Greg's blog

Here are two recent shots from builder Greg Allen's blog, Cob & On. Greg has been a frequent building partner of mine since we met at the Cob Cottage Company, and he does inspired work. His blog contains a wealth of detailed information on natural building, and covers a few years of work. Check it out.

Lime Bench

Lime plastered cob bench in the cottage we built in Chapel Hill this spring.

Bonnaroo 2012

I found this great photo today while working on plans for Bonnaroo 2012 - it's coming right up in June!  Here is a photo of last year's build showing Ben, Thomas, and Scott setting a big oak post.

Spring at the site

The little cob cottage is really coming together just in time for spring. Next up is the exterior plaster, check back soon!

Pretty black for a green roof...

Green roofs are somewhat deceptive. The plants may be green, but under all that lush growth often lies a dead black petroleum based waterproof membrane. Some green roofs even have multiple layers of perforated polyethylene drainage mats, rigid foam sheets, root-barrier membrane...We didn't go so far, but we did get ourselves a nice fat EPDM sheet.

EPDM pond liners are commonly used as the water proof membrane in green roofs. They're pretty tough, but should be isolated from the roof deck and soil layer, to make sure they don't get punctured. We separated ours with layers of rigid foam insulation. The pond liner wraps up and over the 2x10 fascia to create an enclosed pan for the soil, which drains in the low spots via PVC shower pan drains.

The soil on the roof is the topsoil that used to live where the building is. In creating the pad and footing, we made sure to separate topsoil for the roof, and subsoil for cob. Check back this summer to see how things are growing up there.

Anatoly's cottage

Here is the entrance to Anatoly's cottage, currently under construction. The walls are built of cob and strawbale, and will be finished with clay and lime plasters. The building sits on a foundation of discarded rubble. We gathered concrete, stone, and brick from within a couple miles of the site for free. I was amazed at how easy it was. Maybe we got lucky, but Greg and I, each with a small truck, found all the rubble we needed in about one full  day of work.

Rocket Stove

Watch this video of a super-efficient rocket stove we just built in our new cob cottage. Rocket stoves contain an internal heat riser that creates a very strong draft. Burning very hot and efficiently, they are capable of pushing hot exhaust through ducts in built in massive furniture and warming buildings directly.