Let the cobbing begin!!

So heres an update of whats been happening over the last few weeks, I've been building almost everyday and it's coming along.

The stem wall is complete, it is high enough all the way around to protect the bottom of the cob walls

A friend helping to weld some spare poles together to make a frame for a compost toilet area and a shower area, for  camping on the plot during building

putting up the frame for the compost toilet, we followed a very basic bucket design for the toilet. Everything is collected in the bin and covered with saw dust, once it is full this is emptied into a compost pile and left for 1 year once it is full.

Here is the finished toilet, with a basic wooden frame built over the bin and toilet seat attached, thanks to my husband for this!! Its amazing, there is no smell, the saw dust takes care of that, when water is so precious and scarce it's really great to know that we will become part of the natural cycle rather than making this resource into a waste!!

The shower area, where we can hang a solar shower bag in the tree above and catch the run off in a tub below

I made a small fire pit with some clay for our campsite



My husband has been spending his spare time organising the shed, makes a huge difference!

The next step was to position the wooden boxes where the door frames will later be attached

Having first banged lots of nails and blocks for the cob to grip to

 Both door frames are up, my husband helped as this is not a one person job, after a few accidents, we managed to get them firmly into place, supported by temporary planks. The top soil, has been removed from the inside of the house so that the layers of the floor can be built up later.

In preparation for the cob I have been pounding some of the clay as there are large very dry pieces that don't become wet even if it is soaked for a long time

The top of the stem wall is not flat this helps the cob to grip

Yeahhy, cobbing has begun, it's great to take off my boots and to be stomping around bare foot!!

Friends are starting to come and see what cobbing is all about

My son also wanted to help out

I have been covering the cob to slow down the drying as it is getting very hot

So I am happily cobbing away now, it's alot of hardwork but great fun!!

Making a plan!!!

This past week my car was broken down, and to get a new part is no simple affair here, I had to wait for someone who could get it 300kms away.

A baboon enjoying my lifeless car

I did manage to get to the plot on several days getting lifts from friends, so the stem wall has been creeping up.

on one day I decided to try and ride to the plot, bearing in mind I haven't ridden a bike in 12 years at least, and this is in a wildlife area, where you can bump into elephants or lions amongst others, I had a great time, was exhausted though and took too long to actually get any building done!!

Watching a lioness from the car 

one of the many elephants around at the moment

and a wild dog

 So after a week of 'making a plan' I'm back working on the plot every day, I'm setting up a temporary compost toilet and shower area so we can camp more often and get moving!!

my husband was working in the area on this day and came to take some pictures

'Shumba' which means lion, our neighbour's dog, likes to come and watch me dance in the mud!

one of the many wonderful animals we see in our garden at our current home, a male bushbuck enjoys the refreshing taste of my mint growing by the kitchen.

Building up the stem wall

I have been building up the stone work around one side of the house as it wasn't high enough above ground level. I spent time selecting rocks, mixing the the mortar, which is not as fun as the cob mixing as lime is very harmful to the skin I have to wear gum boots (or wellies depending where you are from!) another week or so to finish this.

evidence that the elephants have been visiting 

the lime mortar ready for transport

mixing the mortar with wellie boots otherwise the lime damages the skin

laying mortar and rocks

wetting the rocks before laying

a test patch of cob on the stem wall

pouring water on the foundations to see if the cob stays dry

a beautiful pod mahogany on the plot the future site of the dream tree house!!

the pod and seeds of the pod mahogany 

Foundations finished yeahhy!

So the foundations are complete, they look beautiful and strong. The one thing which I found with using a local builder was to explain what I am actually doing. The idea of not using any bricks seems hard for everyone to get their head around. I have explained time after time that there are no bricks, cob will be added wet to the stem wall to make a continuous monolithic structure. Misheck has done an amazing job, but in his mind I am still laying bricks so the walls must be level at this point all the way around. This has left a small section of the wall without a stem wall coming above ground level as the site is slightly slanted. It's not a problem as I will do this last section myself. It's important that the bottom of the cob wall is protected from rain and moisture. The last thing to do is to then fill in the soil around the foundation and level off the floor area before I can start cobbing. Although there is a natural building tradition in zimbabwe, even building with mud, brick moulds are made either from wood or paint tins and then either fired or sun dried. The structures are not load bearing as cob is and so poles are used in the ground to support the roof structure. This is a problem with termites unless very good hardwood such as mopane or acacia are available, which in our case is not. The huts are beautiful and comfortable but largely need alot of maintenance. People are using more modern expensive materials if they can, I'm hoping that cob if it works well in this climate that it can offer a comfortable, durable, inexpensive and environmentally friendly alternative, we will see!!

I have been back and forth on the decision to use a moisture barrier or a temite barrier at this stage. I want the house to be made of materials that are accessable to local communites if they want to do a similar project. I also don't want to use toxic materials. Although there can be big storms in the rainy season drainage on the site is very good, so I don't think moisture coming up from the foundations will be a problem. I'm thinking against using tar or a damp proof course because of this. As for termites my understanding of the barrier system is that is won't stop them it will just slow them down and make the tunnels visible, As the foundations are so deep and strong I think the tunnels would be visible without one, plus the fact that there is no wood directly in the ground. If anyone thinks otherwise please let me know what you think!?

Foundations coming up and up!

The foundations have come up to ground level from one meter deep! A lot of hard work, Misheck and Abel have been doing a great job. The stone work is coming above ground level now to make the stem wall, which will be between 30cm and 50cm above ground level, this protects the cob walls from damp and any splash back from rain coming off the roof.

I've been delivering water each day to the site and soaking clay in bins 

The foundations 3 weeks ago

My son collecting his favorite wild fruit growing on the plot

Discussing progress

coming up...

...and up

Yabani has been working hard delivering rocks in his scotch cart

It feels pretty strong!!

Reached ground level on outside walls

Starting the interior wall foundations

How the foundations looked yesterday...not long before I can start with the mud dancing!!!