Introduction to Cob Workshop

Dates: June 20 – June 24, 2022 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Jonesborough, Tennessee

Come and join us in beautiful eastern Tennessee for our next Introduction to Cob Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing the walls on a new cob building and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic experience and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.

Hands-On Work Topics:

– How to make cob (learn how to make cob with a mortar mixer)

– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)

– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)

– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)

– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)

– Earthen Plaster (learn to mix and apply earth plaster)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:

– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)

– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)

– Foundation design (how to build strong foundations for heavy earthen walls)

– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)

– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes

– Installing windows and doors

– Roofing and Bond Beams

– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)

– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!

Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!

The workshop will be held at a private property in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.

Free Bonus!

Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!