Cob viable in the houston area?

I live beetween Houston and Galveston Texas. I am curious if cob is a viable option in this area. We have a lot of clay in this area, but I'm wondering if anybody has built a cob house in our area and what their experience has been.

Ej Cosme :Remember the Alamo ! I don't think that I am being weasel wordy to compare Cob And Adobe, In your region you should be able to find any number of Adobe Craftsmen
who can help you with your build ! 0r Hire out to a local crew to get the experience.

The main difference between Cob and Adobe is that the Adobe is shaped into bricks first, and then the walls are laid up with the Adobe bricks which are Generally so irregular that the
mortaring up of the individual blocks requires a technique similar to adding individual Cobs and mudding in ! Again, your 1st job is to get the word out that you are interested, you may
have a near neighbor with Cob / Adobe experience ! Good Luck ! Big Al

Ill keep searching locally. I dont recall ever seeing any adobe homes in my area that is what prompted me to reach out to the Web for more information. I have to do more research on the comparability between San Antonio and Houstons soil, humidity, ground stability.etc. Thanks for the reply.

Hello Ej Cosme,

Allen's advice is really good! You are living in an area with a rich historic culture of architectural applications in earth based building materials. Not far from you there is the Creole traditions of Bousillage, and then of course there is Adobe and all it's different permutations. Cobb is just another methodology of earth building. Let us know what you find, and learn.

Regards,

jay

I saw this posting earlier today on thepoosh.org 's website. These people are looking for volunteers on a cob house build in Houston. Seems like you two were destined to meet. http://thepoosh.org/buildproject/david-reed/city-houston-cob-structure

I lived in the Houston to Galveston area for 35 years. After that experience and hurricanes including Ike and Harvey. I’m of the opinion that the area in general is too moist year round not to mention hurricane season for plain cob housing. The earth bag homes would stand a better chance as the dirt there is encased in plastic bags and the had a cob overlay. Oh , and I doubt you’ll get a cob build insured in Galveston or Harris County.  But do your thing. And have fun.👍