Tag Archive: cob building

[ June 26, 2011 to July 2, 2011. ] In this seven day, hands-on workshop, you will learn the art and science of making and building with cob, a free form adobe building material used for centuries around the world. Using and understanding the simple materials of clay, sand and straw, we will mix our own cob, and then sculpt a [...]

[ July 11, 2011 to July 24, 2011. ] We will build a small cob cottage with Rumford fire place on a piece of land
by a lake and woods.
The climate in Latvia is damp in autumn and quite cold in winter.
Drops down below -25 C sometimes. The cottage must be nice and warm.

You will learn during practical sessions :
How to dig trenches for foundations, [...]

[ May 28, 2011 to June 4, 2011. ] [gallery link="file"]

Cob work party up in a gorgeous canyon above the town of Magdalena in New Mexico.   You don’t need to be an experienced cobber, but what you do need is a fun attitude and the ability to rough it a bit and if you have any building/ carpentry  skills those will come in handy.  [...]

[ May 22, 2011 to May 29, 2011. ]

Lime Foundation
Building Cob Walls
Sculptural Cob
Natural Plaster
Slip Straw

Lime Foundation -
Learn how to build an earth friendly, natural stone and lime mortared foundation, and ‘learn by doing’ as we build a foundation.
– Prep Stones
– Slake Lime
– Make Lime Mortar
– Shape Stone
– Lay Stone

Building Cob Walls -
During this part of the workshop we will learn how to build [...]

[ April 25, 2011 to April 30, 2011. ] Start Date / End Date:: 2011/04/25-2011/04/30Activate the paradigm shift and become aware of the impacts of your decisions. Move towards living a sustained lifestyle, not with timid baby steps, but by leaping forward!

These in-depth workshops, six days long each (Monday morning through Saturday evening), will run every full week of April, June and August of [...]

[ May 19, 2011 to May 22, 2011. July 7, 2011 to July 10, 2011. August 11, 2011 to August 14, 2011. ] For 4 intense days we work with foundations, COB-building, clay- and limeplaster and cover.
You learn basic COB “with good boots and a tight hat”. Clay- and limeplaster. – when do you use which? You learn construction of foundation, building COB walls, design, decoration and much more.
In these workshops we build a garden [...]

[ May 20, 2011 to May 22, 2011. ]

Friday, May 20, 1pm until Sunday, May 22, 5pm. Arrive Thursday at 5pm or later. Camping and meals are included in the price. Come out and learn the art of cob cabin construction! We will walk you through the process of creating cob and its economic and environmental benefits! Discounts available for families.

Cost: $125 per [...]

[ July 30, 2011 to July 31, 2011. ] Start Date / End Date:: July 30/July 31

Saturday, July 30, 9am, until Sunday, July 31, 5pm. Arrive on Friday, 2pm or later. Camping and meals included. Come join us as we finish the final touches of our cob cabin and then create earth plaster! We will then paint and plaster the cabin! Discounts available to [...]

[ June 18, 2011 to June 26, 2011. September 10, 2011 to September 18, 2011. ] This is the most comprehensive cob course available in North America. In the past 15 years, we’ve taught almost 200 major cob courses. In 9 intenstive days, we’ll cover in depth all aspects of cob and the many techniques of building with cob including arches, details, shelving, furniture and earthen floors. In this expanded version [...]

[ May 19, 2011 to May 25, 2011. ] The Art & Craft of Natural Building
With Natural Builder, Designer and Author Michael G. Smith

May 19-25, 2011
Sandy Bar Ranch, Orleans, CA

This workshop will cover the principles of natural building design and construction and give participants hands-on experience in straw bale, earth bags, light straw clay (slipstraw), earthen floors, and earthen plasters. Sandy Bar Ranch has [...]

[ August 7, 2011 to August 13, 2011. ] August 7-13, 2011
Petrolia, CA
Instructor: Michael G. Smith

Learn to build your own energy-efficient natural home from inexpensive, healthy natural materials. In this hands-on workshop, we will be building a family home from cob (sculpted earth) and straw bales. We will also experiment with other natural wall systems including slipstraw or light straw clay and wattle and [...]

[ May 21, 2011 to May 22, 2011. ] Intensive Cob Weekend – finishing up a half built cob cabin.
Friday, May 20, 1pm until Sunday, May 22 5pm. Arrive Thursday at 5pm or later. Camping and meals included. Learn the art of cob cabin construction! Discounts for families.
Cost: $125 per person, $100 if paid 14 days prior to event
Check us out on our [...]

[ April 2, 2011 to April 11, 2011. ] The second workshop in the 2011 build schedule.

We will be teaching a 10 day cob cordwood workshop detailing how to build a free standing exterior shower and bath house utilizing this method of natural building.

Cordwood masonry’s origins are unknown. There are some homes in Canada that are between 100 and 200 years old. In the [...]

[ April 17, 2011 to April 21, 2011. ]

This workshop is a great introduction to earthen constructions. It demonstrates natural building techniques that can be used to transform your world. Locally sourced earth has been used for millennia to house humanity in healthy, effective, long lasting and beautiful structures. During this intensive workshop, we will focus on building with cob, lime and [...]

[ March 26, 2011 to March 27, 2011. ] Learn How to build walls using the Earthbag technique, a form of rammed earth. Although much faster than Cob wall construction, the end result can look identical. Learn a little about Cob and earthen plasters as well. We will be building a small shelter in The Portland Healing Arts Resource Project backyard. Pdx HARP is [...]