How To Build A COB HOUSE | Introduction & Building Design

In this tutorial series we will be learning step-by-step how to build a cob house from the foundation to the roof. Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, and straw that is hand-sculpted into elegant, strong, sustainable, and affordable structures.
In this episode we cover a basic overview of the building processes and also take a walkthrough of the building with the instructors.
Learning to build with local natural materials is one of the most rewarding activities you can participate in. Natural building encourages community building, allows us to reconnect to nature, creates a rewarding symbiotic relationship with our environment, encourages creative expression, and is overall a healing experience.
If you are interested in learning more about natural building or taking a future natural building workshop be sure to follow us on Instagram @naturalbuildings to keep up to date with our ongoing offerings and projects.
This cob workshop was taught by CruzinCobGlobal, an organization that hosts cob workshops all over the world.
Timeline:
0:00 - Introduction
0:54 - Meeting the Instructors
3:22 - Explanation of Cob
4:59 - Building Design
7:00 - The Foundation
8:30 - Building Cob Walls
10:23 - A Look Inside
11:44 - Pouring an Earthen Floor
13:10 - Sculpting & Artistic Expression
14:09 - Clay Plaster
14:47 - The Reciprocal Living Roof
17:03 - Reflection
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#primitive #primitivetechnology #cobhouse

[@turiyapanama]

Nothing like living in a natural space! We moved into the one I built about 9 months ago. Never slept better! I did lime tadelakt on the exterior walls to protect it from the tropical rain/winds we get here, but love your style as well!

[@naturalbuildings]

🙏🙏🙏

[@angelhopeshaktiathena1429]

💜❤️💚

[@SuerteDelMolinoFarm]

Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain where we currently live through a drought and we are creating swales in the clay soil.

[@tinyfarmlab]

Cob is the ultimate building material and we loved building our hand-sculpted mud house over the Ganges. We also built a mud house with a reciprocal living roof but it is not a round house. We chose cob to build because it's fun to build. We thought we were building a house but we ended up making great memories and friendships for life. What you guys do in 5 weeks is super optimized

[@sweetchestnut]

That house is the epitome of my dream. Looks solid & beautiful 🥰❤

[@velvetvideo]

We need more of these communities everywhere. If there is a west coast community, please share it. This is the future I want.

[@ToshiSanglir-qx3cn]

Out of this world! I love how you can take some clay and sand and turn it into a paradise!

[@brunodunshee8937]

- I"m building my second bioconstrutive house! Is a very empowering experiênce. People show up from every where to help ... It is magical. 👏👏👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@frankytrevor7]

really?! where do you live? How you do it? Thank you

[@brunodunshee8937]

@@frankytrevor7 I Live in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil!

[@emilyguerrero4454]

My husband and I have been dreaming of making a home like this and I can’t stop watching the videos !!!! Thank you for your inspiration

[@naturalbuildings]

Thanks for enjoying the series :) I’m glad it’s helpful!!

[@iahelcathartesaura3887]

Building this would be therapy. I would build it to do this by myself at times, with people at times, and to take a picture of it and say look what I did! Even if it took a whole season or a year or years. Building this or anything even smaller and resembling this, would change your life forever on the inside and out ❤ YES in order to build community. Greetings from Asheville from a generational western North Carolina native!

[@somethingstupid699]

Glory to Humanity! There is no greater purpose than devoting our lives to it!

[@ValerieOstvik]

Look at those awesome builders!

[@fizzedupslade4082]

This looks like a great collective experience and obviously the benefit of giving and taking with grace. Well done to you, I wish you well and hope the team or future teams can do similar elsewhere and offer a relief from homelessness and offering of opportunities for financial and emotional security.

[@alinastobinska-chrapkiewic8327]

Podoba mi się Wasz projekt,kreatywność,entuzjazm,,,gratuluję :)

[@netanovaes461]

Wow Paulinha e todo o povo presente! Parabéns e gratidão por esse presente fantástico nesse registro desse projeto!! Beautiful, maravilhoso!! Beijos desde Sapucaí-Mirim não longe da casa da Naia... Haverá de ter um projeto COB breve, já desenhando em sonho, lá no meu pedaço!!! Beijo enorme, saudade querida. Axé Aho Congrats!!!

[@richlijacanacua]

Awesome! This is a very effective and eco-friendly alternative way of Architecture! Good for our health and environment!

[@MARIALUIZA-vu3no]

Congratulations to all these young people who think and work with their heart and soul. Life on Earth gives you much thanks.🎉❤❤🌏🌍🌎👏👏👏💖💖💖🌿🌿🌿🌿

[@randiclark1]

Beautiful - Lots of love to all the artist and Earth!

[@yisraelselassie4179]

Greetings from Florida. Thank You for your works and for sharing this knowledge.

[@mariocerrilloavila8068]

Es una obra de arte hecha casa.

[@gibransanchez5753]

Nice people, great vibes!

[@renan3916]

muito top galera! otimo trabalho

[@lauramays5362]

So beautiful in so many ways ❤❤❤❤

[@Mlango_Farm]

This is stunning! We started building with cob in Central Kenya, but what you are doing is amazing!

[@matthewwilliams3827]

This hut reminds me when I play MYST IV. Really cool aesthetic, love it.

[@mudbloodbuilds]

Nice work Cooper!

[@NellGeisslingerOfficial]

Beautiful.

[@funkydave100]

greetings from Mexico the house is really something special congrats to the hosts as well as the workers involved superb job!

[@carolinagutierrez-lira1278]

Hermosa y perfecta....casa

[@Xionlux]

awesome job !

[@peacockLife]

how amazing is that.. close to earth.. goat.. yay

[@twigandroot]

Right on!

[@followthe_feathers_]

So amazing 🤩

[@tbedit]

CONGRATS ❣ Its beautiful 🥰 I ❤ it

[@OrganicAlumination]

This is absolutely amazing 🌌🌌🌌✨✨✨✨💖💖💖

[@robertwagner2079]

Cob is art and architecture in the hands of a craft person.

[@rubybarreto6633]

Me encanta haverles descubierto, llá que Ami me encantan todo lo organico Pues mis mejores experiencias fuero con mis abuelos en un pueblito en Mexico y mi abuelo sembraba y mientras El tenia que quedarce en El monte donde sembraba y cultibaba, y me gustaria fincar una casita asi en un acre que tengo en tres puntas en Tucson Arizona, pero como soy una señora de casi 60 años y con muchas enfermedades, me llebaria muchos años hacerla y claro no tan bonita y ni tan segura como las que ustedes hacen, perome inspiraron y por lo menos tratare 😂 gracias por inpirar a uno con sus bellos Y creativos proyectos 🤩 Saludos desde Tucson Arizona 👋 BENDICIONES 🙏

[@OzkAltBldgCo-bv8tt]

As somebody who's built a couple Cob structures I love it but I'm excited that soon adobe mills will be regular thing in rural America Like rock and bamboo mills.

[@ktsnguyenquocdat]

It make very beautiful. Thank all.

[@1Shelter]

coat it with a layer of lime and you can make it pretty much water resistant on the surface level atleast. if there was lime introduced into the cob mixture, then the whole wall could have become waterproof.

[@illummise8436]

Some do that too! I think it's a great idea

[@darcyroyce]

We have been building them in Hungary for hundred of years, and you can find whole villages, they're square houses usually, but they're amazing. I want to build a retirement one myself in some years.

[@desertsolidude]

Beautiful work. Trying to learn how to cob over a little pallet structure I made. This is very helpful! Just need a roof first😂

[@gabrielleyadav3661]

I love this so much ❤❤

[@benderbender1233]

🖖 this is the way!!

[@efrenmoreno7706]

That's so Freaking AWESOME

[@naturalbuildings]

🙏🙏🫶🫶

[@AE-hb6hr]

Nice

[@karmendrsingh6890]

Beautiful ❤️ Beautiful

[@user-bd3rs4tm9r]

I love it❤soo cool

[@Mikhaylyuk.Y.U]

Дуже гарний домік.

[@comovidro]

this is beautiful content, thank you

[@naturalbuildings]

🙏🫶

[@tasaneesomintr871]

So beautiful

[@nononnomonohjghdgdshrsrhsjgd]

Really very nice

[@oliviamarques3506]

Parabéns a todos 😊❤❤❤❤❤

[@honest1966]

That so great to see that blacks thought you guys how to build naturally! I am curious to know if they get a profit out of this accomplishment. Thank you for your video!

[@naturalbuildings]

All human beings used to build their homes out of local natural materials…

[@Yeshua73732]

Coolest small houses there is

[@damarisjimenez9987]

Fantástico Fantastic

[@nicoleyazdzik4031]

I’d love to attend your classes! Can snakes, critters & bugs enter through the foundation?

[@naturalbuildings]

We plugged all the gaps we could with a cement mortar in the foundation but it’s also possible to build in a way where your interior cob walls/plaster come all the way down to meet your earthen floor and there is no gaps/stone showing inside of the cob house.

[@naturalbuildings]

Be sure to follow us @naturalbuildings. We’ll be hosting workshops next year :)

[@greeneyes2480]

❤❤❤

[@Lyy554]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@adventurelife_]

Damn you inspired me.

[@nicolefish9285]

thank you

[@darshackful]

Sincères félicitations

[@JacobH-xo1nk]

Is this freely open and offered to anyone interested?

[@justsomenobody889]

@@GlockPeace 😮

[@jamesemrick7604]

This by far is my favorite. I’d like to come and learn how to do this?

[@jamesemrick7604]

I’m trying to find out where I go to get the information

[@naturalbuildings]

Follow us on Instagram and DM me 😃 will try to help you find opportunity based on where you live

[@erikaprentovitch2508]

Moving off grid and want to build natural. I Love this space you've created. However the area I'm building is in a cold climate, winters can see -30 temperatures. Do you have any suggestions?

[@happycook6737]

Pioneers on the prairie often built sod homes that were partially dug into the ground. Those areas were extremely hot/cold depending on the season.

[@dudeman5812]

This is everything I want to see happening in the world

[@naturalbuildings]

🙏🫶

[@globalcitizen1138]

Really ??? But what a primitive way of living ...don't you think ?

[@theurbanthirdhomestead]

​@@globalcitizen1138 So what? Some of us don't think all the advancements are worth it. You know, giving up our eternal soul for temporary comfort...

[@issacpowell1309]

I would recommend putting in a wood floor just to add some safety especially if you live somewhere it has lightning

[@nadlyn7570]

Hi 👋🏾, my goal is to build a home like this in Jamaica 🇯🇲. I don't know how to do this but would like to use the natural/recycled resources in Jamaica to build my house. How do I get in touch with people could teach me? Thanks

[@zephyrmj]

How does the drainage work on the roof? I didn't see any down/drainage pipes.

[@naturalbuildings]

There is drainage pipes. I’ll be doing a whole episode on the roof so stay tuned :)

[@tanyamadgwik7482]

Hi , how do you keep the walls even as u go up? ❤️

[@naturalbuildings]

We’ll be covering this in episode 5 :)

[@kwentongangdud2044]

I want to build this on my farm.. we have a lot of straws.. im not sure though if the kind of soil present in my farm is suitable for this kind of construction. Quite concern as well as Philippines is prone to typhoon.

[@bibliusz777]

How energy efficient are they? Will they work well with water ground heating system?

[@naturalbuildings]

Thermal mass is different than insulation but can still perform well if used correctly. We’ll be talking more about this in the following episodes

[@unicornbaby8588]

Yes they will work well with both or Nothing at All Cobb homes awesome I've grown up in Santa Fe New Mexico as well as taos n.m. I've been around them for as long as I can remember

[@julietardos5044]

What do you do if one of the windows breaks and you need to replace it? Especially that oval window.

[@naturalbuildings]

You can wet the cob down and chip it away, replace the window and sculpt it back. It’s time consuming and labor intensive but I’ve seen it done.

[@Faithfulsmile]

Wow this is amazing, do you think it is an appropriate way to build in thailand with the rainning season?

[@DreamseedVR]

Likely not

[@Faithfulsmile]

@@DreamseedVR Sad because we have tones of good clay on our land

[@rogeriolisto]

Sure you can. With a nice hat and good boots you can do it. 😊

[@Faithfulsmile]

@@rogeriolisto what about bare feet and flip flop?

[@muhamadhelmi7949]

2:19 they use tarp to cover and protect from rain.

[@StArikAriel]

Hibiscus tea?? As a wall? For nice, winter surprises?

[@romancetips365]

Yeah in the winter that glass bottle filled with tea is going to break open when it freezes.

[@StArikAriel]

And what good isolation will it be even if it didn't break open ;) @@romancetips365

[@brunosilva385]

🇧🇷

[@Warrenneiva]

Hello FROM Colombia

[@kricketkitty]

So basically it will take me about 300 years to build a tiny cob house by myself...Off grid is also a mental, emotional process..."See the world evolving into this place you don't want it to be..." Yep...Toxicity and lack of soul in conventional building." That says a lot. It's so true.

[@Mrvanna-fo8hc]

❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤

[@stevengray8663]

What do you about rain while building?

[@ClintonSmith-op5gb]

Yall should have debarked the logs. It prevents rot and infestation

[@peterhenc3159]

It looks nice.But would it stand like for years??First big Flod and house is gone.

[@globalcitizen1138]

Africans have been doing this for centuries and their houses have stood the test of time. Anyway, what do they know, they are so primitive in their ways.

[@peterhenc3159]

@globalcitizen1138 No rain in Africa,Np frost in Afrika!! THIS IS ONLY EXPERIMENTAL BUILDING. MOUSE AND OTHER ANIMALS WILL EAT IT SOON OR LATER,AND SO MUCH WORK WITH IT,TO KEEP IN GOOD SCHAPE,.JUST NO GO FOR me!!

[@ladyt2588]

Tell us about signing up for the build classes

[@naturalbuildings]

DM us on instagram @naturalbuildings and I can give some recommendations :)

[@JimmyCapricorn77]

What I want to know is how they add all these cool shapes in the exterior of the cob house. I built chicken coops out of cob and couldn’t get my cob to do any of that. It takes some talented artists to do this. Also, my cob cracks when it dries despite using a 3 part sand to 1 part clay ratio. I guess I have no talent with cob lol.

[@naturalbuildings]

I’d try making test bricks of different ratios before building. We’ll be going into more detail in the following episodes. 🙏

[@JimmyCapricorn77]

@@naturalbuildings I’ll definitely be watching those videos.

[@ChiqueChiing]

Me too. Pretty sandy where I live, gonna practice something small on my grannies farm lol was thinking sum cute lil water way to look nice on the property

[@sean13]

How could one elevate these for areas with monsoon seasons? Thanks!

[@loktstar-kongotronix]

💥Working Naked would have completed the Natural theme 🤩

[@yasmeenmichelle5661]

this was very beautiful but do yall travel to Ohio?

[@szabolcsnagy7638]

Will that roof hold 4 feet of snow??

[@ryn2844]

Why were there holes poked in the cob? Before the plaster I mean.

[@naturalbuildings]

Helps to “sew” each of the cob layers into each other so that the building becomes a single monolithic mass. Also helps to allow faster/more even drying. And gives the plaster something to grip to. But yes mainly to integrate each layer.

[@ryn2844]

@@naturalbuildings Okay thx :)

[@BNJA5M1N3]

With this cob house how is the water system in it?

[@user-missy119]

It’s my dream to have a cob house

[@Mosaictheeheart]

Sand clay and straw

[@ingridwalker2360]

Can you come to south Africa please and tech me. Free state we have natural black clay on my farm🤔

[@kotyjarreau8400]

What if it rains, does it get washed away? (Genuine question)

[@naturalbuildings]

It will not. You build the foundation intentionally with drainage in mind and large roof over hangs so that walls barely ever are exposed to water. Even a hard storm with sideways rain wouldn’t be very damaging. It’d be more of a problem if there was long term exposure to a significant amount of water that allowed the wall to become saturated somehow. But again we build to avoid this.

[@ToniGlick]

In Arizona they use adobe (basically mud and straw) but they stucco it afterwards.

[@user-missy119]

Would love to go to a workshop

[@naturalbuildings]

DM us on instagram @naturalbuildings

[@mitchsmix269]

Yuh

[@OrganicAlumination]

Omg lol lol lol I love this idea..I was literally thinking about something like this... But the type of clay I know doesn't get ruined by rain. Because I have Crayola clay😂😂😂 and it's manipulated by water

[@Norbingel]

Won't the wooden parts of the roof rot quite easily?

[@monicareid8858]

To build this and not have a heat source-Oi! If you added ondol floor heating, that would allow a wood fire to run smoke under the floor, and the earth could retain the heat for a very efficient heating system.

[@ShiftySkipper]

This is doable solo as well just takes a bit more time.

[@yvonnehyatt8353]

Please send this to the poorest areas thanks

[@borizovskimilan]

Send what? The video or the house?