[Humanpowered] Build your dream AND live debt-free

Thu Feb 18 22:45:31 PST 2016

Thanks Dave for this mail. I am really interested in cob houses. I am
joining the list.

On 19 February 2016 at 10:27, Dave Olsen <cob at lasqueti.ca> wrote:

> (This can also be read at cob.lasqueti.ca/blog and you are welcome to
> forward this widely.  Thanks, Dave)
>
> If you have a craving to build your own cozy home, but have felt
> frustrated trying to make it happen, you are far from alone.
>
> You don't need me to tell you that the typical recipe of work, work, work
> (and then work some more) to save up for a down payment and then try to pay
> off the mortgage for the rest of your life, does not often bring joy and
> happiness, and can even end up with the hard worker poor and destitute and
> even homeless.
>
> And then there's the housing chicken and egg: when you have some time to
> consider building, you don't have the money.  And when you are able to earn
> enough money, you don't have the time!
>
> I'm writing to you to say, YES, there is way to build your dream home
> without working yourself into a grave!!!
>
> I'm sure there are MANY other ways, but I know one and I want to share it
> with you.  It not only brings me constant joy and happiness, but it has
> allowed me to build my dreams and do it without going into debt - at all!
>
> The path I chose started in 1996 when I took my first Cob Workshop.  I was
> thrilled to learn how to build my own house...all in a week!  My next
> challenge took longer: finding a place to build.  But when I finally landed
> here on Lasqueti, I knew this was it.
>
> What I didn't know was that the method I learned to build with would
> exhaust me and not even get an outhouse completed.  It was beyond slow.  It
> required a sizable community to effectively build.  And luckily for me,
> there was a burgeoning cob community right here on Lasqueti!
>
> So the Mudgirls and I organized the first workshop at our home.  We agreed
> that the 9ft/3m-diameter utility shed would be completed in 1 workshop.  So
> 4 hard-working women, an instructor, and I started.  6 full days later, we
> barely reached the top of the door frames; there was still another foot+
> and a loft to go!  So we organized a fall workshop, and it got us up to the
> first floor.  Oh well, the first of the winter tarps was laid and the
> following summer, 10 people wanted to learn and help build!  How could it
> not be done after those 6 days?
>
> Well, it wasn't.  But I'll never complain because that workshop provided
> the birth of the revolutionary method that we now call Fast Cob!  At the
> time, we coined the phrase: "4 corner Korean noodle take out" to describe
> the method that Soban literally invented in a couple of days of tinkering.
> Suddenly, I could mix much faster, and with practice and more tinkering, I
> estimate that I now mix 10x faster and use MUCH less of my own energy doing
> so.  It's not as easy as lying on a couch, but I can do this all day,
> everyday and not be exhausted (which I can't say is true when I lay on a
> couch:).
>
> That workshop ended and I finished the utility shed in two weekends all by
> myself.  Well, actually I had the help of a beautiful Arbutus tree who
> offered her body to allow me to pulley up buckets of Fast Cob! to the 2nd
> floor.  In gratitude, I built the cedar shake roof around her generous self
> and she still seems as vibrant and alive as ever.
>
> Since then, I've been teaching others how to build with ease and joy.  And
> now I want to share it with you.
>
> Fast Cob! is at least 10x faster to mix than "traditional" West Coast Cob,
> and it is up to 30x faster to put on a wall.  But more importantly, it now
> compares to the speed of conventional building with wood.  Fast Cob! can
> build a 400 sq ft, 1 bedroom cabin in a month.  That's 1 person, working 7
> hours a day, 5 days a week.  And it includes the foundation and roof and a
> finished coat of plaster.
>
> But how do you do all this and stay out of debt?
>
> There's no doubt that land costs will make this tricky.  If you want to
> build in a populated area and own the land outright, it will cost a lot of
> money just to get started.
>
> But there are options here, too.
>
> Land co-ops are more common than you'd think.  Often they are disguised as
> Stratas.  Some require a commitment to the community but offer a almost
> free fee to join and maintain your membership.  Bottom-line: it is possible
> to find land that is affordable for you to start building on.
>
> And once you do find a place to build...
>
> No debt is required to get your dream house on the ground!  Cob is
> literally dirt-cheap!  This is what I know:
>
> Fast Cob! needs material that is mostly sand and has enough clay to make
> it all stick together.  We add straw for tensile strength, which basically
> keeps that sandcastle from melting in the waves.  Water allows us to mix it
> all and activate the clay that will keep it stuck together for centuries.
> That's it.  Dirt cheap.
>
> Sand and clay can literally be dug out of the ground.  If you're lucky,
> your building site will provide all the material you need for free (if you
> dig by hand) or cheap (if you use a machine or hire someone to use a
> machine).  I've hired people to bring it near our building sites with dump
> trucks.  It would be a challenge to exceed a few thousand dollars here; the
> 400 sq ft 1 bedroom cabin would cost about $400.
>
> Straw can be grown or bought.  But if you have another hollow grass/reed
> that is plentiful and nearby, use that, especially if it's free.  This cost
> is at most hundreds of dollars; that cabin would cost at most $100.
>
> Doors and windows can be expensive.  But they can also be free.  Let's
> compromise and budget $500.
>
> Water can be the biggest delay to building, if you're starting on raw land
> without public water service.  Always choose gravity feed over pumps.
> Don't go the easy route and buy pumps if you have any chance at all of
> using gravity to do the water collecting/transporting.  Gravity always
> works; pumps will break, guaranteed.
>
> Starting from scratch to provide your own water for living and building
> can cost as little as a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
>
> Now your tools.  Timber frame houses will cost you tens of thousands of
> dollars in tools.  Fast Cob! will cost you about a hundred if you buy new
> and don't need a wheelbarrow.  Let's be extravagant here and buy everything
> new, including a wheelbarrow: $300.  Yes, you read that right, which
> includes a waterhose, spray nozzle with valve, tarps to mix on, level,
> shovel, and an (old) handsaw.
>
> Are you beginning to believe that building your dream home can be done
> without going into debt?  I hope so because our budget for that 1 bedroom
> cabin just got up to $1,300.  But we haven't factored in a foundation or a
> roof yet....
>
> I prefer to build foundations out of real (free) rock.  If you have access
> to free urbanite (broken concrete that is banned from most landfills), that
> would likely be easier but less lovely.  If you really prefer concrete, you
> can do that, too.  I'm not sure how much that would cost because it depends
> if cement trucks can get to you and if you do it yourself, the tool cost
> just went up.  So I'm going to add together the cost of all of the
> foundations for the 6 buildings I've built and add that to our running
> total: $0.
>
> The roof, however, is far from free in my experience.  Thatchers would
> likely disagree, but I don't have those skills (yet).  I have built cedar
> shake roofs with shakes I've split myself, but believe it or not, that was
> much more expensive than the metal roofs I've purchased.  And metal roofs
> are fireproof and SO much easier to put up.  So I'll put a metal roof on
> our 1 bedroom cabin: $640
>
> The rafters and purlins to support the roof can be free as well if you
> build near a forest.  If not, then there's a significant cost, which I'll
> assume for you since there ain't much forest left on our planet (I'll get
> to more of that next email;).  So for our cabin, let's add $400.
>
> The strapping for the roof is another $500.  The ceiling is optional but
> would cost about $300 for tongue and groove pine.
>
> Screws are not cheap but won't break your budget either.  Let's add $400
> to be safe.
>
> Now there are other details to add, like kitchen counters, appliances and
> even a wood stove.  All of these can be obtained for free or for a lot of
> money.  I'll let you decide.
>
> Ignoring those details, our 400 sq ft, 1 bedroom cabin is $1,000 plus
> tools and the roof, which I've estimated to cost $2,240.  Maybe you are a
> thatcher or have a friend that can do it for less.  But if not, our dream
> cabin costs a total of *$3,540*!!!  And it can be built by 1 person in 1
> month with Fast Cob!
>
> That's right, less than $4,000.  There are no missing zeros.  The last new
> home price I rode by in Parksville said $419,000 plus GST.  The GST alone
> is more than 5x the cost of our hand-crafted home.
>
> Yes, it IS possible to build your dream home and NOT go into debt.  And in
> my next email I'll show you how it's possible to build your dream home and
> NOT destroy the planet...actually, we'll even help the planet...imagine
> that!
> --
>
>
> Dave Olsen
>
> web: cob.lasqueti.ca
> <http://cob.lasqueti.ca/join-our-mailing-list-for-free-access-to-our-training-videos.html>
>   email: <cob at lasqueti.ca>cob at lasqueti.ca    phone: 877.873.1797 or
> 604.216.6700
>
>
> Build your dream...easier, faster, and more affordably with Cob!
>
>
>
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-- 
Kisan Bhat
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