After putting down a new layer of sheet mulch on all our growing beds, it was time to let them rest for the winter. Yet, we couldn’t follow suit. We needed a project and a new chicken coop seemed a high priority. We decide to use cob-slip. With this technique, the builder constructs the frame-work of the structure and then screws in temporary planks into the framework in order to define the walls. For the walls, we mixed soil from our yard and straw in a wet (relative to the straight cob) and highly organic (just enough mud to cover all the straw) blend. Then we stuffed the framed walls which were about 5 inches wide with the cob mixture. In straight cob, one can only build up the walls a few inches at a time to insure the structural integrity of the wall. With cob-slip, however, we were able to build up the walls feet at a time. The framing planks insured that the wall would dry straight. We hammered in many nails into the framework where it met the walls to bind the walls to the frame. To make our material go further and to recycle waste, we added a layer of beer bottles into the wall with about every four inches of cob-slip. Framing in windows had the same ease found when building with cob. We simply set the recycled windows into still plyable walls for the window sill and built the walls up around the glass to seal the window in. We mudded in planks along the tops of the windows to stablize the wall above them. When the cob was almost dry, we unscrewed the framing planks to reveal the walls.
Bard and I made the project quicker and more harmonious by dividing labor according to our interests and skills. While I laid and even foundation for the walls, Bard built the frame of the structure. While Bard built the roof, I raised the walls. Together, we shared ideas, scavenged materials, and mixed lots and lots of dirt.
Quickly into the project, we thought the building was too nice for the chickens and turned it into our son’s playhouse. So, when the playhouse was finished, we still needed a chicken coop. With the help of Living Edge Landscaping employee, Chris Vegas, Bard attached a chicken coop to the east side of the playhouse, made from recycled pallet wood. What originally was the chicken’s entrance to the coop on the east wall of the playhouse, is glassed over and looks into the chicken coop. This way, children playing inside the playhouse can sit on the floor and watch chickens laying eggs in the chicken coop.
Finally, to fill the large holes left by our need for clay, we took wheelbarrows full of straw scratch for the chicken run and made two large sponges feeding an aproicot and a cottonwood tree.
Tags: cob construction, cob-slip, playhouses, small shed construction
