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Owned by Alex

Cob & Natural Building School

1.6k members • $10/month

Learn how to build your own natural, non-toxic house with cob and straw-clay. Save money, live debt-free, and be healthy!

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90 contributions to Cob & Natural Building School
The Ultimate Property Purchase Checklist for Alternative Homes
Planning to buy land for your alternative home, tiny house, or off-grid property? This comprehensive property purchase checklist will help you avoid the costly mistakes that trap most first-time land buyers. Whether you're building with cob, strawbale, hempcrete, or planning a tiny home, proper due diligence is essential. This guide covers everything from verifying building code status to checking for restrictive HOAs, ensuring you can actually build the alternative home of your dreams on your new property. Click Here to Get the Property Purchase Checklist
The Ultimate Property Purchase Checklist for Alternative Homes
0 likes • 3d
@Apollo Rose For sure! Let me know if there are any other sorts of guides you all need.
Welcome! Start Here.
This is the Cob and Natural Building School. A community of people interesting in building natural, healthy homes. We teach everyone how to build their own cob home using traditional and modern techniques. Step 1: Comment Below! - Who you are - What your building goals are - What’s your biggest bottleneck right now? 😩 Step 2: Go through the Cob Building Basics Course! See START HERE - COB BUILDING BASICS
0 likes • 17d
@Madelyn Nielsen Glad you found the Skool group! Definitely check out the new State-by-State Land Guide and the Property Purchase Checklist.
1 like • 8d
@Birdie Marshall Yes, there's definitely been some progress in California with building earthen structures lately. Having good connections can make the difference too. Let me know if you run into any issues, and we can see who might be able to help you there.
Build a Cob House For $58K Instead of Paying $400K For a Mortgage
The average American paying off a $200,000 house will hand over $343,000 by the time they actually own it. $143,000 just vanishes into interest payments. But there's a proven alternative that eliminates debt entirely: building a cob house with your own hands. In this video, I break down the REAL numbers behind debt-free natural building and show you exactly how regular people on normal incomes are opting out of the mortgage system.
2 likes • 16d
@Sue D Yes! It's not complicated either. I have some instructions inside my courses on how to do that. Electrical can be installed directly into cob walls (inside conduits still), but plumbing should not go through cob walls. Water pipes normally go through the floor anyway though.
Cob Houses: Why Banks Don't Want You To Know About This $60K Housing Solution
Here's some research I've compiled. Feel free to discuss below! **Build a Cob House For $58K Instead of Paying $400K For a Mortgage (Full Breakdown)** The average American paying off a $200,000 house will hand over $343,000 by the time they actually own it. $143,000 just vanishes into interest payments. But there's a proven alternative that eliminates debt entirely: building a cob house with your own hands. Let's break down the REAL numbers behind debt-free natural building and show you exactly how regular people on normal incomes are opting out of the mortgage system. **The Brutal Reality of Mortgages:** A $200,000 home financed at 7% interest = $1,331 monthly payments Total paid over 30 years: $478,000 Pure interest paid to banks: $278,000 First year breakdown: $14K interest vs $2K toward equity **Cob House Cost Breakdown ($58K Total):** • Land: $10-15K for 5 acres (rural areas) • Permits: $3K (varies by location, can be $15-50K in strict areas) • Foundation: $6K (with DIY labor + equipment rental) • Roof: $12-15K (metal roofing, quality materials essential) • Walls & Structure: Under $2K (clay, sand, straw) • Interior Finishes: $2K (earthen floors, clay plasters) • Total: $58K with ZERO interest payments **Where The REAL Savings Come From:** ✓ Wall materials: $2K vs $10-15K for conventional lumber framing ✓ Interior finishes: $2K vs $9-12K for tile and drywall ✓ Contractor markup eliminated: Save $20-50K in management fees ✓ Labor costs eliminated: Save $60-80K by doing it yourself ✓ Interest payments eliminated: Save $278K over 30 years **30-Year Total Cost Comparison:** Conventional $200K house: $658K-748K (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance) $58K Cob house: ~$109K (taxes, insurance, minimal maintenance) **Difference: $549K-639K stays in YOUR pocket** **Realistic Timeline & Savings Plan:** Year 1-2: Live cheap, save $1,500/month = $36K saved Year 2: Buy land ($15K) + build tiny 250 sq ft starter cottage ($12-15K) Year 2-4: Live rent-free in cottage while building main 800-1000 sq ft house
0 likes • 25d
@Carol Rodriguez Here's my new guide for finding land for alternative builds in the USA: https://www.thiscobhouse.com/where-to-build-alternative-homes-in-america-the-complete-freedom-guide-for-2025/
0 likes • 17d
@Ian Walsh In very cold northern climates, I usually recommend straw-clay or hempcrete for high insulation. Cob works off thermal mass, but it can't buffer that much cold.
Distance from trees
Helloooooo everyone! Speedy question: How close to trees can you get away with constructing a cob build? I have recently bought a garden plot with an apple tree orchard and I would LOVE a little cob animation studio in amongst the trees!
Distance from trees
0 likes • 17d
It's a good question. I don't know an exact answer either. I tend to build at least outside the range of it's full grown diameter. Roots can damage foundations and pipes sometimes, but I don't know a definite answer to this. I think it might also depend on the depth of your foundation vs the depth of the roots too. Overall, I doubt you will have a problem building in your orchard.
1-10 of 90
Alex Sumerall
6
868points to level up
@alex-sumerall-5026
Professional cob house builder and instructor at This Cob House. I teach people how to build their own natural earthen homes.

Active 9h ago
Joined Jan 30, 2025
Greeneville, Tennessee
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