From the Ground Up with COB July 27 – 31, 2015 Central KY

Natural Stone Foundation

Building Cob Walls

Sculptural ~ Artistic Cob

Natural Plasters / Tadelakt

Earthen (Adobe) Floor

Natural Stone Foundation – Site Selection, Site Prep, & Establish Drainage – Choose Materials & Build a Rubble Trench – Prep Stones, Slake Lime, & Make Lime Mortar – Build a Foundation using Basic Masonry
We will build a lime mortared foundation suitable for a cob structure.  We encourage participants to work at a pace comfortable for you as you learn to choose suitable stones to piece together the puzzle that will become the foundation. You will learn everything you need to know to build a lime mortar foundation for a building, including site selection, drainage, using lime, choosing materials, and utility access.

Building Cob Walls During this part of the workshop we will learn how to build cob walls, and ‘learn by doing’ as we:  – Choose materials and mix cob.  – Build cob with forms and free form  – Trim & shape walls using a cob saw  – Make corbel cob for sculpted elements. We will cover just about every aspect of building cob walls including, site selection and passive solar design, building your home on a solid foundation, sourcing materials for a good cob mix, setting windows and doors, and placing anchors in cob walls for the roof.

Sculptural cob
During this part of the workshop we will learn how to sculpt and trim, as well as make a special kind of cob called corbel cob. Corbel cob can be used to cantilever furniture and shelves, sculptures, window sills, and an endless variety of artistic embellishments that can be added to your cob home.

Earthen Floor