Winter in Texas is for the most part mild. There are winter storms but they last only a few days and then the weather becomes mild again. This week it is warm enough to make some cob and it sure feels good to be back to work. Today it was 70F (21C), sunny, with no wind. It doesn't get better than this for building. For my friends in Canada you read that right. It was like a summer day.
So far the west window frame has been installed, 8 inches added to the west and south walls, and a couple of new features have been added.
Last week I had the opportunity to work at the build site of a tiny house. It was an
amazing time and is worthy of its own post which will follow later. But several excellent ideas for this cottage came out of our discussions and two of them have been implemented.
Another block for the door hinge has been installed to help carry the weight of the heavy hand made door. This will be the middle block of three.
This the first of two glass bottle features that will be added to the cottage.
The tops of the bottles will be hidden in the next day or two. I really wanted a red and blue set of bottles as well but ended up using what was available.
Next are some images of building with cob.
The day after a layer of cob is added it needs to be trimmed. This picture shows trimming in progress. After each cut is made the level is used to check the vertical levelness of the wall. If it is not square another shave is made.
This is what the cob looks like when it comes out of the mixer.
From the wheelbarrow the material is made into round balls - "cobs" - which are then set on top of the wall ready to be pressed into place.
And here the three cobs above have been installed and are now part of the wall.
This final shot shows a section of wall as it looks when being built.
