Building a " Palletable Cobin'

[@Andromedes]

Sir, thank you for doing all of this. I was watching your videos for years and slowly learning how to do all of this. Since May i am building my dream house and i am almost finished. It is being build cheaply, reused windows, doors, pallets for free, though i had to buy brand new lumber and roof, which was the most pricey part. But still i build it out of my wallet without any debt. Also i have pure clay on the property, so i had to buy a lots of sand :D Now i am at the stage of plastering. I cant wait to live there. So thank you again for sharing these videos and showing, that it is possible to build cozy, liveable houses to all people who cant or dont want afford mcmansions.

[@cobalot9]

Hi Andrea, glad you have found my videos helpful. Best of luck on the plaster... If you are not able to find hydraulic lime where you are, then type s hydrated lime works as well...

[@krystlephelps3763]

I would love to see what your home looks like now

[@suemacias4118]

Thank you! I kept looking through all your older cobin videos for the beginning steps. This is just what I needed. So appreciated- thank you.

[@cobalot9]

Great Sue, glad its helpful.

[@recargaoficial9106]

Does the clay not come off the pallet? Wouldn't it be wise to cover the pallet with chicken wire?

[@luketraylor6427]

Thanks for the amazing informational videos and building techniques. If I live in an area that can get high wind at times, would you recommend posts in ground over pier and beam? Pier and beam is preferred but I don’t want it blowing away one day. Thanks for your help!

[@ErinSheetsy]

Excellent compilation! Just all the information I was looking for. Thanks Sir Cobalot!

[@cobalot9]

My pleasure Erin, hope it helps...

[@audrabeers3853]

I would love to have u visit us in Luray, Virginia.

[@fightmoneytarism]

Big respect brother! All your work is so valuable. Just heard people in Afghanistan now move to caves because they don't know anymore how to build houses without money. It's a shame how helpless we become. Thanks so much Mr.Cob 👍✊

[@cobalot9]

Yeah, sure thing. That is a shame. Folks in Afganistan and most other parts of the world have been doing natural building for thousand of years... too bad they are not able to continue the tradition and have forgotten the lost art.

[@fortwoods]

Amazing. I didn't know you could put over wood!

[@cobalot9]

Yep you sure can and you don't have to put on a chicken wire mesh or anyting just apply a clay slip and the cob sticks to that great

[@simplyimpish1055]

I need to do the pier block way and wasn’t sure how...thank you very much!

[@cobalot9]

Yes, a nice thing about the pier blocks way is that you dont need to use pressure treated wood. Also, you can attach the pallets as you go... They can bet set in a bed of wet cement too so they dont wobble...

[@CasitaDelCielo]

Is it possible to use COB as an outdoor stucco for a mobile home and if so, how would hold the COB in place? I would like to do this to keep my home cooler and warmer

[@maryhornbostel6959]

How fire resistant is this method?

[@chrisdheinen]

What about mold? Does the straw mold??

[@essentials723]

I got a question,,,,, can you cob the inside of a wood shed for insulation like this????

[@cobalot9]

Yes, you can cob over the wood if it's rough enough, just apply a clay slip first as the glue. An inch of cob won't provide very much insulation though ..

[@criticalnurse-ready8705]

hello. If you could do a short video on how you install the electrical, that would be awesome. Also, do you do sustainable gardening with grey water from the kitchens or showers of your cobin’s? It would’ve great how you install that as well. Thank you so much for your transparency!!

[@cobalot9]

Hi there, for the electrical, I use a blue flexible 1 inch tube called smurf tube and attach that onto the pallets connected to electrical outlet boxes, then I cob over those. Then I hire an electrician to run wires in a conduit underground from the main house to the backyard cobin and then those wires are put through the smurf tubing in the cobin. For the shower, I just have the water go right onto the ground and irrigate water loving plants. Or, I have also connected the water to the plumbing system of the main house.

[@rachelrolseth]

Thank you so much for these videos! My husband and I are going to try making a shed this summer to try out this method. We live in northern WI, so a pretty cold climate. We'd like to do a small cabin after the shed, but we're hoping to bump up the r value. Do you think we could screw two pallets together for double thickness walls and just cob the outer sides?

[@cobalot9]

Glad you are inspired to try out a Palletable Cobin'... You could double up the pallets, would just complicate framing in the windows and door. There would need to be some figuring out... Its complicated... For your first one, id say just do one pallet thick and have a heat source inside. I dont think 2 pallets thick would make that much of a difference in insulation

[@tracielawhorn]

I would love to build a cob house on my property in South Alabama.

[@clintyou1]

I was following a channel called Verdic Way(?). The "Krishna" guy had a novel method of building which has some similarities to your style of building. It started with posts like what you do, but instead of pallets his cross beams were strips of bamboo. Instead of insulating with hay or wool or empty plastic bottles and trash, he actually tamped earth in between the vertical bamboo cross slats. I was getting excited about it but recently came to find out that his house only lasted 7 or 8 years because the posts all rotted out. He did treat them with some sort of black paint and he did stick them in concrete just as you do with your posts. In fact, the whole structure was on a concrete slab with a vapor barrier. So my question is, what do you to be absolutely sure that your posts don't rot and so your cobins collapse on you, especially since you are covering all your wood with wet earth and straw? Where is your oldest standing building and how long is it lasting? Thanks in advance for reading my post.

[@cobalot9]

What you are referring to is called Wattle.& daub. There are huge amounts of these built over the many centuries and they have done great. The Palletable.Cobin is the same concept, just using pallets instead of a bamboo weave as it's way faster and probably a bit sturdier. I've done ones 20 years ago and so far no problem. I do sometimes use PT wood if it's in the ground

[@clintyou1]

​ @cobalot9 This was actually not "weaved" as in wattle and daub. It was straight lengths of bamboo strips screwed into the wooden posts. Then earth was rammed into the middle cavity exactly like they do in rammed earth houses. That is why it intrigued me. The technique is actually quite unique, but sadly it didn't work because of the rotting posts. Admittedly it was in a very humid climate in Central America. But it now has me "gun shy" to try your technique. I wonder how is it that your pallets and posts don't rot as this guy's did.

[@cobalot9]

Gotcha. Probably because my posts are pt, set in concrete and the pallets.are not touching the ground, and they are encased in cob

[@clintyou1]

@@cobalot9 So as not to belabor the subject... you're saying that the cob, despite having organic material and being wet initially, serves to protect the pallet and post wood, not encourage it's degradation? This was my only "sticking" point since I only have theory and have never put anything into practice. Lastly, thanks for engaging your viewers and thanks for your patience with me. I wish you all the success you deserve!

[@cobalot9]

@@clintyou1 Yes, once you put the cob on the palate and then the plaster over that your pallet wood will be protected forever

[@bookman106]

Holy crap, can you say ADHD? This is all over the place but there is some great information in there. Thank you

[@cobalot9]

Yes, there are many steps involved in building these structures

[@BLOODRAINxp]

if I were to have to buy my soil from a dirt yard would a 60/40 mix be ok? Or would i need to add more sand to the mix. Thanks much for the videos you've put out