Building with Cob: A Step-by-Step Guide

by Adam Weismann

Cob building uses a simple mixture of clay subsoil, aggregate, straw, and water to create solid structural walls, built without shuttering or forms, on a stone plinth. This ancient practice has been used throughout Britain for centuries—in fact, the material is so strong and durable that it is currently in use for forty-five thousand houses in Cornwall, a county in southern England.
Building with Cob covers everything from design, planning, and siting to roofs, insulation, and floors. It is lavishly illustrated with more than three hundred inspirational color photographs. The authors have recently been commissioned to build a thirty-classroom school in England in 2006; it will be the largest new cob construction project in the Western hemisphere.

Genres: Construction, Architecture, Reference, Nonfiction

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2006

Reviews

[Andreas Michaelides · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book I was at the process of preparing to build m own house. Also when I was a kid the house of my Grandmothers before they tear it down so my parents will build their house was made out of cob. I distinctly remember the hot summer in Cyprus was not an issue for us because inside my grandmother house was so cool like you were sitting next to the edge of a river up in theε mountain the temperature was amazing, it was cool during the hot summer and warm during the cold winters.
I don’t build my house with cob but a lot of the techniques of it I incorporate it.
In the future I hope I build a cob house and this book has anything you need to accomplish that, it is actually a complete guide to build your own house, it tells you even how to manufacture the tools you will need, everything this book is a gem. Highly recommended it.

[Sula · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent overview of cob as a building material. Although nothing beats hands-on experience it's a good starting point. Some more data would be useful. Worth noting this is more working with cob, and not designing a cob building, and while of course the two are related, you are not going to find example plans, suggested room depths, window positioning etc. beyond general advice on taking advantage of the sun. Some detail is given on this, but no data applied to this e.g. it is said windows should not be placed too high up to avoid overheating when the sun is high in sky - but how high is too high?! (I don't think this even would make a difference, although changing the overhang would). Approximately how long would each stage of the process take, with different methods and different scales of building? Further resources are listed in the back.

[Filip Sekkelsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for cob-building, though here and there I wish it were a little more specific. Thankfully, there are plenty of videos available for free to supplement the book.

[Genabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

great pictures and some new ideas in addition to the more comprehensive The Hand-Sculpted House.

[Jeanette Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these hands on books more house plans and photos would be good

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book inspired me to take a cob workshop. such a great book for builders.