I'm looking for inspiration, thoughts and advice for my first
cob structure (first structure ever planned and built myself).
This is my first attempt at playing with
cob. At the moment it remains a thought experiment, that is until I can get my hands on some clay. I would very much like to build it this summer, but life and lack of clay may get in the way.
The theory is to start small. Building a garden wall, to me, would be like teaching someone to knit by making a scarf. Once they've knit the first foot or so, they've learnt all they can from that project and get put off the craft with the pressure of finishing their first real project. Something smaller with more complex learning is the thing for me.
So, I'm going to build a goat house.
The requirements for my goat house:
-living roof
-low enough at one point that the goat can jump on the roof and use it for goat play
-strong enough to withstand both goat and sheep
-provide wind and rain
shelter
-MUST HAVE GOOD AIRFLOW for health of animals and my own personal sanity - ie small windows.
-well hidden from casual prying eyes
Things I hope to learn:
-how to make
cob
-how to make foundation
-how to make windows (open, no glass) in cob
-how to make roof
-how to make living roof
-find some good idea for the floor and learn how to make it
-how this kind of construction stands up to sheep and goats (if it can survive those two critter types, it can survive any seismic activity)
-how to harvest natural materials and use them
Hopefully, what I learn from this project, I can apply to larger cob building endeavours in the future.
The interior space will be roughly 4'x4' square, or 5' across circle. At the most, 5 foot tall (inside) with at least part of the roof 3 foot high or lower. The place I want to build it is sloped, so I imagine the uphill side will be where the roof is lowest and the goat can jump up.
Financial resources: non-existent.
I have an idea in my mind of what shape it's going to be, but before I share, I was wondering what more experienced builders could tell me about this project.
-What shape would YOU build it?
-How wide would the foundations be if you were making this?
-What added considerations are needed for goat and sheep proofing this building? Goats climb, sheep rub against things, about (our) knee hight, and rams... well, they ram things. Rams will probably not be in that pasture.
-If you could only recommend one book/website/resource for building with cob, what would it be? What makes that particular resource so great?
-Is it possible to build a living roof without a plastic membrane, or is it going to be like the old soddy roofs - rain outside one day, rain inside three days later.
Thanks in advance