[Humanpowered] Announcing our 2023 Fast Cob Workshops

[Dave Olsen]

Did you know that Fast Cob is now even Faster?  30x, for both mixing and 
building, compared to "traditional" west coast cob.  That's not an exaggeration 
either!  It took *less person-hours* to build a 900 round.ft. split level home 
than a 64 round.ft. utility shed with a sleeping loft

(Please note that rampant Inflation is causing our workshop fees to go up in 
2023; you can avoid this increase if you register and pay in full before the end 
of 2022; see below to find out how).

A professional carpenter who attended two of our workshops in 2018 compared the 
output in a day and he was certain that Fast Cob was as fast as wood-frame 
construction (that uses 10s of thousands of dollars of tools).  Now, the mixing 
is twice as fast and much easier...I'm almost 60 and can mix all day while my 
daughter doesn't even get tired!

I'm convinced that Fast Cob is _the_ fastest building technique on the planet!  
Without power, expensive tools or crews of workers.

Big statement.  But we have proof.  Hard proof.  Proof that will last hundreds 
of years!

And with that, I'd like to announcement our 2023 Fast Cob Workshop 
<https://cob.lasqueti.ca/workshops.html> Dates:

  * *Thursday May 18 to Monday May 22 (over the Canadian Victoria Day Long
    Weekend) - Focus on Finishing**
    *
  * ** *Thursday June 15 to Monday June 19 - All the Basics of Building*
  * *Thursday June 22 to Monday June 26 - NEW! - Production Cob (for recent
    Graduates of All the Basics ONLY)
    *

Thursdays and Mondays are travel days with a Welcome Dinner and Farewell 
Breakfast included.

Again this year we will only welcome 6 people to each workshop, so space is 
obviously limited.

Our Focus on Finishing 3 day intensive <https://cob.lasqueti.ca/workshops.html> 
will do exactly that: we show you "first layer" of plastering (which nobody else 
has done), the finish layer with two different aggregates (sand and lime), 
natural pigment paints (with a DIY recipe), and lime-wash.  If the energy level 
holds up, we'll also pour a cob floor!

We've made finishing not only gorgeous, but very easy.  Our lime plaster is 
perfect for areas subjected to water spray (like showers and sinks).  The sand 
plaster is limit-less in its applications and making.  The natural paints are 
completely non-toxic at every stage and as vibrant as any other pigment, ranging 
from bright white, to yellows, oranges, reds, greens, blue, purple and black.  
All from our Mother Earth.

Our All the Basics of Building 3 day intensive workshop 
<https://cob.lasqueti.ca/workshops.html> will focus on our mixing and building 
technique so that you can develop muscle memory that you will never lose.  In 
between hands-on sessions, we'll do talking tours of foundations, roofs, and 
plumbing and electrical installations.

This year we'll be deep in the forest building a bike shed; although our 
workshops are all about learning (these are work_shops_ not work_camps_!), the 
technique makes building so fast and fun that I'll be surprised if we don't get 
to put on a rafter or two near the end of the workshop.

If you've been wanting to break away from the chains of civilized life and build 
your own home that is fire-proof, insect-proof, rodent-proof, and possibly 
earthquake-proof (we'll see how big the next one is), this is the technique that 
will revolutionize your life, and you won't create an ounce of garbage in the 
process.  But you will create buildings that your descendants will cherish and 
utilize for generations.

I'm also excited to offer *a $200 discount* to anyone who registers for the 
*Focus on Finishing and All the Basics Workshops* at the same time.

The *Production Cob Workshop* is brand new for this year.  We will take your 
skill to the next level.  Your mixing will not only speed up noticeably, the 
ease will surprise you.  Building a wall (we'll be expanding a greenhouse by 
building a wall outside of an existing wall and underneath an existing glass 
roof) will be so fast we'll have to consciously slow it down!  Production Cob 
built a 9 foot wide, 8 foot tall, 7 foot deep Cob Oven (all Fast Cob) in only 2 
weeks by 2.5 people (you can see it in action in Cochrane, Alberta!).

Only people who have completed an All the Basics Workshop will be invited to 
attend the Production Cob Workshop, and the cost will reflect our standard 
policy of generously discounting Fast Cob graduates who take another workshop.  
Please see our Workshop page on our website or contact me if you have any questions.

And if you're curious about why the Finishing workshop is scheduled before the 
Building workshop, I had an intuitive thought in 2018 and that professional 
carpenter confirmed it: by seeing how to finish a cob building first, it allows 
you relax and build with even more ease, overcoming the common tendency to be a 
perfectionist when building.  That tendency makes perfect sense when building 
with wood (mistakes get expensive!), but Fast Cob is the ultimate in forgiving.  
I even call Fast Cob the "Art of Imperfection!"

Now for the downside of hosting workshops in an inflationary world: the workshop 
fees have to go up.  This year, they will go up by 10% ($98), but I've always 
strived to keep our workshops affordable so you can break out of the debt cycle 
they want you in.  So, anyone who registers and puts down half of the workshop 
fee can lock in the 2022 rate of $980.

If you're worried about our workshops getting cancelled, in 17 years we haven't 
even delayed one, much less cancelled any.  They can make up anything they want, 
but we'll keep hosting our workshops according to our schedule.  If YOU can't 
make it, then your deposit can be applied to _any_ workshop you can make, with 
no expiry date.

To be clear, if you want to lock in our 2022 rates for the workshop of your 
choice in 2023, you will need to send in your application (then wait to have it 
approved) AND pay a deposit of $490 before the end of 2022.  The balance of $490 
will be due one full week in advance of your workshop start date.  Please see 
our Workshop page online for all the details about all of our workshops.

For me, the best aspect of living in a cob building is that they act like a 
thermal battery.  When they turn up the heat (via HAARP or in China or from the 
10,000s of satellites), our home is still cool enough to sleep comfortably - 
upstairs!  When the snow falls (as it just did), the floor that is heated from 
the Rocket Mass Heater is bare-foot warm when we get up after a long sleep.

If there was any sense to the civilization that engulfs us, cob buildings would 
be the norm and the forests would be safe again.  I will not comply with their 
plan to denude the planet.  And if you empower yourself through our workshops, 
you'll be amazed at the world you can create, affordably and without dependence 
on anything but yourself.  How's that for a revolution in building!

PS. Masks may NOT be worn at our workshops (it will harm you) and if you allow 
yourself to be injected with any of their genetic/control experiments, please 
allow for a minimum of 60 days before attending any workshop (I've been infected 
through shedding and it was not fun).  Thank you for understanding.
-- 


Dave Olsen

web: cob.lasqueti.ca <http://cob.lasqueti.ca/>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 Fast Cob!

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