Cob - Build a house, pay cash.

[josh7328]

What happens if you break a window? I don't know much about construction, but it looks like it would be difficult to do a replacement on some of those. Is there framing underneath, then you just build the stucco back up?

build in regular window frames... or bulletproof glass to go with the 2 foot thick earthen wall. haha

[rondog]

All very cool, and I could dig it.....but my wife wouldn't touch any one of them with a 10 ft. pole. Unless, of course, it was HER idea.

[Wulf202]

monolithic is what im gonna build for myself.

[xring]

I would be worried about the strength of a straw bale house. Am I missing something?

Im not sure how his uncle did it. Conventially straw bale uses turnbuckles to compress a wall of straw bales and conventional beams - very strong. In larimer county this doesnt fly you basicly have to build a pole barn the bales can only be used for insulation not structure which defeats the whole purpouse. Code may have changed. Earth ships are getting really really nice. Dirt is free.

[xring]

In my uncles place the house's corners were cut down telephone poles. The walls were poles laid on the there side at the bottom and top. Before the top was placed on the wall holes were drilled into the poles for rebar. Then the bales were placed up top and pushed down with the rebar going thru them before the top pole was placed on top.

The roof was done the same way....but sideways.

Instead of anchoring the poles to the concrete slab they dug out the foundation areas to accept the poles, and they were placed in the cement slab as it was being poured. Very few nails used structurally in this house.

Their problem was selling it 20 yrs later...no once could get a loan for it...so they sold the land, with a "shed" on it.

The banks wont touch anything unconventional with a ten foot pole. Which is why we are still building buildings that burn down, use 10x energy, and last 50 years instead of 500. I knew a guy who was pretty knowladable had built a lot of unconventional homes. He said you are far better off ignoring code and permits. Youll never get a Certificate of occupancy or sell it as a house but you know that right from the start. He said a pretty good septic system could be made out of 55gallon barrels and PVC. You have a place to live and your children do too. Not that im advocating that. With satelite mapping nowadays the county pretty much knows what is where. They know the size of your popo if you pee outside.THe travel trailer is still the best option for most. stack strawbales next to it to insulate. If you get a job elswhere you can sell it and get your dough out.

[cstone]

I always thought this would be an interesting way to start. A couple of guys and a front end loader can build a pretty impressive and very solid building rather quickly with these things:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesco_bastion

[Great-Kazoo]

The banks wont touch anything unconventional with a ten foot pole. Which is why we are still building buildings that burn down, use 10x energy, and last 50 years instead of 500. I knew a guy who was pretty knowladable had built a lot of unconventional homes. He said you are far better off ignoring code and permits. Youll never get a Certificate of occupancy or sell it as a house but you know that right from the start. He said a pretty good septic system could be made out of 55gallon barrels and PVC. You have a place to live and your children do too. Not that im advocating that. With satelite mapping nowadays the county pretty much knows what is where. They know the size of your popo if you pee outside.THe travel trailer is still the best option for most. stack strawbales next to it to insulate. If you get a job elswhere you can sell it and get your dough out.

The only thing straw bales are good for, if not properly sealed are MICE

Guys i know up on the rez in SD have done a few bale and mud homes. Damn things kept warm with small pot belly stove. Down side is as mentioned before, cheap to build and maintain are not what mortgage, insurance and utility companies want to deal with. The general public wants lavish for little money and would be, or are in debt up to their armpits just because they had to have.

Imagine if second (thrift stores) and living more cost efficiently became fashionable?

[josh7328]

My thing is the debt issue. I don't want to be in debt for 30 years with a mortgage. Debt is just a generally bad practice in my mind and I try my best to avoid it.

[tmleadr03]

Have you guys ever heard of the building material called cob? Looks like a pretty amazing way to go if you're thinking of building your own house. Only thing is you gotta find a place with building codes that allow you to build it. Google it!

Here is an example of a nice Cob house.
http://www.tinyhousetalk.com/the-lit...ouse-in-texas/

Various Cob homes and structures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=GbM2In5Hfx4

250k for less then 900 sqft in 1989? Fuck that. I could design and build a 2000 sq ft home with 90% of the energy savings for less.

[josh7328]

250k for less then 900 sqft in 1989? Fuck that. I could design and build a 2000 sq ft home with 90% of the energy savings for less.

25k... not 250k and he went with a lavish interior