Participant blog is copied with permission from the
Greener Homes website: www.greenerhomes.ca

Cob Building Workshop
with Cobworks
on Mayne Island

Blog by James Rodgers

Day One

Hello from Mayne Island, British Columbia. GreenerHomes.ca thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the summer and get some hands-on experience with greener home-building techniques for homes so here we have sent keen GreenerRealtor James Rodgers to Pat and Kit’s Cobworks for a two-week intensive.

The primary focus of the workshop is to build a cob bathhouse and sauna with an earthen floor. Depending on how things progress there may be an opportunity to also build a cob bench, a cob oven, and to plaster a strawbale house.

In addition to the hands-on (feet too) training, James and the other eight beginner cobbers receives a daily theory lesson and evening tours of cob houses on the Island.

The bathhouse’s foundation wall and posts were put in place before the participants arrived. Today they got a good jump on the earthen floor and started cobbing the walls.

From James:

When talking to seasoned ‘cobbers’ one often hears them referring to the point in their life when they ‘found’ cobbing – it sounds very similar to stories told by those who find Jesus. Well today I got a good introduction as to why this is so. There is something about stomping a few simple materials together (possibly sourced from one’s own land) to make a substance that packs together to become a home or structure. The affordability and creativity it allows for is just icing on this muddy cake.

With a delicious dinner now done and a solid day of cobbing under our belts, our group has retreated to the showers and their tents scattered in the forest to ponder the days work and get some much needed rest for tomorrow’s adventures

Day 1

Day 1

Click on photos to enlarge

Day Two

Well apparently things are progressing quite well as we have now embarked on the cob bench and cob oven. I think they’re looking pretty impressive for one day’s worth of work.

The bathhouse walls didn’t get much higher today but what is there was thickened and straightened. Tomorrow we may be able to get as much as two feet of height added to the walls.

The workshop group is already working like a well-oiled machine. Everyone rotates from job to job as they get tired or want to experience a different task and there is always advice, instruction, or a story close at hand from our fearless leaders Pat, Kit, and their tireless apprentice Rob.

The workshop meals have been very tasty and a great opportunity for the team to chat and hear Pat’s numerous cob stories. The food highlight for me today was Kit’s lunchtime salad – Greek with so much more.

After todays clean up we were treated to a tour of one of the houses Pat has built and where he, Kit and their twin boys now live. I think the best single word to describe the house is ‘fun’. Everywhere you turn there is an interesting feature, curve or texture.

Day 2	Day 2 - Bench	Day 2 - Oven
Day 2 - House	Day 2 - House	Day 2 - Pat

Day Three

It’s late, well at least by our weary cob-building internal clocks after a long day of building. Its 10pm and we just finished two tours of cob houses that were built by Pat and various Cobworks workshop groups.

Today we continued cobbing on two of our three projects, the bathhouse and bench seat. Progress and satisfaction seem to be coming easy - we got some height to the walls, installed the sink/countertop, and ‘corbelled’ (built up the lip) the bench seat. The oven is on hold until we can acquire some firebricks.

The two cob houses we visited tonight were stunning. Cobworks has done some incredible work that is customized to each of the owners liking. Below are some photos that tell the story better then I can.

Day 3 - Bathhouse	Day 3 - Bathhouse	Day 3 - Bench
Day 3 - Bench	Day 3 - Cob wall	Day 3 - Frog Stove

Day Four

I started the day with a strong (read jet fuel) cup of organic fair-trade coffee and flew at the cobbing. Kit started us off with a brief lesson on cob-trimming and away I went.

Today I feel like I ‘found’ cob. The shaping and sculpting is meditative while physically engaging – its like Ti Chi meets modeling clay. I trimmed and filled the bathhouse all day while the rest of the team rotated between mixing cob, working on the oven, the bench, and the bathhouse.

Its impressive to see how fast the stove takes shape. Tomorrow it will get another layer and then the sculpting will begin. Designs are being discussed – I was pretty impressed with the frog stove we saw yesterday and would like to tackle something like that – perhaps a hedgehog.

The bench was progressing nicely for most of the day – the backrest was built-up about 18 inches and the seat was leveled. Unfortunately just before tool clean up time a significant chunk of the seat fell off. Everyone is quite keen to see how it is repaired first thing tomorrow.

As an aside – the food we were served today was incredible. The Cobworks Team do a spectacular job pulling everything together and keeping the whole workshop crew engaged and happy.

Day 4 - Bathhouse	Day 4 - Bathhouse	Day 4 - Bench
Day 4 - Bench	Day 4 - Oven

Day Five

Today the workshop team started to show signs of tiring. Cobbing can be a lot of hard work especially if one is not use to this kind of daily physical labour. Fortunately our humour, inspiration, and the tireless Cobworks leadership kept us going so we could achieve some very pleasant results.

The ridge beams went up on the bathhouse/sauna to give us a sense of what it is going to look like very soon. It’s amazing to see what can be done with some very simple (handmade in some cases) tools. Pat’s talent with a chainsaw is quite the site.

The bathhouse walls went a little higher today and a Turkish-style archway was started that will lead to the outside claw tub. Although the weather has been very pleasant to work in – mostly sunny while we are in the shade of a forest – the cob isn’t drying as fast as Pat would like. This as well as our team’s fatigue means we will leave the wall building for a few days and shift our attention to the other projects.

While the oven had a drying day a number of the workshop group set to fixing the collapsed bench seat. Its back to looking bench like and will probably be close to done by the end of tomorrow.

This evening we were treated to another tour of a Mayne Island cob house. This home was built by 7 people in nine weeks and 95% of the materials used came from the property it sits on. These tours are an incredible opportunity and the inspiration they provide our weary building crew is priceless.

Day 5 - Arch	Day 5 - Cob Lounge

Day Six

The team’s energy seemed to bounce back for day six – perhaps because it was the last before a two-day break. Plastering the side of a stawbale house occupied most of the group for the better part of the day. Individuals and smaller teams went to work on the cob bench and oven.

Plastering is hard work, one must apply considerable force when pressing the cob into the wall and it is very repetitive. Having leathery hands (or gloves) sure goes a long to making this task sustainable for longer periods of time. The meditative aspects and opportunities for socializing were very enjoyable.

Our cob oven is getting very close to being done. By the end of the day we had a small fire going in its belly to aid it’s drying. Likewise, the bench underwent some finishing work and has become a temptation to our fatigued workers.

With some of the workshop participants heading off Island for the weekend we wrapped up early and were treated to the best dinner yet accompanied by some very cold and satisfying beers that taste like liquid gold after a long week of cobbing.

Day 6 - Oven Fire

Day 6 - Plastering

Day 6 - Plastering

Day Seven (after a two day break)

It’s Monday and we are back cobbing on Mayne Island. Everyone is refreshed and eager to get their hands and feet into the cob. One keen member of our workshop decided to use the weekend off to check out another Cobworks workshop currently under way on Pender Island. In that workshop the participants are building a strawbale house. It sounds like a few of our team will be joining them once our workshop wraps up at the end of this week.

Today we started by stockpiling cob and trimming the walls that we added to last week. By midday our group had split into small groups to tackle the various projects.

Two people added the final layer to the now dry(ish) cob oven. It has been quite the transformation and I expect tomorrow to be very exciting as we will begin ‘decorating’ or sculpting the oven based on a design approved by the owner.

Another of our crew spent a good part of the day creating a relief piece on the side of the strawbale house that we plastered last week.

The rest of the team focused on getting more height to the bathhouse/sauna walls and building a doorway form. The keyhole design is very interesting and will certainly be a significant feature to the building as it leads to the outdoor claw tub.

Our meals today were great but somewhat quiet. Over the weekend Pat pulled out his extensive library of home-building books. They are very inspiring and everyone has had their faces buried in them at every available moment. As an aside, dessert tonight was banana zucchini cake topped with sliced strawberries in a glaze – unbelievable!

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to reflect on the workshop to date and am very pleased with how it is going. We are learning some invaluable lessons (aside from cobbing we tried our hands at dowsing today) and I am well on my way to being confident enough to build a cob structure on my own.

For me one of the most valuable aspects of the workshop (that I don’t think one can get from a book) is that cobbing is hard work and 100% worth it on so many levels. I guess it’s kind of like eating. Having a tasty meal is satisfying but knowing that same meal is all organic and bioregional allows me to enjoy it on additional levels and it becomes a richer experience.

		Day 7 - Keyhole Door
Day 7 - Oven	Day 7 - Relief	Day 7 - Walls

Day Eight

Two more cobbers joined our merry group today. Our new crew members have driven all the way from Manitoba on their 25th anniversary vacation to cob! The extra hands and feet came in very handy as we were keen to get some considerable height on the bathhouse/sauna walls.

Significant headway was made on all our projects today. The relief-work on both the cob oven and the plaster wall all looking pretty impressive. Tomorrow we should be able to add some more detail.

Pat took us on an evening tour of some houses he has built – both cob and wood-framed. The first house on tour was cob and had most of our jaws on the ground as we walked up. Just behind it sits the cob bathhouse complete with a heated floor. The attention to detail in both structures is fantastic – see the following photo of the cedar shake roof work.

The second home, a one-room hut was built by the owner with pointers and tips from Pat. It was inspiring to see what one person can accomplish by themselves in a season. The surrounding garden is incredible and features a pond that was made from digging clay to make cob.

The third house was a wood-framed home with a separate caboose-like cabin that is used for additional sleeping space. The fourth house was also wood-framed. It was built by 7 women in 3 weeks and all the materials came from the island.

Day 8 - Bathhouse	Day 8 - Bathhouse
		Day 8 - Oven
	Day 8 - Relief	Day 8 - Roof
Day 8 - Walls

Day Nine

The rain put a damper on the length of our workday but not the effort – our super cob crew blitzed on making huge mounds of cob and then piled it on the walls. We managed to get as much as two feet of height added to some walls in time for lunch. Considering how wet everything is we were pretty impressed.

After lunch we had a brief theory lesson complimented with sweet treats and then headed out for an early cob house tour. We were treated to an amazing tour of a property that features two beautiful cob garden walls and a cob workshop that all surround an incredible acre of gardens.

The weather seems to have now cleared and we are all looking forward to a full day of cobbing tomorrow.

Day Ten

It was a fine day for cobbing. The sun was out and a light breeze kicked up to help dry our towering cob walls. Once again our cob-stomping crew started the day by mixing up several large mounds of the wall building material. By lunch we had reached roof-height in a few areas.

Today was a good lesson in why to keep the cob component of house to only the first floor – this stuff is dense and pitch-forking a load six feet up is a workout. I wouldn’t be surprised to see workout routines choreographed to mimic cob building: stomp and dance in one spot for a few minutes and then squat, lunge, lift. Repeat.

The oven was further detailed today. The Owner requested a First Nations-inspired design and supplied several books that illustrate and explain the symbols and their meaning. We chose an orca design as it was the right shape for our squat oven. Our priority now for the oven is to continue drying it in preparation for our last night’s dinner of oven-baked pizza.

The strawbale house relief work continued today and is also in its final stages. I believe tomorrow we will see it detailed.

Our tour this evening included a Tuscany-inspired cob wall and patio that was built by two different workshop groups. The design of the walls and benches makes for some great framed vista of the ocean and some small islands. The built-in cob oven is conveniently located next to a nice seat so one can cook their dinner without getting up from their seat. Apparently one of the owners holds the unofficial title for the most cob oven-cooked meals in Canada.

Our second stop was a visit to a recent workshop group’s handy work – the $1000 House. What a great idea. In this workshop Pat works with the owner to find and stockpile cheap or free building materials. Once everything is on hand Pat and a workshop group set to building a small cabin. It’s pretty impressive to see what a $1000, some time, and a small group of people can build. In this case the cabin is 250 square foot with a small loft.

Tomorrow is our groups last full workday and everyone is pretty motivated to cob like we haven’t cobbed before. The cob oven-baked pizzas at the end of the day are nice for added inspiration.

Day Eleven

I would like to start this last cob-building entry by thanking the good folks at Cobworks. This two-week workshop has been filled with laughing, eating, cobbing, and laughing some more. I am leaving with a sense that cobbing has altered my life in subtle ways, many of which I probably don’t yet realize.

Cobworks Workshop Facilitator Patrick Hennebury offered his theory as to why a hands-on experience with cob makes such an impact, “I think it has a lot to do with getting your hands and feet into the earth. Perhaps it’s similar to the satisfaction a gardener experiences – its about experiencing the earth”.

So often our busy lives don’t include connecting with the ground we walk on and take for granted. Cobbing, like gardening, brings us back to the core experience of growing with the earth and seems to resonate at a fundamental level.

Our cobbing crew was very proud to get all the bathhouse/sauna walls to their full cob height by the end of today. Some people will stay on for another week to do final trimming and perhaps finish the roof. It was a very satisfying day with a lot of back-patting and high fives.

Our new cob oven was kept stoked all day as we eagerly waited to bake our own pizzas for dinner. After a thorough clean up (tools and ourselves) we were presented with a buffet of pizza toppings, a large pot of sauce, a well-risen ball of dough and instructions to build our perfect pizza. It was a great meal full of tasty flavours, good laughs, and reminiscing of the previous two weeks.

The evening concluded with a very special closing ceremony that was the perfect ending to a wonderful two weeks of Cob and Community. Thank you Cobworks and my fellow Cobbers – in building this cob bathhouse and sauna together you have helped me build the confidence I need to embark on my own cob project. I think cob will be my new hobby.

Click on photos to enlarge

Participant blog is copied with permission from the
Greener Homes website: www.greenerhomes.ca

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