What Is a Cob house? The World's Oldest Building Material
What is a cob house? The world's oldest building material is still popular. If you've never heard of a cob house, you lot will at present.
Cob is a sustainable mix of stray, sand, and clay. Similar adobe and other home building materials, its history dates back for thousands of years.
What Is Cob?
View in gallery Cob, or clom, is ane of the oldest edifice materials. It's fire-proof and tin can withstand mild earthquake tremors.
The material is cheap but working with it requires try. Remember of it as nature'southward concrete. Cob is eco-friendly and bio-degradable
History Of Cob
View in gallery The term cob wasn't used until the 1600s. But the material has been used since prehistoric times. The word cob is translated into "beat or strike."
In Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, "tabya" means cob-piece of work. The homes are popular in climates from New Zealand to Africa. Cob walls are two-feet thick.
With the invention of brick and other edifice materials, the popularity of cob faded. Simply in off-the-grid homes and tertiary world countries, cob homes are congenital due to the available materials.
The Deviation Between Cob And Adobe
View in gallery Many people confuse adobe and cob. Adobe and cob are different materials, merely both are made with clay. Merely adobe is made into bricks and stacked together.
Cob is a costless-paw material, with each house sculpted. Both adobe and cob have heart eastern backgrounds.
View in gallery Cob Pros And Cons
Every building fabric has pros and cons. Cob is no unlike.
Pros of cob:
- Artistic Expression – Most people who build with cob practice so because they tin can truly limited themselves artistically. Non only can yous design your own house from a drawing, merely y'all tin create intricate patterns easily.
- Inexpensive – Cob may exist the cheapest building materials bachelor. You can't purchase it, but you can brand it with materials found in your yard. Most farms will supply yous with the materials you lot need for petty to no cost.
- Free energy-Efficient – Heating and cooling a cob abode is easy. It insulated well, keeping both the cold and hot out. There'due south a reason that it'southward still used in desert climates and frigid climates both.
- Water-Resistant – Cob is fabricated with h2o, and after the cob hardens, it becomes h2o-resistant. Even during floods, cob homes can come up out on top.
- Fireproof – Cob is fireproof. If you lot make your dwelling house with less straw and fibers then it truly is fireproof. This isn't something that is truthful for most homes, especially those made of wood.
- Convulsion-Resistant – Cob is one of the few materials that are earthquake-resistant. No fissure tin disrupt information technology. The ground may break, merely the dwelling house won't be affected.
- Termite Proof – Because the house is made of hardened clay, termites tin can't, and won't chew through it. The insects are drawn to woods and softer materials.
- Sound-Resistant – Although sound can get through cob, information technology won't exist loud. Cob is a great sound-insulator. To find out more virtually sound insulation, check out this article on soundproofing.
View in gallery Cons:
- Takes A While To Build – A cob home isn't probable to be built in a twenty-four hours. It has to be made, constructed and has to dry. It likewise needs to be put on in layers and then it doesn't fall or drip as information technology dries. So be in it for the long booty.
- Hard To Work With – At first, it may feel similar playing with clay or Play-doh, but cob isn't easy to master. You may need to rent a professional to aid architecturally, and even with the mixture'southward ratio.
- Non Platonic For Cities – Finding the codes for building with cob isn't easy. You'll probably have to contact a realtor, contractor, or someone on the city council to find out what y'all demand to know earlier building.
- Materials Not Always Available – If you do live in the urban center or a climate without much subsoil, then it may be difficult to build with cob. You need a lot of harbinger and a lot of subsoil. Getting some without disturbing the area may not be easy.
- May Need To Educate Yourself – Well-nigh contractors know how to build with rock, woods, or brick. Simply building with cob isn't known by many. You will probably have to be the overseer on your project.
How Much Does Cob Toll?
View in gallery If you accept the materials on your property, then cob can be costless. All you lot need is good subsoil, water, and straw, or other cobweb. For windows and doors, you can employ recycled glass or forest. Some people even build thatch roofs.
Since not all areas take subsoil, harbinger, and lime. Here are the materials you lot may need to make cob and how much they cost to buy and deliver.
- Subsoil
The subsoil costs between $2 and $vi per bag, A one-1000 square volition be $x to $30. The expensive role of the soil is the delivery. You will pay around $150 to $600 per truckload for ten to 15-yards. This means up to $50 a one thousand.
- Straw
A large bale of harbinger costs between $50-100. This type of bale is around 4-ft long by ii-ft broad. You won't need more than a few weeks, and so the price won't exist much.
- H2o
Water is inexpensive. If yous take it delivered, it won't cost much. Worse instance scenario, you pay a couple hundred for a commitment fee.
- Lime
Yous can buy granulated lime for $25 a ton, which is more than y'all demand for whatever house.
- Labor
This is the most expensive part of building a cob house.
Can I Build My Own Cob House?
View in gallery The brusque answer is yes. Anyone tin can build cob. You lot can find the materials yourself, or at a friend's property.
Contact The City/Country
Cob is an off-the-grid home. Earlier planning your new cob project, contact a local official to brand sure that you know the codes.
Create Plans
Draw upwardly your plans, taking fourth dimension to consider the practical side. It's a good thought to accept an expert look over them. But if you lot can't detect one, any architect tin point out any red flags that you lot may not notice.
Observe A Spot
Finding a spot is difficult. Although cob is forgiving, the land needs to be apartment. If there are a few hills, building a frame may be meliorate.
Lay Your Foundation
Many people prefer to lay a not-cob flooring under the cob top layer. However, this isn't necessary. You tin create a cob foundation using boards to frame information technology. Remove the boards after the cob dries. The cob should dry out before moving to the adjacent step.
Creating The Cob
The exact mixture ratio depends on your climate. You want the cob to be thick, textured clay. You will probably desire to stomp the cob. The h2o and soil get in first. You can mix that upward well. Then, after you experience you accept the texture you want, you can add together straw and mix it in gently.
Forming Walls
Using one scoop at a fourth dimension, apply the cob to the foundation where you want walls. Yous'll need openings for doors and windows.
As you add multiple layers, drill holes in them. You lot might finish a human foot or 2 per day.
Windows And Doors
You tin add the wood frame to the drying cob and install them as usual. Or, you tin can utilize recycled materials, like glass bottles, to create unique windows and doors.
The Possibilities
View in gallery The all-time part most cob is there are no rules. You can build shelves, closets, and stairs into your cob home. You can make holes for fireplaces or leave 1, large, open room. This is your risk at an eco-friendly artistic expression.
Cob House Ofttimes Asked Questions
Is Mold A Trouble In Cob Homes?
Mold is not a problem with cob homes. This was a popular misconception. Cob homes employ earthen materials. What this means is cob homes are vapor permeable, so water tin not get inside their walls. Without water and wood, mold cannot survive.
What Are Some Typical Problems With Cob Homes?
Typical problems with cob homes include industrial cracks and roof construction bug. Cob homes do non have trusses. The walls will be pushed out by roof timbers. If the stone foundation shifts, the home will scissure.
Tin You Build A Tiny Cob House?
A tiny cob house is as a Hobbit house. The tiny home way is popular among homeowners who live next to forests. A tiny cob house has 300 feet of floor space. The homes don't have electricity or forest stoves. Co homes use nearby streams for a water supply.
Cob House Conclusion
A cob firm is the ultimate eco-friendly habitation. Due to greater involvement in climate alter and eco-building, in that location's a good chance cob homes could become popular in N America.
As a sustainable building technique, the cob firm might the best option. Those looking for a DIY domicile edifice project would enjoy creating and designing an original cob home.
Source: https://www.homedit.com/what-is-cob/
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