Cob Building in The Tropics - My Recommendations

[@senevirathne]

I’m coming from Sri Lanka and now live in Australia. I’ve seen lot of wattle clay houses been built in remote villages in the tropics of Sri Lanka. They have high rainfall & intense sun & humid. I think this kind of building is the best for the tropics. It has a history of clay buildings to more than 2500 years old.

[@diegoallcore]

Dude I was exactly looking for tropical version of these techniques because I am from Costa Rica haha. Thanks a lot, this content is a lot of effort and is very appreciated

[@kaikai4254]

Same here too, exactly what I was looking for since I am from Belize.

[@forschungsbuero]

In my opinion a lot of thermal mass is very useful to protect against the heat.

[@illzalith8301]

Fun fact: Wattle and daub has a rather rich history in Latin America that often gets overlooked both by locals and foreigners! Here it's called quincha (pronounced keen-cha), a word originally from the Andean Quechua people. Where I currently live in rural Panama there a fair number of these buildings around -usually with older residents or uninhabited, since the mainstream trend is towards cement/concrete buildings. The lattice structure is a little bit different from Wattle and Daub, mostly by having less of a lattice structure, but the design was used for centuries in tectonically unstable regions, so something must be going right. It's hard to find documentation, but some of these buildings are 150 years old at least, and the few I've gone into have been standing since the 50s or 60s without any maintenance so they must be pretty sturdy.

[@1voluntaryist]

First, why change to concrete if the earthen is working so good? Concrete is grossly inferior and more expensive. This is happening all over the world. I saw a documentary about the use of earth buildings in Yemen that have stood for centuries, but now that tech is being replaced by concrete because of the attempt to "modernize", NOT because the concrete is better because it isn't. I'll bet this is tied to politics, e.g., the strings tied to loans.

[@illzalith8301]

@@1voluntaryist I can't speak for other parts of the world, but I'm reasonably sure it's not a loan thing in this part of Panama. I've never actually seen anyone take out a loan to build a house here (maybe for land or already built residences, but never for construction). My theory is that, for a very long time, it was really hard to retrofit earthen buildings built in the local style with things like plumbing or electrical. The few places I've seen from the inside tend to have the wiring out in the open, which seems to me like a hazard. It may have just been easier to build a new house (with the land they already had, since there's a lot of open space here) than it was to add running water for a kitchen and bathroom. These houses were also probably abandoned in the latter half of the 20th century, when modern building materials were just reaching this area in quantities where it took less time and effort to buy bags of cement and cinderblock than it took to cut sugar cane and dig up soil in the hills. It's also a class thing, where living in an earthen house is a visual symbol of poverty here (in other parts of panama, it's wooden homes, or bamboo). Nobody wants to have the aesthetic of poverty, and building an earthen house, and building an earthen house thats totally lux isn't realistic for local builders, so concrete is the only way to avoid looking broke.

[@SlothsDontLie]

Im planning to buy land in Ghana one day and it gets hot there. I want to avoid running air conditioning as much as I can. Does wattle and daub keep the home pretty cool? (I've only come across videos mentioning how cool cob houses tend o be.)

[@danicachorman4939]

i am possibly moving to Panama in the near future. its looking like Bocas Del Torro most likely. Do you have any recomendations as to how i would even start looking for someone to build a waddle and daub home? Any information would help

[@shamimara5308]

Hi I am living in southern Africa and the climate here is hot and humid and it also rains a lot. Thanks a lot for this video it was helpfull as I intend to build a house with natural material and we have all kinds of soil here.

[@Trapstafari]

Wonderful video brother! Answered the main questions I've been searching for, thank you so much!

[@marcofidelvargasrodriguez7206]

I want to build something like this in Guanacaste Costa Rica. Thanks for the video

[@meh4164]

I have seen Cob homes in Indian villages that are at least 100 years old still standing good. But the rainfall in these places are less(less than 1500 mm/60 inches in a year). These homes usually have large overhang roofs to protect from rain and they stay cool in summer. So I think thick walls of cob are still useful in tropics. However I agree with your alternatives. I also saw similar age wattle & daub with earthen plaster homes in the same region as above mentioned Cob homes. Have not seen earth bag structure since they are recently developed.

[@1voluntaryist]

In Sacramento I made adobe with high clay soil, emulsified asphalt, in the '50s. The e.a. was a waste product sold for $5/55 g. barrel which amounted to a give-away because barrels cost $15. But it worked perfect, blocks were still like new 40 years later. I sifted the soil (50% sand/50% clay) to get an even distribution of waterproofing, the e.a. was mixed 50/50 with water and a dab of detergent to get homogenization. It darkened the blocks. My clay must have been the correct kind. That's important. So is sifting. The blocks were removed from crankcase-oiled forms after a day, dried in 100+ temps. No cracking. If I had to do it now I wouldn't mix water/e.a. I would use water for the block/brick, dry, and soak it in the (now) expensive e.a. hoping to get a penetration just enough to waterproof. Also, I would design the block/brick to be interlocking to exclude the need for mortar. Instead of dab or cob just form a less wide brick, after testing it for strength (correct clay?), and experiment with adding ash or slag or both to lesson the need for P.C. if you can't get e.a. Progress is being made in the search for a better binding cement, geopolymers.

[@allthingsloveone4584]

Wowwwww you really know your stuff!

[@angelsuniverse6021]

Sorry to ask but what e.a. stand for? Ty

[@1voluntaryist]

@@angelsuniverse6021 e.a. = emulsified asphalt, a naturally occurring substance found in pools worldwide and a by-product of oil refining. It water-proofs.

[@marthabello7665]

Thanks for sharing this with the world.

[@amazingGrace108]

This is gold. Thank you.

[@dboi4952]

I’m planning on building an adobe brick house in Nigeria, which hovers just above the equator and has a tropical climate. I love the look of straw/thatch roofing(and the price). Have you had experience with this and would you recommend it for an adobe brick house?

[@thiscobhouse]

It would be just fine as long as you can find an experienced thatcher. In the USA, its nearly impossible to find a thatcher or the material to do it. Over there might be a different story though.

[@brucehill7011]

6ft overhang minimum to also create usefull ergonomic space as a second function to keeping rain away

[@brucehill7011]

Wattle and daub is way better, hi mass is a huge mistake. Ive seen high mass structures that condense moisture 24-7 inside the structure. Because concrete transmits moisture it can wick it up into the wall or wood posts also

[@Urbanbarefootcreatives]

nice video and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. Iam in Bali, aprox 10degree south of ecuator. how do you build or what do you use for the foundation in your tropic construction as seen in this video. thanks and regards

[@fabricio-agrippa-zarate]

Hi. I live in a placer with very similar climate than CR, and I was thinking exactly on doing a adobe house. Not only I think it's going to be the best option, it's also something workers are more familiar with (building with bricks and mortars, basically), and it's very traditional, too. One question I have is what's the difference between the mud that would turn into bricks and the mud that would act as mortar.

[@mukundbhujbal8222]

How to protect our cob house from termite

[@thiscobhouse]

Try to use treated wood, if available. And reduce moisture in the building and the roofing as much as possible.

[@mrvgranfield]

the use of lime in combo with hemp stops insects and vermin

[@boringusername792]

My only comment re thermal mass, is in places where it's very hot during the day and very cool at night it would probably work well. If the temperature fluctuation is low then it might be useless or even counterproductive. Isn't wattle and daub less long lasting?

[@embasador4yhvh]

We are in Panamà and in mid construction. We used cement block foundation and ply wood walls (lightly cobbed. Our intention is to have cob walls about 6 inches wide on the inside soon, but the rain is keeping everything wet. Do u think we should wait until the summer months to do the wall? Would it be okay for me to email you for some more advice?

[@kitsomers4219]

Thanks! I’d appreciate your view on light earth / hempcrete mix on stilts not concrete slab in the subtropics ( Queensland, Australia.

[@Jonas-tn4tu]

Hey did you happen to find any information on this for your area? Very interested as I am in northern nsw with a similar vision

[@kitsomers4219]

@@Jonas-tn4tu learning from Hempcrete companies......very helpful....not a lot of luck on light earth......but Hempcrete is my passion so I’m planning a bit bigger than tiny on sticks with as much Hempcrete as I can afford.....it’s classed as a lightweight material so it will be council approved but it will need specific engineering knowledge too....happy to connect, good luck, nothing more exciting than building your own dwelling. ♥️

[@guavatrang7144]

The only reason I'm going to build cob here in Thailand is so that i have a thick thermally insulated wall that keeps out the searing tropical heat. It can be 40c and rarely below 30 in the day in S.Thailand. So, I am surprised to hear you say wattle and daub as an adequate alternative for the tropics. Costa Rica 9 degrees North and my place 7, so about the same climate. Shadow of doubt.

[@thiscobhouse]

If you can do cob without trouble in Thailand, that would be a great option. I just had so many complications with cob in Costa Rica, I would either need to use a different method, or do some serious tests to get cob to dry properly there.

[@ShikokuFoodForest]

From my understanding, cob dies NOT provide thermal insulation - only thermal mass. Did you build your cob house in Thailand? How is it? I’m currently researching options to build in the Philippines 🇵🇭.

[@evresort]

Where you in costa rica during the rainy season? Thinking of building one on my lot in Nicaragua, dry season can be super dry. Maybe time it with the correct season for the cob consistency?

[@thiscobhouse]

It actually was the dry season when I was working there.

[@luciabaldizon9813]

We have a summer and winter, and Costa Rica has many climates, in diferent regions. You didn't mención what part of costa rica

[@prodotpuypuysworld2490]

How about earthbag? With a ratio of 7:3 would it be great instead? Like in the Philippines were earthquake is prevalent.

[@thomastroub4563]

What about earth bags?

[@thiscobhouse]

I think they will do great. But I would not recommend building them in dome-style. They need a roof on them to protect from heavy rains. I don't think any plaster could hold up to rains for too long.

[@thomastroub4563]

Thank you

[@marcop629]

First?