Casa Burrito, a cob house in Mexico

Hi, I hope to build a house of cob on some Mexican beach front property.  Process will be slow since it is Mexico, but I wanted to create a thread with my questions, and post progress as the build happens.

I would like to go with two 2 story structures and have not yet ruled it out, but if I am doing most of it myself I am probably limited to 1 story due to challenges the extra height will add as I would be completely by myself unless I pay workers to assists, there are no friends in the area to help me.  My plan is to have the locals build me a foundation since I will be building on beach sand and need it to be built correctly.  Unfortunately this will cost me more than what many of you spend on the entire cob house build, partly due to its remoteness, partly due to corruption.  The foundations are all raised 3 or so feet in the area just in case of flooding, and of course this will protect my cob walls from rain as well.  The drawings below show 1 large foundation vs 2 individual foundations...this will be decided on depending on costs/conversation with the architect.  I want to leave enough space between the 2 structures to drive a vehicle through, should I need to for any reason in the future, but with 2 foundations this may not be possible.  This is also why the 1 foundation has an elaborate stair structure, I would be able to drive up them as if they were a ramp.

The roof overhang is currently set at 3 feet, my lot is narrow/tight so unfortunately I cannot easily go much further out.  I have read many houses in areas such as the UK have this or even less so it should be fine, but I prefer to over engineer when possible and originally drew it up with 5 feet of overhang on all sides...its just not possible.

After I have a foundation, I would then prefer to proceed on my own both to save some cash, and more importantly do it myself.  After the foundation I will do the roof, both to protect the cob from rain if I were to still be building when rain season begins, and more importantly to protect myself from the hot sun.  We do get hurricanes (and earthquakes) so will be building a hip roof as they are a strong option when it comes to hurricanes.  I will be building the cob walls with rounded corners, (2 feet thick at the base) but the house will essentially be rectangular.  Due to my lack of skills in Sketchup it is drawn with right angles.  Picture a pavilion type situation, where I will later build the walls/house.  Admittedly I may also have them build the entire foundation/roof "pavilion" and the I would only focus on the walls/house itself in order to have a strong skeleton built, this way I could then do two stories without worrying about being in over my head.  I am confident I can handle a 1 story structure without issue.

I do not yet have exact dimensions regarding length, and the columns in the drawing are strictly for visual purposes, I will add additional columns and move them as needed per the architect/engineer.  The bedrooms will be in the center with the bathrooms/storage on the outside walls in order to block the sun and help keep the temperatures in the bedrooms down.  As it sits on the beach there is a large appeal for 4 bedrooms rather than two for rental potential down the road.  The kitchen will either be a separate outdoor structure, or each room will instead have a mini kitchen setup with small fridge, sink, and a small oven or electric stove top...but pretty basic due to space.

Here are some pictures of the idea I have, and the next post will touch a bit more on questions I have regarding the pavilion build itself.  Some of my questions may be answered when I speak with architects/builders, but anytime I try and make progress/ask a question I get answers that are completely out of left field and have thus far not made any progress with the build, so would rather go in with a strong plan from people like you familiar with what I am trying to do.  If anyone wants to send me a FB friend request and follow along there as well I need friends as I am not a FB user, and often will not get accepted to natural building groups as they think my account is fake.  (https://www.facebook.com/CasaBurrito2024/)

Thank you, I appreciate any input, even from naysayers as I do not want to get to a point where I am in over my head.  Of course I have all the main recommended books and will continue to do some research on this.  Hope you enjoy the project and follow along.

Here is my thinking and questions regarding if this is the correct path forward.  I believe I would need the rebar to be exposed from the foundation floor where the concrete columns will be built by myself later.  My plan is to use the round cardboard concrete forms to create the columns.  While the roof will be built from wood I would prefer concrete columns as termites are a problem in my area.  I have not yet spoke to local builders so I may end up going with wood columns if it makes more sense in the end.  If I were to cast the concrete, I then figure I would need to make a concrete bond beam (if that is the correct term) to tie a roof to, as shown in the previous posts attachment.  The concrete beam seems a little daunting if it were a two story build, 1 of my main concerns.  The roof structure would be more robust than the example provided, but shows the bond beam well.  The foundation, columns, and bond beam would all be tied together with rebar, though built in stages rather than all at once with the current plans.



From here I can then build a hip roof myself, but wanted to see if up to this point is the proper way to do things in others opinion.  I would like it to be a green roof, I know they can be heavy but most roofs here are terracotta which are also heavy...and I will only have a couple inches of soil mixed with perlite, where I would grow grass/wild flowers up top.  Once this structure is complete I would then begin building the walls, they would not support the roof in any way, but if there were two stories the cob walls would support what I presume will be a wood floor, and maybe extend out for balconies.  I am familiar with Johnny Cobbins build which I found when researching my idea which is along the same lines of this having a separate skeleton structure, so I know I am not completely off base with my ideas here.

The walls will be built extra thick as it is very hot where I live, the base will be 2 feet and I will taper them per the readings I have done.  I have no interest in straw bale due to the high humidity levels, but do not mind the thick walls as the build can be as slow as needed.  I will mix all cob with a cement mixer (possible mortar which I know is better).  I have a trailer on the lot to live onsite so even knowing a 2 story build would be a large task, I can focus on 1 building at a time chipping away, though if time allows can alternate between the two while each layer of cob dries.  1 Story would be easier/quicker, but I do not want to regret building too small since I wont be able to change plans once the roof is in place.

Any input is appreciated at this stage, this is the main area of planning that I have not yet completely grasped.

As always, thanks!