Anaïs Lys

Mark Brunnr wrote:I highly recommend either buying or getting from the library The Hand-Sculpted House: http://www.cobcottage.com/node/82

The book goes into detail about all your initial questions, and I believe they also still have building classes you can take there in coastal Oregon if you prefer hands-on learning. They recommend building as small as possible since cob is a very time/labor intensive building method.

Yes, I’m reading it right now

John C Daley wrote:Looking at S Bengis first circular design again.
I see you could build the left hand part first, but only the kitchen doorway to the lounge and exclude the bedrooms.
When thats done, continue with the bedrooms on the left. Yes it would mean your wall between the kitchen and the bedrooms would be cob!
Then when money and time is available, complete the lounge room etc.
Its a nice design overall.

I don’t mind cob walls inside :) it’s a good idea, I’ll have to see how we feel skill wise but I do like the idea of working directly on the house.

Glenn Herbert wrote:That first circular plan looks like it could (and may be intended to) have the living room structure built first with temporary rudimentary kitchen facilities and a loft bedroom. This could be doable in one year. Then add the main structure and be able to get kitchen and other spaces right without having to rush, and while living right next to the work site. When ready, convert the living room to its final form.

Another possibility would be to first build a small temporary living structure in the area designated for "Pantry" in that plan, then after finishing the official living spaces convert the first part to storage, workshop, or whatever secondary use is desired. This gives you practice with something that doesn't have to look perfect to build up your skills.

That is a good idea too, and it would cut down on expenses and time!

S Bengi wrote:

For your 1st house that only cost $10,000 $20,000. I recommend it being this one 24ft x 36ft,  it is very forgiving. Easy for the gov to permit. You can call it the kids cottage after you upgrade

Foundation: rubble trench  
Stemwall: earthbag/gravelbag, stonewall
External Walls: $1.4K strawbale (H=7bale, W=9bale, L=15bale @$4/each), cob, lumber, plaster+lime/stucco
$8,000 Roof: 2ft+ overhang on all side to protect walls (W=32ft, L=44ft), bond beam, lumber, insulation, barrier, sheet metal/shingles/etc
$1,000 Floor: gravel, then 10mill poly, then adobe, then linseed oil/carpet
Doors: 2 external
Windows: 9
Internal Walls: 84 linear feet of wall

Mech/Laundry Room:
$3K+ Well, $2K Pump, $1K Pressure Tank + piping
$3K Septic
$700 Water Heater (Shower/etc + space heating), $1K Radiant Heating PEX pipe + $250 recirculating pump + $50 manifold.
$4K AC (mini-split 4 zone) + Whole house dehumidifier
$1.5K Washer + Dryer
Lights+Switch+Outlets+Wire, Breaker Box, Generator, Solar/Grid
Propane Tank

Bathroom:
Kitchen:
Bedroom/Playroom/

Below is another floor plan. Let me know if you like it. I think that it should be the 2nd or 3rd structure that you build on your property. After you have some more practice. It's huge. Think of it as adding to your 1st living space.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this breakdown, it’s so helpful. I’m glad to see I wasn’t that far off. We won’t need AC or a septic tank. … but after researching a bit I see that it might be problematic to get approved to not have a tank… We’ll see what we can do about that I guess. Don’t think we’ll need a propane tank either.

I have a much better idea of how things will go now.
I like the second floor plan a lot, I agree with starting with the other building first it makes sense!

Thank you for your response, beside metal, what would be the second best material to build a roof..? I really don’t like the look of metal at all, although I can see why it would make a great option.

By brick like strawbale, do you mean those rectangles of straws that are encased in cob..? The first cob house I saw was built like that and I was thinking about doing that for our house. I’m worried about mildew however, won’t the straw rot in a humid climate..?
We are in Georgia, we don’t have land yet, I’m trying to figure out the zoning etc… but we’ll be about an hour north of Atlanta.
What are plastic vapor barriers and do we really need one..? I would have loved to build everything without any plastic…

Our budget would be around 8000-10000 for the house itself. (One story)
I would like to have it done in one season but I’m not sure if that’s realistic as I don’t know how much help we’ll be able to find/hire and how efficient we will be. (I do want to do at least one small practice building before doing the house!)

The rooms would be:
Kitchen/ pantry
Bathroom
Laundry nook
Living room/dining room/library
Big Bedroom (to sleep 5)
Playroom
Study/sewing room
Three little cozy nooks

A fireplace/lounge area outside and a natural pool would be awesome! I didn’t think about that, thank you for the idea. But it would need to come last. We can leave space around the house for it?
Our priority will be the house and then the food forest.
I do want at least a pond to make a house for frogs and other beneficial wildlife.

I don’t have a set idea of the shape the house should have, as long as it’s rounded in some way, I’ll be happy the floor plan you sent is great!

I haven’t found a video of a house I liked entirely, I like bits and pieces. Here are a few pictures. I definitely want lots of natural wood in it, stones, round shapes, arch doorways, lots of natural light.

Thank you for detailing all of this,
What I liked about the idea of a house made mostly from cob, beside the aesthetic, is that we could actually build it ourselves, this sounds pretty complicated😬
I mean I figured there would be other materials involved but this seems like cob wouldn’t be the main material…I need to do more research on all of this!

Thank you, that’s helpful! I do want the house to be round but I guess I could make this layout with round shapes!

Hello!
Is there any artists who designs cob houses floor plans for others..?
I need someone with experience who can help me figure out what size house I need, what would be the best shape for the house, best way to arrange the rooms and their dimensions, who can look at all the reference pictures I have and tell me what’s realistic or not (we’ll be building mostly ourselves), help me figure out what is the smallest we could do with so we can be sure to finish it in the first season. (And add extensions later)

I’m toying with the idea of an indoor greenhouse but not sure if that’s realistic or not. I love all the intricacies and beautiful sculpting I see in a lot of houses but not sure if it’s something we can do ourselves.

I have zero experience in anything related to this, (I’m learning but it’s all theoretical so far) my husband is an artist who paints and sculpts really well but he has never sculpted a house.

If you are this person or know anyone who is please leave a message😊

Thank you!