Trying to learn cob building

Hey all,
My husband and I are interested in building a cob home. I’ve read a lot about the importance of help in cob building but unfortunately it’s just be my husband I for this endeavor. So, I’m just wondering how feasible it is for the two of us to take such a project on? Any experience/feedback/thoughts are appreciated.

Welcome to the forum.

I don't have hands-on experience though this seems doable if there is sufficient time.

This thread is by a guy wanting to do this alone and I thought this was great advice:

Consider building in modular fashion. Maybe your first winter you do a 'shed', 'guestroom' or other temporary shelter and work on your dream home once you have a roof over your head.

https://permies.com/t/28305/Cob-Start-Finish#221702

My wife and I built a cob building, on our own, and with only one book. (Some additional ideas and methods were taken from various other books and the internet though.) We had no previous cob training, but I do have a background in construction, which was quite valuable.

https://permies.com/t/28305/Cob-Start-Finish#242196

Here is another thread with some valuable info:

https://permies.com/t/45844/decided-build-cob-house-advice

I hope some with experience will reply.

Thank you Anne! This is very helpful!

Hi Pres,

Do not save on foundation and work in modular steps, starting small with building a small room. When you get experience, you will advance to larger rooms and at the end to kitchen/bathroom that need way more planning and detailing.

How big do you plan to build?  How ambitious are you?  Do you have access to equipment to do the digging and mixing?

I don't have any experience building with cob,  but I do have a lot of experience taking on gigantic projects by myself.  I find the biggest obstacle is often persistence and just keeping at it.  This summer I built our home out of logs I harvested and milled myself.  The hardest two things were to push myself to do it no matter how tired or sore I was.   And figuring out how to lift very heavy items very high in the air with ropes and pulleys.

I see no reason two people couldn't build a cob house on their own.  I would want to have plans to keep my walls covered and protected while building and before the roof and eaves are in place to protect them.

As others have suggested, it may be wise to start small.  Early successes will give you the confidence, experience, and drive to continue.

I'm in a similar boat--interested in cob, motivated to gain skills. I think I might be able to procure some clay for free, and I already have a few bales of straw, but it's not enough to build a shed let alone a house. I picture my learning going like this:

1. Experiment with different mixes, basically forming a half dozen or so lumps of cob on a large piece of cardboard and seeing which mixture holds up the best.

2. Repeat but for earthen plaster

3. Build a small dog-house sized structure, maybe to house my kid's outdoor toys or something. During this phase maybe I will also learn how to pour a slab foundation.

Curious what people here think about that plan.

Definitely feasible. I think two people working on the project full time could have a livable sub 500 square foot cob structure in eight months or less.

Here are my tips suggestions:

1) Use a concrete mixer/mortar mixer. Cob stomping is labor intensive.
2) Try to find a premade mix and get it delivered to your site by the dump truck load. Harvesting on site is labor intensive and typically no cost effective unless your subsoil is magically a perfect cob mix. Sandy loam and/or fill dirt from a landscape supplier is usually a pretty good ratio.
3) Build small. If you've never built anything, build a shed first. If you have the time make it out of cob. You'll need a place to store your tools anyway.
4) Build single level. Working at heights really slows down construction.

For my first try with cob I used Abe Connally's T-brick method to build a 160 square foot shed

https://permies.com/t/49057/bricks-easy-adobe-home

It's a pretty forgiving technique.