Walls Archives - This Cob House

How to Protect A Cob House From Rain

by Alex | Dec 20, 2018 | Cob, Natural Finishing, Videos, Walls

Water is essential for life, but when it comes to building with earthen materials and cob homes, water is sort of its main enemy in a way. So a lot of people have a fear of building a cob house and the house melting away because of rain and weathering. One thing...

IS MOLD A PROBLEM WITH COB HOMES? EARTHEN BUILDINGS VS CONVENTIONAL

by Alex | Dec 14, 2018 | Cob, General, Materials, Natural Finishing, Walls

I’m going talk to you about mold with cob buildings and earthen buildings. As I’m writing this, I’m here in Costa Rica and one thing I notice about structures here is they do have a lot of mold issues. It’s very humid and very wet. Here most of the...

Cob Homes – Are Insects and Rodents a Problem?

by Alex | Nov 11, 2018 | Cob, Foundations, General, Natural Finishing, Walls

I’ve been having a lot of questions come to me recently asking me about cob homes and do they get infested by termites, rodents, and insects. From my experience and from what I’ve learned over the years this this is not a big issue. Termites first...

Humidity Regulation in Cob Buildings

by Alex | Feb 4, 2016 | Cob, General, Natural Finishing, Walls

I keep getting a lot of questions about humidity issues with cob buildings. So I want to speak a bit more on this topic with you today. Keeping a balanced level of indoor humidity is important to maintaining a healthy living environment and preventing mold and fungus...

Shuttered Cob

by Alex | Jan 14, 2016 | Cob, Walls

Every time I hold a cob building workshop I have at least one student ask me if you can build cob walls by placing wet cob into formwork. They ask this question because they have an interest in keeping the walls straight and well formed. This technique is called...

Earth Building Techniques – Build Your Home with Earth

by Alex | Feb 22, 2015 | Cob, General, Materials, Walls

Beginnings of Earth Building Techniques Earth building techniques have been around for thousands of years. Since before our recorded history, people have been using the earth to build with. That’s why I tell people that earth building techniques are nothing new. In...