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[Fingerlakes77]

Hi Everybody,

I plan on buying land near me here in the Fingerlakes region of Upstate NY and building a passive solar strawbale home with a masonry fireplace. I'll probably hire out the foundation, septic/well, and roof work. The rest I intend to do myself.

Do you folks have any advice or recommendations for web sites or programs for my planning and learning process? Or just advice in general? Have any of you heard of these strawbale workshops?

[farmhome5]

Welcome Fingerlakes77!

I am in the Canadice Lake area.

I have no advice about strawbale building but my dear husband is a mason. He would give adivce if you want to try your hand at the fireplace and/or foundation.

[Micheal]

Since you are still in the "planning" stage I would offer this advice in reference to building a strawbale home. This advice is for anywhere let alone the finger-lakes area.
Check with the local zoning/codes board(s) to see if'n what you want to do is allowed........... This form of building may not be allowed or you may need to get a variance to local codes/laws.

[Pelenaka]

Welcome to HT neighbor!
Here's a link I found for straw bale building, there's a workshop scheduled for April in Hurley New York. A serch on their website turned up a page on establishing a New York support group.

Keep us posted I am always interested in alternative anything that is done in our area. Seems like everything "green" is almost always in California.

~~ pelenaka ~~
http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/

[Rusty'sDog]

Straw house with a fireplace? I would love to hear the conversation with the insurance agent when you discuss fire insurance.

Check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Pigs

[Fingerlakes77]

Hi all,

Sorry about the long gap. I was real busy for a bit then forgot about this post! Thanks for your replies. Thanks Pelenaka, I'm surprised and pleased to see so many other New Yorkers on here. I'm still looking for land and am starting a new position soon so my plans are still in the planning and dreaming phase.

[SolarGary]

Hi,
You might have a look at the solar homes section on my site:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...solarhomes.htm

There is a section on Strawbale with lots of hands on material:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...tructionps.htm

If you've not done Strawbale construction before, I really liked the "Building One Home" book -- it goes through building a simple strawbale home with lots of detail on the construction.

I reviewed this set of videos and thought they were very good:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...BDVDReview.htm
Lots of info on all the little details that you really need to get right -- Strawbale is simple, but there are still a LOT of things you can do wrong.
Andrew who does the video is a great teacher.

There are also details on masonry fireplaces:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...fuels.htm#Wood

This home has a great one:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...rofit/Main.htm

I like to put good detailed stories from people do projects like this up on my site -- its a big help to other people who are thinking about tackling a big project like this. So, if you want to do that, just let me know.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...s/ididitps.htm
Take lots of pictures

Gary

[strawhouse]

Hooray! You are going to build the BEST house ever!!!!
(I'm a little biased, that's the house I built!)

I have LOTS of advice and suggestions.
The first is to built load bearing. Wood is not necessary to have for structural supports, the straw is 6 times stronger than a standard 2 x 6 framed wall.

Micheal is right, you need to check with the local building department about what they will allow. I'd do that before you get land. I've had a few friends get their dream strawbale house get shot down by the building inspectors.
It took over 6 months of innudating our chief inspector with information, and finally threatening to take legal action to change building code to get our house approved. There have been about 6 houses built in out area now with no problem getting approved, since ours was built. It's a matter of educating the building department.

There are some great courses out there. Check out the Ontario Strawbale Building Coalition. They offer lots of info, courses, and assistance. They have links to other organizations as well, and there may be something in your area.
http://www.osbbc.ca/

Here`s a link to our house on the OSBBC site. Basic info only, you are welcome to PM me with any questions. Load bearing, passive solar, solar hydronic heating, wood stove with masonry heater to come.
http://registry.osbbc.ca/listing-mag...idence-95.html

Some must have books are "The Strawbale house" Steen, steen and bainbridge, "Straw Bale Building / More Straw Bale Building, " Chris Magwood. There is also an engineering / structural buidling guide available from Chris Magwood as well. Really handy. (It came out just after we built.)

As far as the Masonry heater goes, it can be hard to find someone to build or certify it. We will be building ours this summer (my husband is a mason) we've been heating with a small woodstove / radiant heat for 5 years. Can't wait to finally get the masonry heater!

A well designed home is what is needed to heat properly. It's great that you have time to plan things. We took about 2 years to plan ours before building. We did it all, except the septic and driveway. Just my husband and I. We cleared the land, and build, and we're living in it after 4 months.


RustyDog, the conversation with the insurance agent would be one of the easiest, cheapest one you'd ever hear!!! Strawbale houses are covered in masonry. They are classed as a masonry or brick house. Cheaper to insure than a stick framed house!
Also, strawbale homes don't burn. They smolder. There's one story about a house that was on fire for 2 weeks before the owners even noticed it!

Good luck with everything! There are some great resources out there, and it's just getting easier to build strawbale as it becomes more ane more mainstream.

[Fingerlakes77]

Thank You Farmhouse 5 I may take you up on that sometime. I have to admit i had to look on a map to find your lake! I guess you really do learn something new every day.

[Fingerlakes77]

Thanks Gary. I actually already have your site book marked and refer to it often!

[farmgal]

You can build any home you want with a variance permit. Dont let the building guys tell you differently. You should need NY architectural approved plans. So start asking around of who may know one, thats how I found mine. Be careful you dont buy in an area that has no variances for certain things tho, like HOA. Then no variance permits will be allowed.

[Fingerlakes77]

Thank you also STRAWHOUSE. Loadbearing would definitely be my choice if I'm allowed by New York State and the county. Although I do like the idea of having the post and beam and roof done before I do straw bale related stuff for weather purposes.

[strawhouse]

Fingerlakes, I agree that it would be nice to have a roof on before doing the straw work.
But, you cut your insulation R factor down by about a 1/3 rd! (Because bales are placed on their sides, and wood is a thermal break, not an insulator.)
I could go on and on...... but it is really easy to get a modified post and beam straw bale house approved by officials. (But you've got time on your side to get approval!!!)

Here's another link I forgot...... Everdale runs a huge amount of courses, including full strawbale building courses, or just parts. Other stuff too like seed saving, beekeeping.....
http://everdale.org/
The straw bale courses are often taught by Chris Magwood, or Ben Polley, two big straw bale names. Might be worth the drive!!

[luvrulz]

Originally Posted by Rusty'sDog

Straw house with a fireplace? I would love to hear the conversation with the insurance agent when you discuss fire insurance.

Check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Pigs

Good friends of mine have a strawbale house with 2 fireplaces and a wood cook stove. It's a huge house and is kept nice and toasty. Most trouble they had was the neighbors and the funny looks they got. They might not have been able to get financing but it wasn't problem since they paid as they built. Great insulation and beautiful appearance.....and they have good insurance!

[tiogacounty]

Originally Posted by Rusty'sDog

Straw house with a fireplace? I would love to hear the conversation with the insurance agent when you discuss fire insurance.

Check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Pigs

How about a bit of knowledge before making silly comments? If you want to do a bit on an experiment, take a bale, plaster it properly, let it cure, then try to ignite it. Good luck, call us when you succeed.

[tiogacounty]

Originally Posted by farmgal

You can build any home you want with a variance permit. Dont let the building guys tell you differently. You should need NY architectural approved plans. So start asking around of who may know one, thats how I found mine. Be careful you dont buy in an area that has no variances for certain things tho, like HOA. Then no variance permits will be allowed.

In theory, you are correct. However, most codes are worded that the approval for a variance is up to the "local authority having juristiction", meaning that you can have you fate decided by a well educated, forward thinking, progressive enforcement agency, or spend years in an unsuccessful battle with a knuckle dragging fool who only wants to see vinyl sided garbage in "his" juristiction. There are plenty of places where, if the good ole boys don't want it, it ain't happening.

[Sparticle]

Check out the Yestermorrow Building School in Vermont. I took a strawbale class there, very cool.

[Fingerlakes77]

[QUOTE=strawhouse;4853687]Fingerlakes, I agree that it would be nice to have a roof on before doing the straw work.
But, you cut your insulation R factor down by about a 1/3 rd! (Because bales are placed on their sides, and wood is a thermal break, not an insulator.)


I have seen designs that either bring the timbers completely inside the walls and make them an architectural feature of the interior. I also have seen designs where the timbers are actually on the exterior of the house as part of the overhang design.

[Fingerlakes77]

[QUOTE=Fingerlakes77;4855198][QUOTE=strawhouse;4853687]Fingerlakes, I agree that it would be nice to have a roof on before doing the straw work.
But, you cut your insulation R factor down by about a 1/3 rd! (Because bales are placed on their sides, and wood is a thermal break, not an insulator.)


I have seen designs that either bring the timbers completely inside the walls and make them an architectural feature of the interior. I also have seen designs where the timbers are actually on the exterior of the house as part of the overhang design.