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10 Reasons to Book for the 9-Day Intensive Mud and Wood Course, 14 - 22 May (€810)

14th April 2016

It's exactly one month to our 9-Day Intensive Mud and Wood Course and if you would like to come on this natural home building workshop, it is time to let us know. This year we decided to run it early on in the season so that you will have the whole summer to practise what you learn and maybe even cut your teeth on a small project of your own. If you are trying to decide if this is the course for you, here are our top ten reasons to choose .

cob course

1. Experienced Teachers
Cob is a very democratic material. Anybody can build with it. That's what we love about it. However, cob alone does not make a whole house. Colin Ritchie is a carpenter apprenticed by his father (it's in his blood) and has been working in the building game for 30 years. Féile Butler is a practising registered architect and an executive of Earth Building UK and Ireland (EBUKI's first ever Irish director) with almost 20 years of professional practice under her belt. So between them, they have decades of combined experience regarding the practicalities of getting a real house built. They have both been researching and working with cob since 2005 and teaching in Ireland and abroad since 2009.

colin and feile   colin teaching
 
feile teaching

2. Working Knowledge of Planning Regulations
One of the questions we get asked most is how we got planning permission for the House. The answer is that it went very smoothly, but we put in a good deal of work beforehand. There is a lot of misinformation out there about the planning process in Ireland. We have plenty of tips to help you get the most positive outcome possible for your plans.

planning granted   design

3. Working Knowledge of Building Regulations
Many cob building courses have little or no regard for building regulations. Even if you manage to build your home very cheaply, it will still probably be one of the major financial investments of your life. At we believe it is important that you are taught how to build a house that is legally compliant. Otherwise, you will have problems getting it through building control, applying for a mortgage or selling your home in the future. Regulations cover everything from how much insulation needs to be in your roof/floor/walls to the size and location of your toilet, from what type of hot water/heating system you can install to the dimensions of your stairs. We also discuss the current challenges of building a legally compliant cob house and how you might go about dealing with them.

plinth wall   building control
 
building construction details

4. Working with Cob on a Big Scale
On the 9-Day Intensive Mud and Wood Course, we start by teaching the traditional method of foot-mixing and hand-building cob. We believe that it is really important to get a good feel for the material. However, for anything bigger than a tiny cottage, this method is not practical. It is painfully slow. At we developed our own way to mix and build with cob on a much bigger scale. This system, using digger-mixing and plywood formwork, allowed us to build the walls of a 1,400 sq. ft. house in less than one building season (April - September). On the course, we spend a lot of time teaching you how to make the forms, how to make your own specialised tools of the trade and how to get large cob walls up quickly.

digger mixing   formwork   tamping cob

5. Theory to Back Up the Practical
At , we believe it is as important to understand why you do something a certain way as well as simply learning how to do it. So while you will spend a lot of time building and practising on our course, you will also spend plenty of time in the classroom. When you understand how certain materials work together, it will empower you to make good choices about your own building project. When can you substitue one material for something else a little cheaper or when could that decision actually be harmful to your building? Why do certain details work the way they do and what happens if you get rid of some of the layers/components? The theory will really stand to you when you begin your own project.

sculpting   wall plate   shelves
 
drill

6. It's Not Only About Mud - There is Wood Too (and Straw Bales)!
The House is not only built with solid cob walls. We also invented our own detail for a timber-frame wall insulated with straw bales (and this is only one of a number of details we will teach you to help get your cob building through the building regulations). Learn how you can modify cheap and easy-to-find/salvage materials to build this type of wall. For anyone who is not a master lime-plasterer, this is a great way to use straw bales in our rainy climate.

timber frame straw bale   timber frame straw bale

7. Tips on How to Use Salvaged Materials
A lot of this comes back to the theory (See No. 5 above). It's all very well salvaging lots of free building materials. However, if you do not use them correctly in your building, they can end up causing damage to your structure. Get some really practical tips on how you can use all of this free stuff safely in your home.

teaching

8. A Course Developed by Mud and Wood specially for Our Part of the World
The 9-Day Intensive Mud and Wood Course (and accompanying handbook) was developed as a direct consequence of Colin and Féile's experiences working and building in Ireland and the UK. The guidance from international cob building books and experts has been adapted to suit the local climate and local legal requirements. This has been possible because of Colin and Féile's wealth of knowledge and experience in practical house building.

electric conduit   setting out on site

9. It's Not Only About the Walls
From personal experience, Colin and Féile encountered gaps in cob building courses. Some important stages of house-building were left out. students have the opportunity to set out a building on the ground, to physically build a simple roof, to make timber beams, etc. Colin and Féile are always available to answer students' particular queries if a topic has not been covered adequately during the course.

building a roof   floor joists

10. It's in a Beautiful Part of the World
Sligo is home to Yeats' Isle of InisFree and to the Warrior Queen Maeve's tomb on Knocknarea. World renowned surf breaks are on our doorstep, as are miles of glorious beaches. There are more megalithic sites per acre in Sligo than anywhere else in the country. If all that seems too active, chill out in the local seaweed baths, catch a trad session in the pub or pass the time of day fishing some of our great local rivers. And the sunsets on this northwest coast have to be seen to be believed!

inisfree   easkey castle   surf   horses on beach
 
megalithic tomb   trad session   seaweed bath   seaweed bath

11. The Craic
Okay ... so I know we've added an extra one here ... But it's an important one. Nine intensive days together is pretty intense, so you will get to know your fellow natural builders very well. As well as working hard, there will be plenty of time to hang out, get to know each other, have the craic and be inspired. It's an opportunity to establish a good network of like-minded folk and it's highly likely that some of your classmates will go on to help you with your projects in the future.

the craic

So this is not just any old cob workshop. This is a Wokshop. Realise your dreams of building your own natural home and come on our 9-Day Intensive Mud and Wood Course. Click here to book your place or to find out more information. And if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

See you here in May!

Copyright 2016 Féile Butler - Mud and Wood

 

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