more 'efficient' than a community of humans stomping in the mud! IF any of you subscribe to the Coblist listserv you will find more information than you can possibly ask for, about details
natural building is extremely reliable and lasts hundreds of years. information about cob houses in whales. it is very rainy there and the houses are over 500 years old.
Everything we shot is on my channel here, so no follow-up of the completely finished homes (but the cob wall, yes). It was just a short, independent project.
agreed - I wasn't involved in that part of the video, but I wouldn't recommend some of the difficult decisions made on the strawbale house in that part
I think you just explained why it will pay for itself. These houses use less energy than conventionally built ones. If they don't pay for themselves quickly at current prices, they will as energy costs climb, by being increasingly cheaper to live in. Even people who get them contractor built will find that they save over the long run. Those who can get volunteer labour to help - from people who want the experience - will be well ahead.People will evolve ways of working together to cut costs.
not sure what that is? Cob buildings, once dry, should be excellent air quality buildings. The good roof, good foundation and lime plaster keeps water out and the humidity fluctuations are taken up in the walls, so unlike hollow wall kindof new bldgs I can't see a mold problem. Long inhabitations in the old bldgs of England anyway - more natural materials, no offgassing
Re: Governments, Corporations and People. I did not believe that I had a "strawman" when I first heard of the concept. Someone told me it was a "receipt" from the government for the goods my parents produced. Then took a look at my birth certificate. I think it "is" a receipt (See the video I made on my channel under "my crazy videos") and I am disturbed by this. My goal is to GET OFF THE GRID and live a simple life. I want to build with Cob & Earthbags, maybe a cute little earthship. We'll see
If you subscribe to the Coblist (in addition to doing internet searches for wkshops) from Deatech that runs the list, you'll be able to ask for wkshop/volunteer ideas and an have a wealth of support. They inspired us and we learned a lot from them and Cob Cottage (Oregon) - our mentors
you can see my earlier Reply to someone who replied to you: Sometimes buying 'clay' is your best bet if you don't have it in your soils. Always best to build test mixes with different proportions of your materials and pick the best! Road construction often digs deep enough to hit clay pockets and will deliver onsite (pretty cheap hauling fee) as well as sand - STRAW, not hay
as the quantity of materials. rain.org/global-garden/soil-types-and-testing. htm has a good chart to show the types of soils you have. Straw, you never want to use hay, hay is a flat bladed grass and has zero tensile strength, it will not allow air or moisture to pass in and out of the wall like straw does, this is required to keep the walls breathable. Now if you have to buy clay and sand, as it does happen, look for places giving sand and fill dirt away, craigslist and such are good sources,
None of these videos on straw bale or cob are in the deep south. Wonder if that is because down here we have hurricanes that would melt a cob house in hours and the insects here would love the straw and mud. The fire ants would move into one of these in minutes and in a few weeks you'd have a huge nest of fire ants eating you literally out of a house.
In the south, you would just use cob. You don't need straw bales in the south. In the north, straw bales are used for their insulating factor. Since cob is like a natural concrete, you shouldn't have to worry about critters unless you get cracks, which you just patch.
If done right, cob is too dry and hard (it's unfired brick) for ants to bother. Some people do make the mistake of using topsoil; need subsoil for cob. Cob is being built all over the American Southeast, it's great for hot weather. You don't hear about it because it's too "hippie" for locals to tolerate. A cob house has got to have good drainage and a good roof, cannot survive on a flood plan. Other than that, it's great, the best.
"The only way you're going to change people is if you have more fun than they do." Love it.
they didn't just enjoy helping, they couldn't get enough! Especially middle grade school kids - the little red head girl in the video was obsessed! She'll be an environmental leader someday... If I die and at least have given some of those kids something new to plant seeds in their life, it'll be enough
This is another reason why I miss Wisconsin because look how much the community sticks together. Great video. ..it definitely makes me want to build a cob home for myself!
It is awesome seeing people working together with local code in order to try to get the acceptance of new old ideas.
great video folks, i admire the passion and the humility and sense of community that these folks have, very informative, This made me smile,
Wishing you the bluest of skies and hoping only better things come tomorrow
I love how excited the kids are. Good work getting them involved, bro.
I've looked at hours of UA-cam video researching different natural builds and this one is the best! The comments were also very helpful. I'm ready; think positive thoughts!
I love,love,love the idea of building a home with your own 2 hands. I will have one!!
That is so cool, even the kids enjoy helping.
This is fabulous. I looked at pictures of cob structures and they took my breath away. So homey and yet so beautiful :)
Oh cool! Like the homes they used to make in Africa! I always knew those were smart. Super environmentally friendly!
Yup, same thing. Different name.
I love that place and the COOP in Mad town. Lovely video.
Congratulations from downsouth Mexico, We´re been attending to some Building with earth natural constructions courses , and what you doing in Wisconsin is fabulous, teaching people another option , cheap and ecological, congratulations again...
Thanx to all involved for this video!
Cool. I just drove by Willy Street Coop yesterday and did not notice the new wall. I will have to stop and see it.
i lived a few blocks away from Willy St Coop original location when i went to UWMad and ofcourse was a member. I ate there almost daily for years and have only been to the new location a few times. I didnt know they had this, i would like to see this a few years on to see how it looks. Truthfully, this was the best community i ever lived in.
I love how you have the Children involved ❤👍
Relevant 10+ years later. I'll have to go look for this wall! I'd love to tap into this community if it still exists
the boots and hat line is one that we used frequently in discussions with people during the building... in reality this wall is more difficult to build than a house structure as I'd have bigger overhangs (wrap around porch type) and the walls all tie TOGETHER the whole structure is extra stabilized as one whole
@ 13:00 some notes on keeping to code in cob building for architect and commercial projects in hybrid building.
this is Marlin (from the video): agreed there are great ways to test your materials,,, tried a bunch of them. What I like best is to build test bricks/arches like a toy house with different marked mixtures so I know how much sand/clay/straw mix is the strongest,, then choose the strongest mix! Clay from road cuts and NON beach sand worked the best for us
you guys are inspiring!!! thanks so much from Australia!
best demonstration of cob building I have seen in terms of showing the handling. Wish they had given us a final view of the entire wall though. Feel a tiny bit robbed.
sand, clay, cow manure and hay can be readily found mixed in any cow pen. if you pen your cows up in the winter, each spring you can harvest the some cob to make an addition to a wall. eventually you will have a house for free. remember, good hat and good boots and the house will stand forever. a good water resistant foundation and a good roof that has antiquate eaves and your structure will out last you.
My husband teaches middle school CTE (careers and technology edu) and he teaches robotics, electronics, etc. but I feel this would be an awesome classroom experience that he could include all the kids (6th-8th grades)-a cob wall
I assume so that the exterior coating/mortar would grab into the holes and stay on.
We build cordwood. Labor and time are the only downers about building natural, eco homes. But, it's also a fantastic way to meet people, have fun gatherings and make like minded friends.
maravilloso ingenio y arquitectura ancestral muy funcional y estetica...lo pequeño es grande!!!
Hello Sweet Diversions!! great questions! there are several different tests you can do yo see if "the soil beneath my feet" is a good material to build with!! first and foremost os the jar test!! get a mason jar, or any type of container you can see through, fill it with the materials you want to test about half way, then fill the rest fo the jar/container with water, shake it up until it all mixes well, then let it set over night, the materials will separate telling you what you have as well,
simply beautiful
it's in the back along Jennifer St. where the rain garden is....
SOME places have more code improvements. I highly recommend the Coblist listserv where some of the people have done extensive work on codes and the like. You will find them and can sign up for their Digest (or you'll be overwhelmed!) and get lots of good info
eleanor , if you do a search for Cob/earthen building you'll probably find some workshops. I know there are Cob builder/wkshop folks in Vermont that travel a bit
hi im just wondering if you could be more spacific in what you use for the plastering and painting , and how to apply a roof, i just want to make a play house for my kids andd this cob seems perfect :D hope to hear from you , thanks
I am in west Ga and I was wondering the same thing. What I discovered thru research is there really aren't any building codes for these and sometimes you don't even need permits. Check around tho but these are pretty easy to get around permits and codes.
A must see video of how building a home was once done and still should be done. It is an interaction not only with family and friends, but also with our environment. We would have fewer social and health issues if we continued this practice. Just ask The Creator. He will tell you.
This was done over 6 years ago. Have codes changed much since then?
I would love a house of Cob and hemp !
building codes are an obstacle when it comes to housing, but probably not something like a wall. here in portland oregon our residential building codes support the practice of straw bale building but we are still struggling to get them to accept cob as a reliable building material there is an engineer named bruce king you could look up. many people are working hard to make natural building more easily accessible in the building world.
the reference to Rome was not about earth building but about "Roman concrete" which as mentioned the Egyptians had done before them. No attempt to besmirch all the mud/straw houses of Africa. In fact, there's several mentions to people all around the world building with the material. It happens that the EXACT style (Cob) from the wkshops were guided by British techniques
So cool. I learned so much from this.
Great work, indeed natural building ought to be on a pedestal, more research needs to be done. It would also be great to exploit the potential in developing countries where a definite trend and limiting codes have not been set.
Loving it!
You are a genius!!
Where do you get the plastic webbing for the strawbale construction?
I live in the Lockyer Valley of Queensland, Australia. I was wondering if the dark grey clay in the Black-Soil that abounds here would be useful in much the same way? No fancy colors around this little chunk 'o dirt!
I'm sorry I don't have those answers, but it seems that it might
we disbanded as individuals and are in different parts of the country. Eric Nelson (plaster guy), Tona Williams (video lady) and some of the other people besides Randy and Marlin are still in Madison. I (Marlin) will be starting up a version of OuttaTheBox soon and will try to post back to this UA-cam.
Hi Bob, good comments - when all the "survivalists" who think that being a seperatist realize that the only strength we have is by COMING TOGETHER, we will truly have a people's revolution - one of cooperation, not competition - we all (MINUS the criminal elite who convince people otherwise) will benefit. Unfort. the elite also benefit through telling scared people lies about what makes them 'free'
The baby stamping the mud.....LOL!!!
I was at the Willie st. Co op in April 2019 and saw no sign of this cob wall. Does anyone know what happened to it? Or is it out of site of the front?
In Wisconsin?! How does Cob hold up in the freezing long winters? I would love to try this.
Cob is ideal for extreme heat and extreme cold, both. It's great insulation, wonderful thermal mass.
@@kittimcconnell2633 cob has a terrible R value, I have no idea where you got your information from
@@SarionFetecuse as I undertand it, thermal mass is not insulation. Two different, interesting properties to consider.
i would like to know more about the sealing/coloring
these dudes are cool.....i consider trying this!
Did I miss them giving the reason for all the holes in the cob material
How do regular people build this way? Are there mechanical ways to do the mixing etc. Most of us won't have a team of 20 available to build with us, well at least I probably won't lol. Janice
jksatte roto tiller for mixing, bobcat or JCB for the walls. youtube grand designs cob castle. it's a bit extreme but he uses machines. just remember those things come in smaller sizes.
I want to build a cob couch in my Strawbale home. The foundation is concrete how do you attached the cob too it so it doesn’t move.
Well, this is great but how I can participate on this?
I just want to join a cob building workshop but I can't find any near Chicago.
Awesome
Love the video but my ? is what about the building codes? I live in North Ga want to buy some land and try this myself wil the county let you do this?
I am looking to get together with some people in Wisconsin who do this. I would love to volunteer!
I got some property I want to do a cob build on I plan on doing a workshop ..But now I find that I may have permit issues doing this .But I still am taking the workshop.
Is there are risk of contracting chagas diseases if you live in a house made from mud? It's beautiful strong, but I'm just asking.
Silly question i know but what happends when it rains? i can picturs a big pile of mud :( and all those hours gone :(
are those structures strong enough over rain and wind?
Are cob homes taxable as regular homes; or as mobile?
Where do you get hyperadobe bag?
How do I get help in Rhinelander to build a strawbale cob house?
So many videos on this subject make it sound like you can get sand, clay and hay just about anywhere. I've looked at many properties in the northwest and I don't see any hay. And to me clay & sand and dirt all look the same. So, how do I get the hay cheap enough to build a large home or barn, & how do I know if I have the right quality sand & clay beneath my feet? And if I don't have what I need on my property doesn't this turn out to be exspensive because I have to buy the hay, clay, & sand?
I can't believe they didn't show a full shot of what they built at the end. Who the fuck wants to see endless close ups of a wall.
they showed it several times! where were you?
great question.... the point of Cob is certainly not "efficency" in the modern sense of the word. There ARE techniques of making clay/sand/straw that use cement mixers etc. to speed up the process. The quality isn't quite as good but will be more 'efficient' than a community of humans stomping in the mud! IF any of you subscribe to the Coblist listserv you will find more information than you can possibly ask for, about details
is there a place where i could volunteer for building project in souther california or west coast??
natural building is extremely reliable and lasts hundreds of years. information about cob houses in whales. it is very rainy there and the houses are over 500 years old.
you can see these constructions in villages of india. after you make the wall you can show your artistic skills paint something on it.
Is there a finished video of the two projects?
Everything we shot is on my channel here, so no follow-up of the completely finished homes (but the cob wall, yes). It was just a short, independent project.
do you know the local building regulations on cob building in dane county?
So disappointed that they never show a wide shot of the finished wall. 😫
agreed - I wasn't involved in that part of the video, but I wouldn't recommend some of the difficult decisions made on the strawbale house in that part
I think you just explained why it will pay for itself. These houses use less energy than conventionally built ones. If they don't pay for themselves quickly at current prices, they will as energy costs climb, by being increasingly cheaper to live in. Even people who get them contractor built will find that they save over the long run. Those who can get volunteer labour to help - from people who want the experience - will be well ahead.People will evolve ways of working together to cut costs.
awasome
How many man hours per cubic yard installed?
have a barefoot party on the clay but dont tell them they are working!
Also check into "Dry Stacked Concert Blocks". Best regards
do these guys have a web site?
little girl: "So would it be good for it to catch on fire?" instructor: "uh.. it could be!"
I'll take one
not sure what that is? Cob buildings, once dry, should be excellent air quality buildings. The good roof, good foundation and lime plaster keeps water out and the humidity fluctuations are taken up in the walls, so unlike hollow wall kindof new bldgs I can't see a mold problem. Long inhabitations in the old bldgs of England anyway - more natural materials, no offgassing
Re: Governments, Corporations and People. I did not believe that I had a "strawman" when I first heard of the concept. Someone told me it was a "receipt" from the government for the goods my parents produced. Then took a look at my birth certificate. I think it "is" a receipt (See the video I made on my channel under "my crazy videos") and I am disturbed by this. My goal is to GET OFF THE GRID and live a simple life. I want to build with Cob & Earthbags, maybe a cute little earthship. We'll see
how do I prevent fire ants from living in cob walls?
Building with 'modern' materials should be criminal for ALL sorts of reasons... This shit is great!
when asked "what are you doing?" our (OuttatheBox folks like me) answer was "building community!"
If you subscribe to the Coblist (in addition to doing internet searches for wkshops) from Deatech that runs the list, you'll be able to ask for wkshop/volunteer ideas and an have a wealth of support. They inspired us and we learned a lot from them and Cob Cottage (Oregon) - our mentors
you can see my earlier Reply to someone who replied to you: Sometimes buying 'clay' is your best bet if you don't have it in your soils. Always best to build test mixes with different proportions of your materials and pick the best! Road construction often digs deep enough to hit clay pockets and will deliver onsite (pretty cheap hauling fee) as well as sand - STRAW, not hay
as the quantity of materials. rain.org/global-garden/soil-types-and-testing. htm has a good chart to show the types of soils you have. Straw, you never want to use hay, hay is a flat bladed grass and has zero tensile strength, it will not allow air or moisture to pass in and out of the wall like straw does, this is required to keep the walls breathable. Now if you have to buy clay and sand, as it does happen, look for places giving sand and fill dirt away, craigslist and such are good sources,
You need a Heavy Metal Band, then put your raw materials in the mosh-cob-pit, you will have LOTS of COB! haha
Dat ranger shirt tho
you guys are desperately needed in philadelphia....please consider.
How about building codes? Would local authorities object? Buildings departments are notoriously problematic.
None of these videos on straw bale or cob are in the deep south. Wonder if that is because down here we have hurricanes that would melt a cob house in hours and the insects here would love the straw and mud. The fire ants would move into one of these in minutes and in a few weeks you'd have a huge nest of fire ants eating you literally out of a house.
In the south, you would just use cob. You don't need straw bales in the south. In the north, straw bales are used for their insulating factor. Since cob is like a natural concrete, you shouldn't have to worry about critters unless you get cracks, which you just patch.
If done right, cob is too dry and hard (it's unfired brick) for ants to bother. Some people do make the mistake of using topsoil; need subsoil for cob.
Cob is being built all over the American Southeast, it's great for hot weather. You don't hear about it because it's too "hippie" for locals to tolerate.
A cob house has got to have good drainage and a good roof, cannot survive on a flood plan. Other than that, it's great, the best.
I guess I can imply this to how I'm building it.
Save a lot of trees
Hey here in brazil we have a brick made of earth no need to cook it, its called "tijolo ecologico" check it out in google images :D