Last Friday Greg came over to pour the final layer of the earthen floor. Almost 2 years ago, Greg had removed a layer of the earthen floor from a nearby cob cottage he was building, and I brought it over here in buckets, to use in my future cob home (which at that time existed only on graph paper). After waiting patiently through 2 summers, those buckets of clay, sand, and horse manure were finally re-hydrated, and at last were able to fulfill their destiny as my earthen floor.
We added some more sand to the mix, as well as some freshly chopped and sifted straw, and then Greg got to work with the trowel.
The color of the finish floor is an amazing red! Beautiful against the yellow clay plaster on the walls…
I did some lime plastering last week as well, giving the interior cob bench one more coat of lime. And since I was in a plastering mood, I put some lime on the exterior bench, too, and added some more lime around the exterior steps, where there had been some trouble areas that needed a little more rain protection.
Here’s the freshly limed bench, and the new curtains:
And the bench by the front door. Perfect for sitting on while removing your shoes, or just for resting a moment on a hot day, letting your back lean against the cool cob wall.
The lime around the stairs:
Once the floor is dry, it’ll be oiled and waxed, and the room will be complete…
except for a ladder…
and a door…
and…
earthen acres 