Published on Tuesday, August 18, 2015
What are Cob Homes
What are Cob Homes
Cob building is by no means a new concept though it is quickly coming back due to the low price of building a cob home as well as the energy and green benefits of cob. Cob homes were originally built more than 500 years ago and in Europe are still built frequently. Cob homes are built with simple and inexpensive materials including wet clay, sand and straw. Everything is built by hand and no special equipment is used. While some people think you have to 'live off the grid' with a cob home, it is actually very possible to get electricity in this type of home with the right type of planning. Your cob home can cost $5,000 or less and you can have cable, internet, phone service and electricity just like any other home.
Properties of Cob Homes
The structure of cob homes includes varies layers of wet material molded together and stacked like bricks to create the home's foundation. The way a cob home is made is very similar to an adobe home. When the cob dries, it will resemble a combination of concrete and rock which is also similar to its hardness and consistency. Plaster is added to the hardened cob to withstand certain weather conditions such as wind and rain; this prevents the home from wearing away and needing to be re-built. The cob walls can be built as thick as you want, but usually between one and three feet in thickness. The thicker the cob walls, the more insulation it will have. Many people also use the cob to build 'furniture' inside the home such as benches and tables against the interior walls.
Materials and Components of Cob Homes
There are three basic materials used to build a cob home; clay, sand and straw. Because most of the materials used to build cob homes, it is considered an eco-friendly way of building homes as most of these components are organic and local and exist in the natural earth. You also do most of the building and forming of the home with your bare hands so no special equipment is needed. A very small amount of energy is used to build a cob home making them energy efficient even during the building process.
Benefits of Cob Homes
The main benefits of building cob homes include the fact that they are very inexpensive, don't require heavy machinery and are easy to do with no experience. All you need to know is the basic concept of how to build a cob home and add insulation and the rest is up to you. The size and shape of the home depends on your own preferences and how much work you want to put into it.
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Author: SuperUser Account
Categories: Green Homes
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