As the season progresses, our home here is coming back to life, as the focus switches from keeping warm to any number of projects and activities. Now when the weather is nice, everyone is outside, working on building projects, gardening, etc. It feels good to know winter is coming to a close, with the rest of the year waiting for us behind it. I’ve been putting in a lot of hours at the dairy where I work, but on my days off I’ve been focusing on finishing the second story of the cob house, cobbing in the rafters and getting the room ready to plaster. All the cob is almost finished, and I hope to be able to plaster within the next week!
The weather on Friday was still a bit chilly, so Noel volunteered to do all the foot mixing, while I sat on the balcony and watched, my feet warm and safe inside my boots…
Since Noel mixed the cob, I built with it, closing the gaps around the rafters. Its been months since my hands have got to experience the sensation of working with cob, and I had almost forgotten just how much I love it…the deep satisfaction that comes from working with my hands.
Here you can see how much nicer the roundwood rafters look once they’re surrounded by the cob wall. All the darker brown cob above the window is the fresh stuff.
We finally finished cobbing in the wood stove on Friday as well, and I’m excited to fire it up for the first time at some point this week! Here’s some pictures:
So, now there is a new object in view from the balcony of the cob house. Can you see something in the background, between the stump and the cob house?
Our friends Julia and Ben are building a tiny cabin, mainly out of salvaged materials and roundwood harvested from the woods here. Its looking so cute that I can’t resist posting some pictures of it! Designed to be low-cost and quickly built, most of the work has been over the last month, with hardly any money spent on materials.
Why does the stovepipe go immediately out of the house? Seems like you are gonna lose some valuable heat there…
I thought about that, and originally had planned to have the stovepipe go up through the floor into the second story and then out through the wall.
I got the smallest wood stove I could find used locally, but for such a small space it still is a bit big, and I think it’ll be more than enough to heat the cottage (the interior dimensions in each room are around 8.5′ x 8.5′, rounded off). I’m assuming the balecob wall will provide a lot of insulation, as well, and all the windows are double paned.
I have a friend who lives nearby in a cob house of similar square footage (and her stove is the same size as mine), and her cottage would get so warm she’d often have to crack the windows, so when I changed the location of my stove I didn’t worry too much.
Another reason I wanted the pipe to go straight out through the wall… the room is so small that I wanted to have the wood stove as close to the wall as possible (and there isn’t an option to have the stovepipe exit from the top of the stove, it is rear exit only), so it didn’t take up too much floor space. 🙂
I’m excited to see how the house “performs” through an entire winter season, but now I have to wait until next winter…
looks great. i was just curious if you had any problems with mold/mildew? from what i have heard, cob structures seem to collect mold easily in this region. have you seen this problem? is there ways around this problem?
Hi Stephen,
I haven’t had any mold or mildew anywhere in the cob house so far, and I’m interested to see if this house stays mold-free (the conventionally built 8′ x 12′ room on the property that I’ve been living in is filled with mold/mildew during our summers). I have a couple friends in the area that have cob houses. One hasn’t had any mold, and the other has small amounts of mold on the interior walls during the summers… Not too sure of the cause of the differences b/t the two houses.
love seeing these take shape, especially after hearing about them last friday! thanks for always coming to the hadley events 🙂 and congrats on everything you have going on!
Every time you show a picture of the whole house… I almost cry. It is incredibly beautiful and sweet. I wonder if a little tiny green house would work near the pipe, to capture the waste heat?
Please excuse my nosiness on the topic of that there pipe poking out of the wall and bending up at a right angle if you haven’t already thought of it… but watch the corner! We have a pipe that runs straight up in the Art Studio, and then at a right angle at the top of the wall (where it’s quite cool). We were getting some smoke and took the pipe apart and found it clogged with creosote solid for 10″ around that bend!
Again… beautiful work, waiting in anticipation for more!
Thanks for your ideas! I don’t mind nosiness 🙂 I’ll keep an eye on the corner pipe. This is my first time installing stovepipe, and I have to admit I don’t know all that much about it.
Wow! Love what you guys are doing, Danielle. I’m so proud and happy for you. Congrats on the new family member to be. Have you got Ina Mays books to read? Give our love to Noel…think of you both often. Re mold: keep the clay skin tight and leakproof, make sure the grade slopes away from the foundation, and if it feels damp during the summer, put out some dishes of rock salt and/or hardwood charcoal to absorb it.
Hi Uncle John! I love Ina May, and just re-read her books! I’m planning a homebirth, with a great midwife… Say hello to the whole family for me!
love, Danielle