Work Exchange & Work Parties
Work Exchange: Offer labor for education and experience.
Work Party: Ask for help on your building project in exchange for sharing your knowledge.
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I’ll be at Cal-Earth this February,2012 for a week long working scholarship and a four day workshop. Looking forward to opportunities as a work-exchanger with you when I return from California. I live on the Washington coast and am looking forward to building my retirement home and helping other do the same. Looking to introducing these concepts to our community too. Peace, Mike
Hey! If anybody needs any work-exchangers I’ll be willing to lend a hand! I live in California and would be willing to travel anywhere in the country : )
Wondering if there are any workshops anywhere in New England, Ontario, or Quebec? Dates and locations. Thanks
Greetings natural builders…We are in the very beginning steps of planning our earthbag/cob built home in Whatcom County Washington…I have recently gotten on several natural building blogs for ideas for direction as we have little knowledge in this area…My newest idea was using our property as designation for a workshop given by an experienced builder..We would offer homemade food/cider, shelter, education & community! In exchange our base home would be built and everyone is happy in the end…
There is a local school Bellingham Folk School that teaches all sorts of alternative/natural topics and would like to bring this idea through them. Any thoughts on getting a venture like this in the next 2 years? Namaste…Shannon
Hey Shannon, that sounds like a beautiful idea! I’m sorry I can’t give you suggestions on getting this up and running, but I’ll be more than happy to volunteer
My email is psychedelics.love.art.qe@gmail.com
If anyone knows of any seminars, or cob building taking place in Ontario Canada, I would love to be informed.
Hey Spiros,
We’re building a hybrid natural building – cob, straw bale, slip straw, and some cordwood interior walls – in Northern CA on the Lost Coast. (you can check out our blog about it at http://www.muddyhands.typepad.com). This year will be our 2nd full season with the earth work. We’ll be hosting another natural building workshop with Michael G. Smith in late June too (not yet posted, details to come). We hosted ~30 worktraders last year from March-November and are looking forward to doing it again this year. We welcome anyone who wants to come and help us build our house. We’re working on the house now through the end of the year though the earth work will start in May through September. We’ll be doing a layer of the earthen floor early in the season, start more wall building in June, and keep going with that and plastering as long as we can. We also have 2 young kids, a small kitchen garden, small apple orchard, kitty, and are getting ducks this spring. If you are interested, contact me and we can talk more: kristenregina@gmail.com.
Best, Kristen
Hello !I’m from Greece and i finish my studies in UK since June. I would love to trade labor for more education and experience. Previous experience includes building with cob construction, straw bale construction, straw bale plastering, earthbag, earthen plasters, lime plasters and earthen floors. I have done a year in architecture course and 3 years in spatial & landscape architecture :I’m intrested in any workshop or project anywhere.If you know something it would be great. Thanks for your time! Spiros
Hello everyone
I live in Central Florida, and I wonder if you guys know of any workshops here that I can attend to please . Love the website ! keep out the good work!
Kind Regards, Judith
Thanks Guys and Gals for all the comments and help. Please keep them coming. I would like to visit a cob house. If there is a house close around to Georgia please let me know. I would love to take the family to visit. If there is anyone who wants to help build and design a cob house. Please let me know. Is there a way to put a mass heater is the middle of the house with three open sides? It is possible to use this design and place heater tubes in the wall (from the mass heater) to help heat house. Thanks Eugene my email is huishpupie@yahoo.com if you would like to email me directly.
Hey Eugene and Family,
If it helps at all, you can see what we’re doing in Northern CA – http://www.muddyhands.typepad.com – we’ve been blogging about building our house and also have taken some short videos with Michael G. Smith demonstrating testing cob batches, mixing cob, etc.
Best of luck!
Kristen & Jim
Hello I am looking to build a cob house in Georgia. I need help with everything from start to finish. I have the knowledge of the electrical, plumbing and construction of a wooden house. I have never been to a cob workshop. Nor do I think I will be able to attend one due to the distant or travel. Could or would someone be willing to help me to get started? Or could someone point me in the direction of where I could find some help. I am open to any ideals. I have read a couple of books from cob cottages and what i could find on the internet. Thanks Eugene & Family
Hey Eugene,
I have experimented with a few ideas from the books and have never attended a workshop either, for the same reasons. I have built a wonderful rocket mass heater and I built a landing into my hut and I also sealed around a door with cob, and it works!!! As far as the cob itself goes, here is my experience and recommendation. I was looking everywhere to buy clay and was not having much luck finding it cheap, eventually while excavating my site and hand digging a water well, I realized that my soil was rich in clay. I dug below the topsoil and a little bit of subsoil, to about two or three feet and below that the soil is already the perfect ratio of sand and clay, all I had to do was screen it through a 1/4″ mesh, add water and straw and build. My recommendation to start with is to use what you already have on your property. Dig below the topsoil and a little ways further so there is no organic material or silt and your subsoil may be perfect or you may have to add clay or sand to it. Some of my soil was so heavy with clay that I had to buy a load of sand to obtain the right mix, and the books do a good job of describing the consistency, but when you actually do it, it is very intuitive, you will just know. When you add the water and mix, it will tenaciously cling to your hoe (I mix mine in a wheel barrow with a hoe). Then you add the straw and when you are worn out from hoeing, it is ready, you take a ball of the stuff and you throw it at the side of the wheel barrow and it sticks there, and once dry it is like rock. Besides using what you have and amending if needed, my only other recommendation is to just do it, do it today, even a small batch, once you try it, you will be addicted and you will actually build something….if the house is too daunting, build something smaller, a small rocket stove or a garden bench or something, but if you take action and just do it you will realize that you don’t need a course it is very natural from the consistency of the mix to the cadence of the work, it flows very naturally. Best of luck and happy building.
Message for Kristen in Petrolia
Hi Kristen this comming tuesday the 2nd Nov I’m going to be passing through Petrolia on my way to Fortuna. I’m really hoping to be able to stop in and meet you and see what you’ve been building. Please call me if you get this message 707 246 0346.
thanks Cari
Hello!
I would love to trade labor for more education and experience.
Previous experience includes building with earthbag, earthen plasters, lime plasters, earthen floors, straw bale construction, straw bale plastering, and cob construction.
I’m an architecture student with a free winter break: any workshop or help needed between December 9th, 2011 and January 2nd, 2012, anywhere, I am interested.
I’m small but mighty, and very enthusiastic!
Thanks for your time!
Aliza
If you want to gain some overall project experience and think you can offer a hand to our earthbag house project in Sequim, WA between now and Nov 3rd, please get in touch. Straight across trade 5-8hrs working each day for warm accommodation and meals. Interview required. A few worktraders have come through already and had great experiences.
I am a natural finishes contractor from NH looking to stay busy this winter. I have experience with clay and lime plasters over strawbales, wallboard, and cob. I regularly work with American Clay plasters, Shikkui Japanese lime plasters, zero voc paints, and gypsum too. Let me know how I can help you with your natural building project.
Errol Towers 603-745-9442
hello everyone:
maureen and i are looking for a work trade in the natural building/sustainable community area – we’ve built and baked in an earth oven and have worked on a biodynamic farm in the sierra nevada
we can travel anywhere in the usa
thanks
I’m living in Portland, OR and I’m looking to learn how to build with cob via work exchange. Please send any information my way. Thank You!
There is a large work party coming out this Saturday, September 24th, to work on the two cob buildings in progress. This would be a great opportunity for folks to get a taste of Natural Building with Cob! Please feel free to pass this invitation on to anyone who might be interested. We will be starting around 9:30, lunch will be provided, and here’s a taste of what we’ll be doing.
~ Trimming both buildings plumb with “cob” saws.
~ Cutting a drip lip for both buildings, inside and out.
~ Putting the final touches on some rough cut niches.
~ Setting some foundation rocks to create split level floor.
~ Building benches from salvaged and pallet wood.
~ Building a VERY SIMPLE composting toilet.
Directions to 2398 Disputanta Rd.:
With Boone Tavern on your left in Berea, KY, as you approach the stop sign on Main St., go straight to take Main St./Scaffold Cane Rd. just under 5 miles to 1787. (very windy road) Veer left, down the hill, onto 1787 for 2.3 miles. (another windy road). 2398 is on the mail- box on the right.
Diane Jennings
Disputanta Cob
http://www.DisputantaCob.com/
(606) 256-8954 home
(859) 221-6138 cell
Natural Building in France
Hello/Bonjour,
If you are building a natural home in France (particularly earthbag and cob), my partner and I are interested in helping you build in exchange for knowledge!
Anne and Damien
am willing to travel to intern on natural building site. Have had a few workshops but loooking for long term constructing expierence.
how far are you willing to travel????
we are looking for natural builders….
Hola Tim
Chances are that we will start a earthbag-cob project in a couple of weeks (hopefully). We are in Chiapas, southern Mexico. Check our web site to see what we are about.
Cato
Hi All,
My name’s Beck and I’ve recently completed a 2-month natural building work exchange, during which I participated in an intensive cob workshop. I am currently looking for opportunities to gain more experience with natural building. I have experience with cob, straw bale, light straw clay, some carpentry, gardening, and permaculture design. If you have building projects, preferably in the US, please get in touch with me!
Be well,
Beck
Namaste
Looking for a change? Want to explore a new country and culture? We have a lot of work to do and are looking for interested individuals for a work exchange. This is a new permaculture project, just started; we have a well and a lot of raw untouched land. Our current projects are building an adobe house, grey water systems, ponds, sleeping quarters, organic gardens, food forest, chicken house, temazcal… All buildings are to be built using natural materials where possible, adobe, thatch, bamboo, cob, wood, and stone. We are located next to seasonal river and enjoy a warm climate all year around. We are looking to open our hearts and home to motivated individuals who want to help us in return and create a new way of sustainable living close to nature. We are open-minded people and we like to have fun and enjoy life… Right now we offer accomodations in tents or tipis when are available, outdoor kitchen, compost bathrooms and showers with hot water 24 hours. Our meals will be prepared and eaten together, mostly vegetarian. We are a couple from California and Argentina, recently moved here looking for a more relaxed and self-sufficient life. We are both artists, and spent many years exploring the world before deciding on settling down and buying land in Argentina. We receive friends and people from around the world and we enjoy celebrating and dancing under the full moon when possible. We are open all year around, please come and visit, we ask that you plan to stay with us for at least four weeks. We like to get to know those who are helping us. We are open to meet people that want to stay with us long term and be part of the project… creating a beautiful environment. We see this as an opportunity to learn together with other people interested in learning the skills to live closer to the land, in the words of the times a more “sustainable” lifestyle. We are located in the town of San Marcos Sierra, in the province of Cordoba, Argentina and are joined by eleven cats. two dogs and two horses. It is one of three G.M.O. free zones in the country. Almost all of our food comes from local sources, including our produce, cheese, fresh milk, yogurt, eggs, bread, honey, even the organic wheat and the small mill to grind it are close by… Our soda water comes in old glass bottles delivered by a man riding a horse and cart. The weather is warm or hot most of the year, rainy season in the summer and there is one small river in the middle of town, and a large one 4 km away. The town is small, established in the early 1700,s it is a mix of gauchos, hippies, foreigners and indigenous descendants, quiet and relaxed all year except the summer and 3day weekends when people from the city take their vacations in paradise. Anyone interested in joining or supporting our project, please send us an email, and we can give you more info, pics, local sights or info on what your donation would make possible… In addition to work exchange and volunteering, we offer normal accommodation for those interested in staying and not working; in a tent or tipi. This is a great little town and a great place to unwind from a busy life. We hope to see you all soon. Please pass this on to anyone who should have it.
Love and Peace
Nate and Andrea
participate@shamballapermaculture.com