Yes, someone can. But why? City Repair facilitates community-based projects, especially in the public right-of-way. If your project is intended for public use and benefit, consider joining our annual Village Building Convergence. If your project will not be open to the public, you’ll need to make your own arrangements for the skills and resources required.

If you are willing to hire a building contractor as you would for other home-improvement projects, there are several natural builders listed in the ReDirect Guide. We are starting a list of builders that you can check online. (If you know good builders, tell them to send us their info).

If you are not willing to hire a builder, then you will want to train yourself, or barter your skills. Expect to volunteer on several projects to learn the skills you want. Check out TheWord for City Repair volunteer needs. Check our links page for organizations that offer lessons, workshops, or other resources (e.g. Cob Cottage Co, CobWorks, Natural Building Network, Solar Energy International, or (local) Try-On Life Community Farm).

According to Lydia, “The best dirt can be found on craigs list or in your back yard. Other free sources are PDOT or cemetaries. Whoever is looking for a particular clay content generally has to go look at it themselves. If looking for slip for a light clay project, you can contact ceramicists (how do you spell that???) and relieve them of the burden of their soaking-off cuts and waste clay.”

Again, Cragislist, your neighbors, and PDOT are potential resources. If you don’t see it, advertise for it yourself a few weeks ahead of time.

Probably – the trick is finding the right person. During spring, we coordinate donated materials for sites participating in the VBC (Village Building Convergence). Check out vbc.cityrepair.org, or contact vbc [at] cityrepair.org to connect with our materials coordinators.

At other times of year, you can try advertising free (or cheap) stuff on Craigslist. If you have a really juicy offer, we might be interested in advertising it to our volunteers in the weekly digest. Contact volunteer [at] cityrepair.org with a paragraph of info (please include description & contact info).

When properly designed, built, and maintained, cob can last as long as you want it to. Examples of roofed structures include cottages in Wales, African huts and village amenities, and rumor has it there’s even a earth-walled mansion across the street from the White House. These structures can last for centuries. However, this does not mean your own personal cob oven will outlast the day. Structural & materials choices, weather protection, and ongoing maintenance and repair will all affect the project.

When you choose to build with cob, you are choosing a material with unique properties. It is natural, biodegradable, hand-built. It is heavy, stores heat, and needs to be kept relatively dry. You can build, repair, modify, and maintain it yourself. When/if you stop loving it, it will gradually biodegrade back into the earth it came from.

Details for rain-resistant cob: exposed surfaces will need to be treated to shed water, with oil and/or wax. There are tricks to including tile or other materials in such a way that they shed water and don’t inadvertently create little erosion channels or puddles on your project. Freezing and thawing can chip pieces off the finish, as sometimes happens with garden pottery; you will want to keep some of the original materials available for repairs. A good builder can help you understand how to create a structure that fits your lifestyle and passions, and will be within your ability to maintain.