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Cob, also known as cobb, is a building material that comprises subsoil, straw (or another fibrous organic material), water, and occasionally lime. Cob walls are laid in courses, each one being left to completely dry before the next one is laid.
How long does cob house last?
How long does cob last? The oldest cob house currently standing is 10,00 years old. If this doesn’t speak to how strong and durable cob houses are, then nothing will. Cob houses are built to stand forever as long as their roofs are maintained, and they are properly looked after.
What is cob used for building?
Cob, cobb or clom (in Wales) is a natural building material made from subsoil, water, fibrous organic material (typically straw), and sometimes lime. It can be used to create artistic and sculptural forms, and its use has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements.
What is cob wall construction?
Cob walls are made from a mixture of mud, sand and/or clay, to which water and an organic matter like hay, straw or manure is added. Instead of casting the mixture into bricks though, cob walls are built like a freeform clay sculpture, and are simply moulded from the ground up.
What is cob method?
Cob is an earth building technique based on a mixture of clay, sand, straw and water (LILI 2012). The mixture is kneaded with hands, feet or simple tools, subsequently lumps are made, that are then compressed together and shaped by hand forming foundations and walls (LILI 2012; Chiras 2002).
Is a cob house waterproof?
It’s also water-resistant. The area containing the cob oven and seat isn’t protected from the rain. Frenk and Nicole made their cob mixture out of clay, straw and sand.
Can you have electricity in a cob house?
Insulation, Wiring and Plumbing It is indeed possible to have indoor plumbing and electricity in a cob home, but you need to make this decision before you begin building the home. The electrical wiring goes in between your cob walls so it should be decided on beforehand.
Can I build my own cob house?
Cob construction is particularly easy to learn, requires no fancy equipment, uses local materials, and can be done in small batches as time allows — making it extremely accessible to a wide range of people. (See DIY Cob-Building Technique, later in this article.).
How much does a cob house cost?
Cob house cost A decent cob house can be built for anything ranging around $4,000 – $10,000. However the cost can vary depending on the climatic condition, location and the size of the house. The basic cost, however, may lie somewhere around $2000 – $5000.
How strong is a cob house?
Cob house is extremely durable as the base material for its structure is natural re-bar which gives strength to the building. The eco-friendly home is also earthquake resistant as the whole structure acts as one monolithic piece which doesn’t develop cracks when the earth shakes.
Is cob structural?
Preparing to Build With Cob Now in some areas, it refers to any non-traditional structure. If you live in a rural area, you should be able to build this type of home.
Do you need planning permission for a cob house?
Cob houses can be built in any style you want. Garden studios usually don’t need any planning permission, unless you live in a conservation area.
Is cob the same as Adobe?
How is cob different from adobe? The most basic difference is that adobe is formed into rectangular bricks which are dried in the sun before being used, while cob is built wet. Cob therefore lends itself to organic shapes: curved walls, arches and vaults.
What is COB slang?
What does EOD mean? Acronyms used interchangeably with EOD include, end of business (EOB), end of play (EOP), close of play (COP), and close of business (COB).
What is a cob light?
COB, or Chip on Board is a fairly new member of the LED family. Multi LED chips are packed closley together as one lighting module. And when it light up, it appears like more of a lighting panel than multiple individual lights if that makes sense.
What happens if cob gets wet?
There’s all kinds of issues with that but when we look at cob and earth materials what’s special about them is they are vapor permeable so water can get into them, but then it naturally releases from the walls so even if your walls get wet they’re going to have a chance to naturally air out and dry out and there’s no.
Are cob houses damp?
Old stone and cob buildings are particularly prone to this as they do not have effective damp proof courses and often have wet walls due to the application of inappropriate finishes such as cement and masonry paint rather than lime and mineral silica paints.
Can cob houses be built in cold climates?
When you think about cob, you need to kind of think about it not having any insulation value at all. So technically, there’s about an R3 insulation value for a foot thick wall of cob. These are just concrete walls and people are fine in these buildings in cold climates. You just need a heat source inside.
Is cob building sustainable?
Sustainable – the most sustainable form of building there is – cob has almost zero embodied energy. Since its made of earth, it his also entirely recyclable and non-polluting. Affordable – as long as you have land to build on, anyone can afford to build cob walls.
Why are cob houses cheap?
This is because although the materials cost for a cob home can be substantially less than conventional materials, the labor can be more. Some contractors are able to lower their prices in a variety of ways, including by providing some of the labor for free, either through workshops, work trade, or owner contribution.
Is cob building cheap?
Cob building is usually best served by building in the round, and it can be sculpted into all sorts of free-form curves and shapes, giving a lovely, organic shape. While the raw materials are very cheap – if not free – cob building is an incredibly labour intensive way of building and it takes both time and energy.
Is cob building expensive?
Cob building is a very economical building material both financially and environmentally. This is because all of the materials used to build the home can be found locally, instead of having raw materials manufactured and transported to the building site. A three bedroom home could cost as little as £20,000 if you DIY.
