The site must be having problems, I guess the system hates it's popularity of all those like minded free thinkers out there that are an obvious threat to slavery.
That's true, cob houses are very strong. In my home country, Afghanistan, houses are mainly built from dirt. Even the flat roofs are made of clay and joist from tree trunks for support. It's bullet proof. Even if you hit it with mortar rounds, you can't completely demolish. In winter, when it snows, you go up the roof with your wooden snow shovel and clean the snow. We used to replace the top layer every time we noticed a leak in the ceiling. Top layer has more straw to make it more erosion resistant. So one layer could last a year or two depending on the amount of rain in a year.
Hey! Thank you for letting us know about the rain and how much it can handle it. I readneveruwhere about cob but nobody took the risk to do the roof too, just ovens, they said ovens were handling the rain good. So thank you for letting us know and also that we can just change the top layer and do again.
I am from Bangladesh, there is an area in Bangladesh called Bogra. In the countryside, there are mud houses that go up to three stories at times and they last for decades upon decades through the typhoons, flood and earthquakes. I am not from Bogra but where I am from there are mud houses too. They stay very cool during the summer. Same with mud mosques even though we have people crowding into them. The mud mosques in Mali are centuries old. Some are now about a 1,000 to 1,300 years old.
Here in Cornwall UK we have a lot of cob built cottages, some of the walls are 3ft deep, back in the early days they used cow dung and straw, but they are still standing to this day.
Thank you for this valuable video. In the Netherlands, it's known to people with physical joint issues, and asthma, breathing issues, that living in an environment of cob, often helps to recover to good health again. There are homes, which are now changed inside, covered with cob, so that the resident can enjoy better health. I've worked with cob in Spain, in a small remote village, where a family man created a cob house on his vineyard, and worked with volunteers, in 2014. He used a small machine, like a plough, to break open the clay around the building plot, and we mixed the clay with straw and other ingredients, some sort of sand and fine chaff-like material as well. The three of us, two down at the heap of mixed clay, throwing clay balls up, worked on the walls, shaping a variety of rooms. The roof wasn't present, of course, that's always last, when building with cob, at least when you start from scratch. It was wonderful and fun, mixing the material, and to work with it to build up the walls. When dry, it was hard and sharp like glass. The climate was excellent, combined with the building material right there to be used, in that place. I've also helped cover walls of strawbale homes with clay, in Britain's communes living off-grid, and later, in the Netherlands, where gradually possibilities to build your own home just to your liking are developing. Empty stretches of land, or where glasshouses are removed due to old age, are chosen to be offered to self-builders who buy the plot, and are free to design and build their home. Of course, safety regulations and whatever is lawfully obliged, are meant to be obeyed. My experiences during visits to cob houses and strawbale homes are well remembered. The atmosphere and acoustics are fabulous. Feels so good!
you need to go to Hungary there you can see a lot of cob houses. I've just been there and i was amazed - I suggest to visit the open-air museum of szentendre
As G Zeus already said, such old houses in Hungary are more mud than cob. Also, such houses need to be lived in. So many such rural houses you see in Hungary have creeping damp up the walls (look at the flaking plaster inside and outside near the foundation) because theses houses need to be lived in to move the moisture from the soil that creeps up the walls (they were not built with a water barrier in the walls). That is the moisture in the walls needs to be pulled out by having a warm space then vented to the outside. Such houses should not be air tight. They stay warm based on wall mass, not insulation. And one must vent the humidity. I live in a stone house in Hungary, which has similar problems as the material between the stones is just dirt, and the walls had considerable damage to the interior and exterior plaster because it was not lived in. It took two (2) years to dry out the walls before replastering. But living and heating the house all winter since then keeps the walls dry without problems.
When I have enough saved for land I plan to explore low footprint housing options. Cob is both charming and practical. I am excited to build my first cob shelter. Amazing work!
Bridget S Where are you looking for land at? I Know where some prime land especially if you want off grid, but grid is available but not a requirement by law like some states are trying to enforce in the U.S. of course! It is going in parcels of around 35 acres give or take a few at less than 1000.00 USD an acre! Let me know if interested and I will tell you where! Also search here on yt "building with bottles" and check out the various builds. You can recycle a great number for one person in plastic bottles to keep them out of landfills but even more so out of our water ways especially the ocean! Basically you fill plastic bottles with sand or dirt and pack it in, then layer them just like one would brick! This Also Solves the problem of your foundation needing to be rock or broken up concrete or using cinder blocks because you simply use the bottles and use a much smaller amount of motor and concrete up as high as you need to make your boots for your old gal or old man of a house!! 😁 lol! And you can use the print forms to make the concrete look like rocks or do so with different types of tools or even your hands to make it appear as though it is rocks and then stain the different "rocks" to give it even more character and vwahlah your boots look like rocks and you save money and recycled bottles and saved a few sea animals and some fishies in all the water ways plus a few birds and small critters running around land fills getting caught in the singles bottles plastic loops used to keep bottles of pop, gatorade and all different kinds of drinks together in 6 packs, or 12packs and the like!!! And from there up you would use cob! And you can still shape in most any shape you want!! After you get your bottle to desired height you cover the bottle necks...most lay their necks all in the same direction! I think it is better to flip flop every other one the opostie direction and then one has bottle necks on both sides of the wall for two reasons. One it allows either fish net or chicken wire to be slid over the necks and act as an extra strength and an extra form to add an force the cob thru and around (like using chicken wire for stucco or concrete jobs where they use wire to create a form then cover it with concrete and smooth and shape it the wire gives something for the concrete to become attatched to and not sluff off or just be some shapeless nothing you can do nothing with) and allows it to be done on both sides fully instead of one side getting real thick cob and the other side not as much which isn't an issue but the addition can be an added bonus!!! And #2 It makes the walls thicker so more passive solar heating for winter time if needed. More sound proofing, it's heavier which means it will be harder for tornados, hurricanes and or tsunami to have a demolishing effect under normal circumstances the walls will still be standing unless you build a dome which would mean the structure should remin intact unless it is GOD's end times otherwise under regular roofing styles the roof might maybe come off depending on how you do that! If you do a living roof less chances of anything happening! The houses are fireproof, tornado resistant almost proof and earthquake resistant up to a 7 if memory serves me right an then it just starts minor damage maybe a wall showing a crack but the buildings still stand like the wall may have seperated for a moment and then realigned and fell back into place! Definitely fire proof! Depending on roof, do windows have wooden frames and if starts inside it will consume anything burnable and bake your home like a pottery kiln simply making it stronger in many ways!!!lol same if a fire outside, anything cob is just going to bake, one would only need to replace roof IF it was burnable, and any furniture and appliances if fire started inside, but you would still have your beautiful home, it will just need the soot removed unless you like it...lol!! Sorry I have gotten carried away and said so much but I am very very much in love with cob homes, fencing/walls, ovens, mass heaters, outdoor kitchens, sitting areas, with mass heaters heating the seating if its cold, all kinds of things, furniture, baths, showers and huge tubs for soaking in with many or one, and so much more! Basically if you can think it and/or dream you can build it!!! Age, size, abilities, disabilities, gender, money or lack of...none Of It Matters You Can Build It!!! Well you might need a peice of land! But where there is a will there is definitely a way for the LORD and your willingness to help yourself will make sure it happens! Have faith in the LORD ALMIGHTY and have faith in yourself and your faith!! If your faith is strong then so too will be the LORD's ability to help, because he can only help if you have faith in him and allow him to do so!! If you are prideful and think you do everything by yourself you are wrong!!! The LORD provides everything for us! The more we help ourselves the more he helps you and the better your faith in him the more he can work through you and make you powerful enough to move mountains, only its not your power its his! You had faith in him and let him take the lead basically possess your body and then he help you acheive the things that take him to help you, whether it is moving the car off of your Daddy or moving a mountain or getting up and giving that speech about GOD!!! We can do all things and the ones we think no way then GOD helps in those cases. That would be one of the times he carried you!!
The Ducking Homestead and Gardens Can you email me, i am interested in buying land in the USA and you sound knowledgeable: info@uptown-propertysolutions.com. Kind regards, Christian
You may have to site your home outside of any towns, as building codes would probably be a barrier. Being in shallow well country and not close to commercial farms with all their pollutants would also be helpful.
I have been in love with Cobb building for forever now. It was the first "natural building" that I ever learned about as a teen, and I still have dreams of living in a cobb house some time in the future. Maybe out in Oregon would be awesome!
Good for them, the climate there must be good for structures like that. Build one of these in many place sin the US, known for torrential rains and flooding, houses like this will be is erased. Not sure they would hold up to snow well either. And the insulation value probably isn't that great.
@@garimaarora1333 I live in Seattle Washington here in the United States and it rains here in forks Washington more here than anywhere else in all of America. I don't think a cob home would last here very long
I've built a small room out of cob and earthbags by myself on my property which I'm happy with. If you are considering building with cob, keep in mind it is very labor intensive. You can imagine how much work went into that one batch he's making by hand, now imagine how many times you'll need to do that to make a house from it. Great way to build, but make sure you are up to getting dirty and doing a lot of work.
when he said 3 parts sand, 1part clay, i knew this guy knows what he's talking about i did myself some compressive tests with clay-sand blocks and the ideal ratio is like 1:3 also adding straw really rise the tensile strength a lot one adobe brick could carry like 60kg on the 3 points test the material is almost perfect if it wasnt for the low water resistance but there are ways to protect it from heavy rainfalls and rising water tho
zazugee I’m curious about the cob’s water resistance. Will the cob easily become soft and might lose its strength when exposed to water like from heavy rainfalls? What are some common ways to make the cob water resistant? Thanks!
@@RichardBalonglongImages my experience is with adobe not much cob, but i assume they have same properties when it comes to water from my experience, light rainfalls isnt much of a problem but when you put adobe blocks in a water container, they start to lose their consistency rising water from foundation is also a problem but the same problems happens with cement when its not designed to resist it but on long term
@@RichardBalonglongImages well, if you shape it into bricks and fire it that tends to work rather nicely, you can also seal the walls with oil, wax, or even animal fats mixed with clay to keep the water off it.
@@RichardBalonglongImages Based on my limited knowledge, I think people in wetter climates achieve it by (as stated) waterproofing the walls as much as possible, having a large roof overhang, as well as making sure that there is efficient drainage installed Ive seen some videos where some people use the water by collecting it or directing it somewhere (tanks, garden, etc)
Adobe (Cob) has the advantage of thermal mass. It absorbs, stores and emits heat. This stabilizes the temperature of a building keeping it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Once it gets warm it stays warm and once it's cool it stays cool. In the Southwest it is often paired with passive solar heating.
Beautiful. 💖 I wish trailer houses and most of the modern houses where a thing of the past - seen for what they are - poisonous, toxic temporary soon to be an additional pollutant to our precious ground water, rivers, lakes, oceans and already insane landfill problems.
Cob is amazing stuff. I remember on Grand Designs (the house building tv programme in the UK) an expert cob builder built a multi story mansion out of cob! Must be somewhere in the west country, the only part of the UK where cob houses exist
You are a perfect example of a good human being. Anyone who knocks Americans should see your beautiful and sensible nature. Come down under to Aussie with your cob craft. :)
Idk if it's genetic or does every man enjoys: 1. Planing and building stuff. 2. Going off to the forest. (Picking mushrooms, berries, hunting and fishing). 3. Eating food that you just harvested. 4. Sparring. 5. Learning how the universe works so you can plan and predict stuff (physics). It's just makes you feel something. Meanwhile 8 hours at a desk is torture.
@@PolarBear-rc4ks Same here! I'm planning of building my own tiny house in the future and living off the land- only now the house will be made from Cob.
My favourite cob homes by my favourite builder, Pat is wonderful. He taught me so much and showed me those homes. It was so nice to be in homes with shape and breath and delightful energy. Thanks.
I'm 53 and have been unable to work most of my life. Wondering how I will ever be able to not be homeless, to no have to live in a nursing home- you get the idea. All I need now is land!
My grandma mama mama had this material that building homes in the Caribbean centuries or decades ago ,,,and some of these homes are still standing so you're right they will outlive generation and generations to come
Awesome video.. very professional quality .. I do not understand why great videos such as this are not shown on TV .. and why mostly rubbish shown on TV. Love your work.
In my country India our village ancestral homes were made by the same technique. I think this technique is thousands years old. This is really a harmony with nature.
It's funny how people used to pick at indigenous people and now everyone copies their lifestyle trying to escape industrial living. The only sad part is the money people pay for a simple lifestyle. Great video and I wish the builder much success!
kwakubomani you are right and that is why I do not insult indigenous people when I happen to come across them in my life. My family started off in a desert village in Peru and on the mountain side of one of the beach villages of Puerto Rico. They had simple ways of doing things and living but those simple ways I personally found to be very clever and smart and cheap compared to what I’ve experienced living in the city and suburbs. I am working and studying in the city so that I can return to many of the things I loved about the indigenous lifestyle while having more than enough money to travel and do other things. Building my own house being one of them. I hope the builder finished the building with great success too. 👌🏽
@@PaulSchneider-bp2ic I live in Bulgaria in a mountain village close to Svoge ! Nothing special but to me the place is more than a home! I bought a cob / lime house, plus 1/4 th acre . The taxes are about 18 dollars per year! I own 2 goats and do garden every year for 3 years! It was worth every penny! There are a lot of abondoned homes crying for new open minded owners in my neck of the woods literally!
Beautiful building with cob.. crafted by hand makes it magical...hope it takes more interested to be living in this type of house..always have loved the natural curves and elements to bring together these houses..thanks for this one..
DJ Jones technology doesn’t mean electricity and wires m’love. Our modern day ‘technology’ includes that and so I get why you’d think that. To say our ancestors didn’t have technology is equal to saying they didn’t breathe air.
@@djjones7039 Yes they did. If you think they didn't, then you don't understand what technology actually means. Making basic tools, making basic weapons, starting a fire, constructing basic shelters, and basic agriculture are all technology.
Currently residing on 50 acres completely off grid cob houses is going to be an amazing option for a permanent homestead, looking forward to starting this adventure & thank you for the very nice videos
Could we build quality small (not tiny) but small homes(600-1000-square feet) for homeless and low income people? It would be good if there was a program where people learned to build this way and traveled around building communities and villages for people.
Yes, I'm sure you could and that would be a really great project! The challenges would probably be getting building permits and making sure everything is legal...finding appropriate land might also be a challenge. Maybe a pilot project somewhere could be a good starting point. Best of luck 😀
corey wiley I found a 69 acre property in mich to do it on .. it is a old quarry with massive boulders all over it and a leg at the center it is at water table level so it will never run out of water this whole property could become a cover greenhouse earthship cob building Sanctuary... there is also a piled up hillside that could become hobbit house.. n earthships
in Ukrainian villages you can still find lots of houses made of saman - sun-dryed bricks made of clay, straw and sand, especially in the South, where wood was not that accessible. I used to live in my grandma's house with saman walls and stove heating, the perfect house - warm in winter and cool in summer.
We are in the process of searching out our dream property. We are very inspired by your video and we completely agree with your thoughts on environmental effects of materials. We also love the idea of the work, hands, feet and heart that goes into the beauty of this type of living.
I love this and wish it could be found more readily around the USA. The house that I grew up in was in my stepfather’s family since the early 1900’s (like 1901 ish). It is literally falling apart. We’ve done some upgrades to it but the whole thing is slowly rotting away. It should have been demolished years ago and built new. 118 years old and on its last legs yet these cob structures have been standing in other parts of the world for hundreds if not thousands of years. I’m sure greed plays into a lot of this as I don’t see these cob structures being all that large. A sign of wealth is a massive house and it’s probably easier to use conventional building materials.
Massive house is greed, I'm with you there. But this style of building is costly in man hours compared to stud wall construction. Also it is very poor thermal insulation so the HVAC systems would be just wasting energy left and right. And lastly, it lacks in seismic restraining. Sorry, it just is not a good choice in most regions.
I promise this knowledge will save many lives to come in the future once people see how less it take not to just survive but be happy cobb building will be an essential business.
Is cob suitable for building a 400~500 sf cabin in colder, often wetter climates such as in northern parts of Canada? I’ve been studying conventional construction and building science extensively, but now am seriously considering building using natural materials. How would you recommend learning cob construction to do myself?
I’ve wanted a cob home for a while now. I will someday build my own cob home.! They are so beautiful, natural, and sturdy. They seem soooo much better for the environment and are built stronger than any “new” house. I wish the government (or people in general) would catch on to the pros of these as houses. Maybe they will catch on 😁
Yes and no. They are very poor thermal insulators. The more solid/dense the material, the easier heat transfer occurs. They would be decent in warm arid climates. But regions that are moist and have both hot and cold temps... It would have horrible energy performance.
I know you want to keep it natural but I think you could allow yourself to use a roto tiller to make your mix. I read years ago that's what they do in parts of the world where this type of construction is still common.
There are Cobb buildings in the UK that have been around for many, many centuries, but the oldest known cob structure is over 10,000 years old. It is still standing because it has been looked after by generations of people. Like all structures, cob buildings need care and attention from time to time. Simple checking for erosion and repairing damage before it becomes a problem is key to the longevity of cob buildings. A fresh coat of lime wash to renew the weatherproofing and protection every so often will extend the life of the cob as well. Oddly enough I was part of the crew that worked on many of the Cobb buildings in this video. I took several Cobb building workshops with Patrick Hennebery and his cobworks crew!
Cob is great but it needs a lot of work to maintain, if not repaired every 7-10 years it chips , warps etc. And if not perfectly isolated it will melt . Best regards
What about vinyl siding cracking from sun exposure and getting holes from hail? Ice and snow wrecks concrete parging. UV wrecks all manners of coverings. That's been my experience. In South Africa, walls made out of clay and wattle with a lime plaster on the outside have lasted 350+years so far in that heavy sun environment and extreme weather conditions (called the cape of storms for a reason)
Let's not forget how horrible the insulation value of this structure is. Even if it is "stronger", it will be very wasteful for the HVAC system. Also, it doesn't do well with seismic restraining.
Absolument fantastique ce matériel. A bit like some of the Gaudi architecture with this organic round shape and this guy really know what he is talking about. My concern is just how would this beautiful house will react in winter in Canada? Very interesting. Thanks!
Merci Jocelyne 😀. This material is apparently great even for our harsh Canadian winters. It provides great insulation and thermal mass. I think that if build properly it would definitely be more efficient than most standard conventional homes. Thanks for watching 👍
@@cornuschristi1814 Which is exactly the case, because some of the dumbasses in the comments think that the governments think that its "A tHrEaT tO sLaVeRy" Boi. Slavery was made illegal in the United States in 1865.
Nice job Bryce! Thanks for spreading the word! Next time you're back in Bandon come see all the great cob structures we have built since you were here last. You'll love the lighthouse fresco! Or come down and stay awhile and help fresco the new Surf Shack!!! Keep up the great works....hugs from Oregon! Tammy
This has been my Dream since i was still a small kid. In rèalizing this dream; i have to wait till my Pension so i would be free from all my Burden. I am so grateful that i have found your Post and ýoür Program. Thank you and more Power.
Awesome video! Bryce seems like an interesting person and a knowledgeable one as well. I'm curious about how building inspectors and architects treat this material. By the way he described it and from what I know of regulations, it seems like it would be hard to actually put up a structure, especially approaching a city/town. That said, it looks like he was making cob on a street, not on a farm or the like. Anyone have any ideas or insight? Thanks!
Here in New Mexico and some of the rest of the southwest adobe is still common. Some adode buildings here are over a thousand years old such as at Acoma and Zuni pueblos. If well maintained, adobe lasts forever.
So have Europeans and South Americans. This is not isolated to one region of the world. The Pueblo native American tribe still has there Adobe structures in the American southwest and northern Mexico.
Loved that Video ❤️ Beautiful work. I exspierenced myself how much of work it requires, you cannot really do it alone, so it brings people together. And you are left with beautiful creation memories 🌿
@Corvus Crow, it seems there are some good books on building with cob. If you do build one, maybe get a book on it and take a hands-on course, too. About moisture, maybe you can find a place with a similar climate to yours and see how it's going for their cob homes. Per other videos, you want your foundation to keep the cob somewhat high off the ground, so rain water or an overflowing creek doesn't damage the cob. Of course you want your roof to have a good overhang all around the home so rain or hail doesn't beat down on int. If you build, I hope it works out great for you!
wildebtw I believe cob can be used in very cold climates, the issue is that it is not a very thermally insulating material. The thermal mass of cob however, in combination with solar gain can make winters very pleasant and warm in UK climates. Much colder climates would likely need a different design.
Yeah it’s a great concept COB.,It’s earthy it’s organic it’s creative it’s cultural it’s ancestral it’s architectural it’s bio it’s earthship that’s great keep going
"3rd generation cobber" is a bit of a disingenuous way to say Bob taught Larry and Larry taught me, lol...none the less, dude is cool and I loved the video!
I don't know the context to be honest but i think he said something closer to "Learnt from someone that learnt from them" referring to some company that makes natural housing i think. So tecnicly he could be saying that he learnt indirectly from the ones before him... I annoyed even myself by making that comment btw.
Where I'm from (Michigan) "3rd generation cobber" would mean his father and his grandfather were both cobbers. I wouldn't think it means anything else.
@@TheRealMonnie Not just Michigan, but anywhere in the world that speaks English as a language. You're all right, but who cares? Does it make a difference? Lets judge the quality of the work, not the statement. One day if any of us meet him, we can rib him for his poor language use (unless he genuinely has the family cobbing history!)
I am very proud that someone finally start building the way our Creator taught humans. I will be happy when humans learn the ability use bricks and stones to build dwelling for humans to live in.
I love cob because you can design your walls any way shale or form you like by your imagination and specification. So glad I found this method of building. The other is permaculture.
Less money to be made by the ruling class. I'm planning on buying some rural land and building small getaway cottages for couples to rent. In my area you can more or less do what you want on your own property as long as it's not in city limits. :)
@@idroolt6999 what area is that? I've been looking for reasonably priced land in areas that have little to no CCR's or restrictions. Thanks in advance for your help!
Franky Doodle, There are umpteen videos on building and in fact this guy has another video on this house that is actually about what the structure has and what it looks like but not actually the build Itself! If you use the search at the top of the screen and use key words building with cob, building with bottles, earthship homes you will get a slew of building ideas and techniques!!! The earthships are out of tires And concrete which i do not care for living in But It has some really innovative ideas as well as that we can definitely use and incorporate into our cob builds just so you knows! We trying to get enough!