Reddit Reddit reviews The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book

We found 6 Reddit comments about The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book
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6 Reddit comments about The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book:

u/RedLauren · 5 pointsr/Permaculture

Earthbag Building and The Hand-Sculpted House are both on my shelf. They contain enough information to get you started.

u/ItsJustaMetaphor · 2 pointsr/Permaculture
  • Serious Straw Bale

  • The Hand-Sculpted House

    These two books have made me confident I can build my own small house with natural materials. I am starting a pole barn with cob walls this month and a small straw bale guest house on my property later this year with the guidance of these books.

    Also, this blog is a great resource for code issues related to tiny houses.
u/echinops · 2 pointsr/SelfSufficiency

I've found the hand-sculpted house to be one of the definitive guides. Couple that with Rocket Mass Heaters.

u/possiblegoat · 2 pointsr/tolkienfans

I helped build an earthen house in Texas, and they are actually quite cheap compared to traditional homes (and super fun to build). The most expensive part is usually getting the land. Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley, two pioneers in the US natural building movement, famously built their cob (it's kind of like adobe) home for only $500.

My advice would be to sign up for any natural building workshops that are in your area, and take lots of notes, pictures, and video. Start building up a good library of books (since a lot of natural builders are hippie-types, you can often download their books for free online). Keep a notebook full of your sketches and ideas (Google also has a free modeling program called SketchUp that you can try using if you want to have a 3D model) and collect materials if you can. Then when the time comes to actually get started you will have your ideas in order, a lot of materials at hand, knowledge and experience, and contacts with folks that can help you out if something goes wrong.

Don't let people tell you it will be too expensive or too hard unless they've got actual experience in natural building. I have known people that have built beautiful buildings without any fancy equipment or tools.

Edit: For a good first book, I would recommend Ianto Evans' The Hand-Sculpted House. It covers everything from the most basic newbie questions to more complex issues likes drainage and wiring. It also has a section on living roofs, which is what you would want for a hobbit home.

u/polytropon · 2 pointsr/BuyItForLife

I just read this book on [building a cob house] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Hand-Sculpted-House-Practical-Philosophical/dp/1890132349) and am so in love with the idea that it is my next life plan. Looking for the land now...