What is Cob House Construction?

Cob house construction is an ancient building technique using lumps of earth mixed with sand, straw,
and water. Cob structures can be used as homes, chicken coops, barns, and even smaller ones for ovens.

Cob building is easy to learn, requires no special equipment, and uses sustainable materials.

About a third of the world’s population lives in earthen homes and cob is only one type. It has been used
for centuries in much of the world, but has just begun to make its way into the US.

History and usage

Cob is a very old building method that is now enjoying a renaissance. There are homes still standing
today in Wales that are at least 500 years old. Chances are these homes were built out of earth out of
necessity rather than choice. They were probably built by rural families that were extremely poor at the
time.
Cob is an English term attested to around the year 1600[3] for an ancient building material that has been
used for building since prehistoric times. The etymology of coband cobbing is unclear, but in several
senses means to beat or strike,[4] which is how cob material is applied to a wall.
Some of the oldest man-made structures in Afghanistan are composed of rammed earth and
cob.[5] Cobwork (tabya) was used in the Maghreb and al-Andalus in the 11th and 12th centuries, and was
described in detail by Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century.[6]
Cob material is known by many names including adobe,[7] lump clay,[7] puddled clay, chalk
mud,[7] wichert,[7] clay daubins,[7] swish (Asante
Twi),[8] torchis (French),[9]bauge (French),[9] bousille (French mud with moss),[9] and cat and clay.[10]
Cob structures can be found in a variety of climates across the globe. European examples include:

 in England, notably in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in the West Country, and in East
Anglia (where it is referred to as clay lump)[11]
 in the Vale of Glamorgan and Gower Peninsula in Wales[citation needed]
 in Donegal Bay in Ulster and in Munster, South-West Ireland[citation needed]
 in Finisterre in Brittany, where many homes have survived over 500 years and are still
inhabited[citation needed]
Many old cob buildings can be found in Africa, the Middle East, and many parts of the southwestern
United States.[citation needed] A number of cob cottages survive from mid-19th-century New Zealand.[12]
Traditionally, English cob was made by mixing the clay-based subsoil with sand, straw and water
using oxen to trample it. English soils contain varying amounts of chalk, and cob made with significant
amounts of chalk are called chalk cob or wychert. The earthen mixture was then ladled onto a
stone foundation in courses and trodden onto the wall by workers in a process known as cobbing. The
construction would progress according to the time required for the prior course to dry. After drying, the
walls would be trimmed and the next course built, with lintels for later openings such as doors and
windows being placed as the wall takes shape.[13]
The walls of a cob house are generally about 24 inches (61 cm) thick, and windows were correspondingly
deep-set, giving the homes a characteristic internal appearance. The thick walls provided excellent
thermal mass which was easy to keep warm in winter and cool in summer. Walls with a high thermal
mass value act as a thermal buffer inside the home.[14] The material has a long life-span even in rainy
and/or humid climates, provided a tall foundation and large roof overhang are present.
Cob is fireproof, while "fire cob" (cob without straw or fiber) is a refractory material (the same material,
essentially, as unfired common red brick), and historically, has been used to make chimneys, fireplaces,
forges and crucibles. Without fiber, however, cob loses most of its tensile strength.
Sample:

An example of a modern cob home in the Pacific Northwest style. The exterior cob wall is plastered for
an attractive, uniform appearance And A modern cob house near Ottery St Mary, United Kingdom

The Traditional Building Technique

The traditional material for English cob was soil (clay-based) mixed with water and straw, sometimes
with crushed flint or sand added. People shovelled or stamped the mixture together, after which a cob
fork was used to ladle it onto a stone foundation, before workmen on the walls trod it into place. It was
quite possible to lay a course or "lift" of cob between 150mm and 900mm high (but usually averaging
450 mm) in a single day. After it had dried - which could take up to a fortnight - the next lift would be
added. The walls would be trimmed to plumb and straight as they rose and made between 500mm and
900mm thick. The builders would either leave openings for windows and doors, adding stone lintels as
they went, or carve them out later. It was a community effort, with men working one day a week to
build a house in a season.

Modern Construction
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, modern cob techniques remain much the same. The biggest development has
been Oregon cob, where people mix the material into mud loaves, then add them individually to the
wall before treading them in. This method means houses can have walls that are stronger and thinner
(generally 300-500mm thick on load bearing walls, as little as 100mm on others).

Materials
You can make your own cob, even if you don't live in an area with a heavy clay content in the soil. Just
mix soil, clay, sand and straw to a consistency like dough, and start your wall.

Construction
You're going to find the process very labour-intensive. The good part is that it's very environmentally-
friendly - all done by hand. In fact, you can have the walls take on any shape you wish, something you'll
find in many adventurous modern cob homes. The only thing you really have to remember is to lay the
material in courses, and let each one dry thoroughly before laying the next, and make sure they taper
slightly as they rise. You can embed windows and doors as you build, or simply cut holes later.

Cob is excellent for load bearing, meaning you can easily make a two-storey house, and it has very good
insulation for both heat and noise. During the day it absorbs heat outside, so it's cool inside, but at night
radiates that heat into the interior.

Foundation
You need to start with a foundation that's wider than your wall will be - 300mm wider is recommended -
and deep enough for the load. Usually you'll build a cob house on a stone plinth or a concrete base,
raised off the ground about 600 mm - for obvious reasons it can't come in contact with the ground.
There are any number of foundation options you can use, like a rubble trench, earth bags, or even
rammed tyres.

You'll also need a good roof overhang to protect the cob, at least 200mm. If you find any vertical cracks,
use cob or even clay tiles to fix it before moisture can penetrate.

Rendering and Moisture

Cob has to "breathe" - to dry out naturally after becoming wet. It used to be that the exterior walls were
either left bare or lime rendered (which is expensive these days). Excessive moisture can give you a
problem, but you also need a balance, as the material needs some moisture (3-5% is considered good -
much higher than that and you might have rising damp).

U-Value
Cob generally exceeds the minimum u-values for a house. It rises higher if you put plaster inside and
render the exterior. You can also use stone facing on the base wall as insulation.
Advantages of a Cob House

Energy Efficiency
Cob has a wonderful thermal mass, absorbing the sun’s heat to keep it warm throughout the day. A cob
house will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, without the need for environmentally unfriendly
heating and cooling methods.
Cost
The three primary materials for a cob house (clay, sand, and straw) are easily accessible and also quite
cheap. To keep costs even lower, you can easily salvage doors and windows of any shapes and sizes to
save having to buy or make new ones. You will most likely be able to build a cob home without having to
take out any kind of loan as they are so cost effective to build.
Handmade
There is nothing more satisfying than completing a creative project yourself, and with a cob house you
will undoubtedly have a hand in the building process. You don’t need professional training and should be
equipped with the necessary skills with a bit of research or a short course.
Healthy
Cob houses are free of pollutant materials which can often aggravate sufferers of conditions such as
asthma. Cob “breathes” through tiny pores, keeping the air inside the house fresh and clean. Sufferers of
allergies could greatly benefit from living in a cob house.
Strong
Cob houses are very strong, contradictory to what is commonly believed. The straw which forms part of
the cob mix is used as a natural re-bar to hold the structure together as one piece. This makes cob very
solid, and cob homes can last for longer than wooden structures.
Privacy
The acoustic insulation of cob is brilliant, and will keep both your sound in and outside noise out. It will
keep noises from separate rooms from flowing to different areas, too.
Fire Proof
One of the major benefits of cob for house building is that it is entirely fireproof. Unlike a timber house, a
cob house won’t burn to the ground. However, it is important to be aware that the roofing material you
choose may well be flammable, especially if you opt for a straw or wooden material. To keep the house
as fire proof as possible, think about using natural slate sourced from the local area or reclaimed slates
and tiles from other houses which have been torn down or are undergoing refurbishment.
PROS
It is cheap. A three bedroom cob home can cost as little as £20,000.
Cob walls become a heat store, giving them excellent natural insulation.
The material’s colour reflects the local soil so can blend in aesthetically.
No costs (in cash or pollution terms) in bringing raw material to building site.
CONS
The build process is slow – up to 15 months to allow phases to dry.
After completion it can take several months for building to finish shrinking.
Wall thickness means a new cob home requires a larger footprint than a “normal” home.
Relatively few builders are skilled in using, constructing or repairing cob.
Construction
Building with cob is much easier that modern conventional construction. Below are some important
elements to remember during the construction process.

 As with all buildings, you need to start with a good foundation.

 Construct a stone plinth for the cob wall to be built on so that it does not come into direct contact
with the ground.
 Throughout the cob wall construction process it is important to have a workable and pliable
material. Traditionally, cob walls are constructed in lifts, sometimes as high as half a metre. During
the summer months a lift can be introduced each day.
 Windows and doors can be introduced during the construction process, or openings can be made at
a later date.
 Make sure you have a good overhang on your roof to protect the cob wall.

Section Drawing: A profile of a typical cob and thatch building, illustrating wall details.: