Hello friends,

Well as the title says i am giving serious thought to building a cob house. I hope this is the appropriate section for this. I live in south east Pennsylvania, and would like to stay in the area. I am not sure how the native soil would work for cod, but it is mostly clay. The wife and I just paid all our debts off last year, and with our income tax this year we will have around 15 in the bank to work with. Right now we live in a Trailer with my mother in law, and our two kids. We need to get out !! The mother in law will be keeping the trailer and we will hopefully be buying land and building a cod house.
I looked for awhile to find this forum :) thankfully i did, and i appreciate whomever took the time to start this place up.
Gentleman, i ask you to be patient with me as i have never bought or designed a house before. Cobbing is new to me, as is most construction practices. And if you don't mind i would like to start by asking a few questions.

Where can i start ?
Does anyone have real life experience doing this ?
Where can i find Building Codes and Regulations for my area ?
Would i even be allowed to build one of these here ?

Not to many questions yet, but you can get the feel of how much i don't know about this. Any and all help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

welcome to the forums. this is a growing community and you have come to the right place.

Cob building isn't allowed everywhere. while it isn't a new form of construction by any means and perhaps outdates anything we consider standard building practices today, some governments and boards just won't let you do it.

I would check with a local zoning board or an architect who might know the codes. You probably won't have to pay any money to get this information but you need it before you get started.

My best advice to you is not to do this without either some training or someone working with you who has experience building cob houses. If you want to go the route of gaining some experience, I would advise that you look into the Yestermorrow Institute in Vermont. They have short and long courses in many "lost" building technologies. It will cost you a little, but in the end it will save you a fortune in time and mistakes.

Good luck and feel free to pick our minds here.