[Humanpowered] Perfect Cobbing Weather and Our Upcoming Workshops

[Dave Olsen]

The past two months have been stellar for natural building and with my current 
apprentice's energy and enthusiasm, we've been building up a storm.

The weather has been ideal, which is to say warm and varied.  I like using 
material that is not bone dry (it saves on water and time to mix; if it's more 
than just a shower, it turns our "Ready-mix" into "Insta-mix":), so the 
intermittent rain has been a blessing. Contrary to what many believe, I think 
the rain helps further bond and strengthen recently built walls - if it's not 
torrential.  So the light rain we've had has only required the covering of our 
strawbale scaffolding, and the warmth has firmed up the walls so we haven't had 
to slow down even a bit.

We've gone so quickly, we're about to put the 2nd floor on: 12 floor joists (all 
unmilled 4" round timbers spanning up to 9') topped by 2x6 tongue and groove 
Douglas Fir.

In the course of getting up to the 2nd floor, we've almost completed a 
bomb-proof cob staircase: a curving, sweeping set of 14 stairs (8" high, at 
least a foot wide).  These were primarily built using our *Super Fast Cob* 
technique, which means we eliminate the brick making phase and simply mix in 
place.  Lots of Cob Dancing, and this is where the weather /really/ helps: the 
rain makes sure the material is moist right through, so we simply add some straw 
while we dance and get the material in place with our feet.  No bending over 
required!

We have finished the roughing-in of the stairs by using bricks for the ones that 
needed to be built out further and by using our trusty carving spade to define 
the stairs that were "buried" in the Super Fast Cob.

Our first workshop of the year next week is completely sold out (and includes a 
baby!) and we will have a fresh 2nd floor to begin the hands-on learning 
process.  The participants will see what it's like to build from the ground-up 
and place four 7 foot tall windows (from floor to ceiling) and four 6 foot wide 
windows in our new walls.

And they will experience for themselves how quickly our Fast Cob! technique will 
build these walls!  I'll be very surprised if we don't finish the 2nd floor in 
our 6 day workshop.  With 5 learning sessions per day over our 6 day workshop, 
just our apprentice and I would get this done alone, fuelled by our cook's 
delicious 3 hot meals and 2 yummy snacks each day.

I'm especially looking forward to the 8 month old baby being in the thick of 
things.  I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a Fast Cobber in the next decade 
or two, since it'll be difficult not to enjoy every moment of our workshop!  How 
many building sites can safely welcome a beautiful bouncing baby into its environs?

If you're wanting to join us this year, we still have a few spots available in 
our last 3 workshops of the year:

# *July 30-August 6*** *** **Covering all the Basics: Mixes, Bricks, Design, 
Fun! *****
# *July/August *** Kiddie Kob! Family Fun making Cob, Jam, and Art ****
# *August 13-20**** Focusing on Finishing: Plasters, Paints, and Floors  **** *
# **September 10-17 ******* Learning to Live Off-the-Grid *****

Please visit cob.lasqueti.ca/workshops <http://cob.lasqueti.ca/workshops.html> 
for more information and to fill in our on-line application form. If you've ever 
wanted to learn how to build your own house/castle/whatever, you'll be amazed at 
how easy and affordable Fast Cob! will make it!
-- 


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 <mailto: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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