Sol y Barro

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2011-09-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

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Wine Cellar construction

2009-10-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

Building a Cob Wine Cellar made sense to me since the thermic quality of the Cob is fairly good.

But, of course, a series of conditions are necessary to maintain cool indoor temperatures.

The roof must have a double layer so that air can circulate in between and sweep away the heat from the sun.

The best way to achieve that was to have a double arched roof with a 2 feet wide space, so that a large amont of air can go through.

Another advantage of building arches was to use small (scrap like) 2 feet long studs-glued and screwed together- which cost me about 40 cents each.

Another condition to keep temperatures low inside the Wine Cellar was to avoid any sunrays on the wall, which can be easily achieved with plants and trees.

Finally, correctly oriented doors that can be left open during the night can have a sweeping effect and certainly cool off the cob wall.

It is indeed extremely rare for nightime temperature to rise above 70degrees F.

Here comes another difficulty...

How to firmly attatch an arched structure to a COB wall?

I welded 4 inch long screws to a 3 feet long reebar, 120 times, to have one vertical screw pointing out from the finished Cob wall at one foot intervals.

To be sure the screw will never come out, I welded a horizontal reebar in the center of the wall, then added 3 feet of Cob wall on top.

Now I was able to screw the plank as a platform where the arches will be nailed down.

My 2 young helpers worked for me 3 days a week, and were a big help to put together 15 identical arches made of over one thousand pieces of wood.

But what a satisfaction when the first arch stood up.

The entire construction is curved around a virtual center with aproximately a 40 feet radius. It was challenging to build such precise cob walls to allow for the arches to align.

I guess I have been very lucky.

Guest Cottage

2008-12-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

December 2006 marathon

2007-01-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

constructing the guest room—

Excavation had been done during the year and the foundation started early on

stones were put together
like a puzzle, each one fits in its place.
they are glued together with earth mortar and a small amount of cement

the year was passing by and the desire to see wall rise got bigger

but this work is huge indeed
perhaps 100 tons of cob making,
mixing cob with a tarp would take months…

Wednesday the 13th, three construction workers, from a friend, are available. this is a chance not to be neglected
these guys are immigrants from a far away state (Chiapas) and are not concerned with the end of the year festivities. they are here to make some money and get back to their family.
so I brought them to my place, rented a cement mixer and we made COB
Cobing walls during the rainy season is not the best,
however, the strong and dry winds from the northen deserts are frequent during this season.

it is a gamble, I take…

in fact the very first day is raining
But the wall does not fall apart and the next day is sunny!

The construction goes very well

Sorry, I forgot to take photos on the very rainy days, because we had had three days with hail. Winds are tonic, thanks for fresh air
That night temperatures were around 28 degrees F
A pipe exploded

Anyway the construction continued and finally the workers went back to their boss

With my little cousin, Coco, and friend, Mario, we managed to finish the ceiling beams and finish cobing using a tarp like the old days

when I realized the strength of my foundations, I decided to build a two story building, and made the walls two feet thick
the first floor ceiling is temporarily waterproof and the second one will wait until May to be built.
this way, for the same foundation and roof surface
I’ll have two rooms

we are wery proud of our three weeks build up

“stand up
little clay house,
a hand full of men sculpted you for the centuries to come.
you are not fragile,
but ecological,
amusing,
unusual,
comfortable, and soon, welcoming.”

Indoor casa de barro

2007-01-29T18:06:00.000-08:00

the fire place is indeed an important piece of cob sculpture.
I follow scrupulously the Rumford design by shaping the inside part using a foam board that will be easily scraped out later
the result is an efficient chimney

for the final touch, indoor plastering, I tried several formulas until I got it right.

mixing white sand, white kaolin clay, local red clay, casein paint and flour paste—I reached a soft, velvet, clear surface

the reciprocal roof combined with the long column of the chimney have given me greater satisfaction than I had expected. with little fire, the heat is intense and the smoke is sucked up straight out of the room.

here is the ceramic bowl for my odor free compost toilet, fired in my neighbors oven

there is a stained glass window made with cob, which I started over a flat surface with a metal frame and sticky cob

bread & pizzas

2007-01-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

in late november:
from left to right,
Ana, my wife Analila and cousin Natalia,
aren’t we happy? celebrating Analila’s birthday and having an aperitif at “Adobe Guadalupe” with Mr. Miller one of the 10 best wineries in the valley, and, of course,el chef was cooking for our first party at my place: “casa de barro” rancho El Mogorcito my grandsons Sean and Cedric, daughter Laurence and son-in-law, Brad from England, visiting me and enjoying making real pizzas

the proofing cabinet is indispensable for raising the bread without drying

finely the crusty whole grain bread will come out just right

I use only my natural levin to raise my tasty bread as well as for my gourmet pizza

every Wednesday, it is time for me to deliver two dozen pizzas to my cousin, Natalia’s farmer’s market

Oudoor kitchen & clay oven

2007-01-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

My iron smith is also an artist and understand very quickly my idea of design

My kitchen was operational long before finished

following Kiko Denzer’s tips for making your own cob oven, I did not have any trouble
I built up the base entirely with cob, since I lacked stone

the mound on the left is a proofing cabinet to create an enclosed, lukewarm space to allow the bread to rise

the refractory bricks lay on a sand bed

this wet sand dome served as a mold for shaping the inside space volume and was scratched out later on
sometimes, I have people passing by, helping me around…making cob
Ana,who quickly took of her shoes and stepped into the mud

The two 5 inch thick cob layers, first with gravel and second with lite volcanic stones and plenty straw for isolation

the stove has been sculpted inside the cob counter top

my neighbor ceramicist Ivette, gave me boxes of tiles pieces leftover which I glued with plaster containing extra clay and horse manure.
I used a small amount of cement paste, from home depot, to seal the tiles.

After the first wood and cob door burnt, I had to replace it with a heavy metal and cob door

my oven has been described as sensual, and it is a hot piece of my complex

pizzas can be cook from 2 to 10 minutes on a 2 hours period without reloading the oven with wood

pyramidal skylight

2007-01-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

after sheeting the roof with Home Depot fencing cedar wood 5/8”x 6”x6’
instead of the triply sheet,

I had to ask Marcos to waterproof with hot (tar) mineral pitch,

I have been debating the final covering of the roof for months,
so the final was locally crafted tile, which is an expensive solution,

but will match with the region’s roofs, and gives a very appealing finish and thermal protection, and I won’t have to bother about roof problems for the rest of my life—
at least I hope so!
Now, the side roof structure next to my cob cottage will receive the tile only, without sheeting,

the over 4 feets wide hole at the center of the reciprocal roof entertained me for quite some time to get the best solution,
I could not risk a possible leak through the skylight without having access from inside to outside, since the tiles do not allow me to walk on top of the roof,

after trying with a, not so convincing,
wood assemblage (there are violent Santa Ana winds in winter and spring seasons) I opted for an iron angle solded pyramid that I made match the uneven octagon hole by drawing the exact shape on an extra large sheet of triply,
and went to visit my ironsmith,

two of the triangles may open from below to give access to a pathway over the roof around the pyramid for maintenance purposes.

then I cut 8 custom made triangles in a sheet of cellular polycarbonate and added silicone all the way around.

the reciprocal roof

2007-01-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

I carefuly crafted this scaled model to give me the sense, angles and proportion of a reciprocal roof. I really could not resist to study this elegant and so perfect solution for roofing my round house! august brought a family visit from Switzerland.
from left to right: my niece Isabelle with son Olaf, my wife Analila, and Phillou, Olaf’s father,

a tall perfectly centered 4”x4” vertical beam is shown at the right in this picture,

I know from my scaled model that the 8 rafters must be directed 2 feet away, next to the centered vertical beam,

so that, the support (left) can be sealed in mud to receive the 2”x 10”x 14’ rafter at the correct angle

each support now has the correct position and will be sealed in the cob with a lot of nails,

that was easy work, since we placed the 8 rafters in 2 hours, only Sergio and I, every rafter falling at the right position at the center

at this point, I had not expected that I would be walking back and forth, up and down, for several days to figure out how to place the following crossing elements,

the rafter turned out too short and I had to add two feet…

the perpendicular meeting of crosspieces to rafters gives an interesting and appealing design,
a reciprocal roof in a round cob construction is the most appropriate solution because no matter the weight of the roof, the forces will be transmitted vertically to the supports, thus to the walls,
the 8 rafters meet at the center and lock up by themselves and won’t push the walls apart
there is no need for a central post
this is a fact from mother nature,
and this is an ideal situation for cob walls,

kitchen roof structure

2007-01-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

I realized I needed to create additional covered space for my bread oven, kitchen and painting and drawing workshop area,
it became obvious to create this place around the water tank next to the cottage.

after discovering where to get wood beams from old dismantled ranches,

I was encouraged to go up in the air,
and build a new roof,

I would have never thought that at the age of 65, I would be high on the edge of a roof structure,
since I have never done this in my life time,
I enjoyed it very much!
the main point of the design was to get the rain into my water tank.

raising the walls

2007-01-27T16:58:00.000-08:00

I had a family visit in june, daughters Laurence and Ana, son Brad, grand sons Sean et Cedric

so we had fun with a collective bare foot stomp in mud,
Sean and Cedric, were very happy,
and momentarily felt like Hobbits

a wood frame to pour the bed base in cob,

I used crystal blue plates for the bathroom wall,

instead of using “corbel cob” for building arches and shelves, I prefer to make wood crafted form and press the cob around,so I made door and window arches, etc.

since water is rare, it is the perfect situation for a compost toilet.

the visible 4” black pipe is for an air fan extractor that will be integrated into the cob wall,

Sergio maintained the clay very wet, so we could get some out at any time, when needed to add to the batch,

My cob adventure,starting construction

2007-01-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

This is the story of the construction of my cob cottage.

“rancho El Mogor” is a dreamy place that belongs to my cousins Natalia and Toño, in the famous “valle de Guadalupe” in Mexico, near the city of Ensenada.

fortunately, I had just crossed the 65th birthday line and qualified to receive social security pension...So, I felt free like a bird!

I put together a little savings and drove down to mexico to the

“ rancho El Mogor”

and started enjoying a wonderful and challenging life beyond my dreams.

Thanks to the cobcottage company, and natural building construction workshop, in early 2003, and to Ianto and Linda, this dream was made possible. they have inspired me and have given me the strength to go cob.

of course I made plan after plan, drawing after drawing, small scale cob model after cob model …

but at last, while standing on the terrain at rancho El Mogor on the hill, I decided to simplify my vision and adopt the spontaneous, intuitive design taught by Ianto.

I traced two concentric circles of 17 and 21 feet in diameter and started digging foundations.

the “valle de Guadalupe ” is a green valley in the middle of a desert.
the wind that comes from the Pacific blows into the valley and creates a micro climate ideal for cultivating vineyards, olive trees, etc.
rain is scarce, and wells provide little water, so a large reserve of water is a must. thus, the first step was to build a 36 hundred gallon water tank. the bottom half of the water tank is under ground and I hoped the displaced earth would supply my needs for the cob construction.
in addition, I plan to collect water from rain and dew with a correctly oriented roof. Most of the water,any way,will come from the water truck.
step two, I started with a stone foundation done by the book.

april 1, my Swiss friends,Gladys,Rene, Anne Marie and Dick from Tucson gives me a very nice visit

I had previously bought low priced double glass windows, while visiting a “Restore” in Santa Ana, so I was able to integrate (4”x4”) wood frames
into the foundation.by april,

I had to install a 320 feet electric power line, from the post to the building area, for which I had found electric cable at a junkyard.

I hired a young fellow, Sergio, and his brother to help me with the cob so that I could take care of all the other aspects of the construction.

I had to wait until may to get fresh straw.
as soon as the straw was available, we started cobbing in tarp.

after filling up the bottom floor of the cottage with stone from the river, and covering it with paper we started pouring the first layer of cob. thankfully, I had a good team and it went smoothly.

I added an organic shape to one side of the circle to have a separate room for the bathroom
the tests I did from the earth looked OK, but still felt a little too sandy,
to deal with this doubt I opted to look for clay nearby and found a pure red clay just 2 miles from the site.
so I brought over some of this clay.
the result was evident.
by adding 5 shovels of that clay to a wheelbarrow of my sandy earth,
the bare foot work in the tarp was becoming more enjoyable.

it was a good and sticky mud!