Strawbale home

Thanks Keithb
Your description answered my questions.
I have a metal roofed garage, and placed Reflectix on the inside. It does have a good impact on insulative merits. I interpreted your "c" wall and/or "t" as better than average. The staggered "c", if I am understanding, keeps the inner wall from direct contact to the outer wall. Non load bearing inner walls is also a good approach.

The suggestion to investigate your own area for codes is important. It will cost about $3000 extras for permits, approvals, and inspections in my county. It can change wherever you live, even in CO. At least strawbale has become well enough known that it can be accepted in most areas. Introducing yourself and getting to know the building inspection staff helps a lot. Ask questions before you begin and you will get their help. Wait and they will look for any little thing they can find.

When people say, oh it will be cheaper than a regular house, I have say, no it will be about the same. At first. Because if you are doing a "post'n'beam structure with strawbale infill", which is how the insurance company and the county building dept want to hear it, there is little that is different from a plain ol' house, except you are using strawbale instead of fiberglass insulation. Plastering the interior bale walls is no cheaper than sheetrock. You still have to do the wiring and the plumbing the ordinary way, and to code. Once you get the final (3rd) coat of stucco on,the colour coat, at least you will never have to paint again, because the colorant is in the stucco itself. So that's a savings. Whatever you can do yourself may be (may be -- not necessarily is) an opportunity to save, because you're not paying for labour. But pretty much all the components of a regular stick-built house are the same in a post'n'beam strawbale house.

I agree snoozy.
However, post and beam is different than regular stick-built houses in our culture now.
I totally agree that strawbale is basically a form of insulation. The R-value is high because the walls are thick. They are basically fire proof because of the stucco like surface inside and outside. Rockwool has a much higher R value than strawbale. Why not use rockwool, even cellulose fibre, to either increase the total insulative rating by leaving the wall thickness equal to strawbale, or equalling the R value by decreasing the thickness of the walls? A decrease in the thickness of the walls either increases the inside floor space or decreases the size of the footprint of the structure.

It's not a garage. The post stated it was a barn. The doors stay open and the shutters are never drawn. The bales are fully exposed to everything but direct sunlight and rain. We use the bales for bedding for our goats, so yes, they are regularly broken into. There are no bugs there.

I tend to discount criticisms when they don't apply or are incorrect and "Obsession" is an interesting concept but can't be placed on strawbale construction for us. This has been on the back burner for 10 years and is only now becoming a reality.

Earthships are for rich folk.

I gave you the link for the older strawbale homes in nebraska some of which are 90+ years old and are still lived in. If they were bug infested, mold breeding homes they would have long since been torn down. There are many here in Georgia as well as Florida but I have yet to find a single page link to provide for either state.

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Dahc.

This isn't correct either unless one wishes to place a stud wall right next to a bale wall which is kinda... no, not kinda... REALLY stupid. The whole idea of having infill bale walls is to ELIMINATE plywood, studs and sheetrock. Factory made lathe is not required either since regular 1" chicken wire is just as good. Therefore, it is MUCH cheaper.

You are not buying studs, plywood, sheetrock, lathe OR vinyl. What you do buy are strawbales, chicken wire, staples and mortar. How exactly do you figure it's about the same cost?

The wiring is done with a romex type wire and you cut fits into the bales themselves saving labor on drilling through studs, pulling wire and installing boxes or the cost of EMT in concrete block which is again... CHEAPER. The circuits are laid as you build your wall and are NO major project.

You did get one thing right though, the plumbing is the same.

... and you don't want to paint a bale wall anyway no matter what color you made it. You'll plug the pours of the mortar, the wall wont be able to breath and you WILL then get mold.

You guys just intent on spreading disinformation or are you just really, really ignorant of the subject you jumped on?

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Dahc.

Dahc,
Sorry to call it a garage. Since the bales are fully exposed to everything except sunlight and rain, they are not fully exposed. Termites love 14% moisture content. Molds, and fungi like low sun. A microscope and possibly chemical analysis may be needed to accurately determine whether pathogens exist, and other abnormal (not commonly owned) equipment is required to measure the moisture content. If you do not know how to detect termites, or other cellulose devouring organisms, they can be present in spite of your denial. Using it as bedding for goats just complicates the question.

Previous strawbale sites I visited stated to keep the bales dry specifically due to termites. Dry and 14% are different languages.

90 years old is juvenile. Look around the whole planet.

I do not oppose you staking a claim upon strawbale, planning thoroughly, proceeding with care, and creating a habitat of your dreams. It can be done. Good luck. It is just not my choice.

Snoozy is correct. Your comments regarding electrical are a bit naive. If you must ever modify or repair an electrical circuit inside a strawbale wall, it is not the same as a normal structure (not me). The plumbing? In a strawbale house, it is not the same. Structural repairs after construction, or internal upgrades require special planning prior to construction, or you are stuck. I did have an interest in strawbale at one time. I still salute you if you procede. Just do not ignore the negatives. They can be beaten, just don't ignore them.
Gary

I was in the electrical trade for nine years and I know good and well what would be involved. Everything I wrote in all posts in this thread are true and correct.

Don't talk down to me trying to get readers minds off of falsehoods you and snoozy are spreading here. Snoozy is not correct and neither are you.

The only naivety on this thread is you thinking you could post BS about construction methods and materials on a homesteading forum and get away with it.

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Dahc.

Lol. 14% IS dry. Try breathing air with only 14% humidity in it. I suspect in about 24 hours you will keel over from dehydration.

Just stop already.

90+ years old... juvenile... Now you need to produce your 90+ year old 2x4 stud wall. We're not building the great pyramid here, just a house we can leave our kids. Try and keep your focus. You're breaking up.

... AND, if you need a microscope to detect your mold problem, YOU DON'T HAVE A MOLD PROBLEM.

I have no more time to entertain your ignorance of alternative construction methods and the materials used in them.

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Dahc.

Hmmmm, if you don't have time, you may need a timex.

Dahc,
Inspite of your denial, you have demonstrated all the symptoms of obsessive behavior.
Good luck, inspite of your criticism.

Your experience in the electrical trade is fortunate, regardless of which way you go.

Discuss plumbing.

Regarding 2x4 walls: I do not know how far back they go. My Denver house was 2x4 walls built in 1904, so that is more than a hundred years. Look for how structures were built after the pilgrims. Did they use wood? (yes). Did they use straw? (no). Did they have access to both straw and wood back then? (yes) A Swedish engineer visited my house and criticized the American construction ethic because it would not last like the Swedish structures. Will strawbale outlast a stone structure in Sweden?

A great pyramid, and an apartment may outlast your kids.

Good luck on your endeavor, just maintain your own principle.

This is a wall of our outbuilding. It's cedar cordwood and I love it....However, it is EXTREMELY time consuming to do correctly. But in the end, you can't beat the cost.

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His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. ~Gene Hill~

Wow Runestone that's beautiful! I don't know anything about cordwood building, what is between the logs, is that concrete?

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http://tinksquared.com

I think you're misunderstanding. He was talking about moisture content, not humidity. In terms of baling and harvesting, 14% is still fairly damp...
And to be sure, it will be more challenging to build with bales than standard stick-built.

And I think you're misunderstanding, too.
Straw and baled straw and two completely different things. (And truth be told, many of the early Nebraska bale houses were prairie hay) Baling adds density and strength to the straw. They need to be packed tightly.

So far as cost, we researched straw bale pretty extensively, too. In fact, that was my first choice. I researched it for a little over a year before deciding instead to go with a modified P&B with stress skinned panels. We were going to build Nebraska style though, of course. (We don't have building codes) Ie, no frame.
There would have been a cost savings that way. But, the construction would have been more time consuming and they are harder to insure.

But unless you can get your bales free (which we could have) and your plaster (which we couldn't), I doubt the savings are going to be very dramatic over a self-built house like ours.
No matter which way you go, the labor is what really ends up costing you. DIY will make any method cheaper.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

that's assuming you have access to trees.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Hi CJ, yes, it's a mortar mix using some cedar sawdust, some very fine gravel/sand and portland cement.

LOL, yes, access to trees is beneficial. We actually purchased an entire log truck of cedar logs which were not suitable for anything but 'scrap'. We cut and split them all ourselves in order to do this building. The total cost of the wood was $1,200.00. We've had some setbacks (DH fell from a ladder and broke his back)..so it's taking us a lot longer to finish but it is beautiful and if we didn't already have a house, I would have done this in a heartbeat

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His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. ~Gene Hill~

Nevada,
I love it! Adorable. Now where are the updated, current pictures? :-)

Yucca,
You may be sorry you extended that invitation! I haven't been fishing in YEARS. And prepare for me poking into every nook and cranny of the house. And recording, and taking notes, etc. I'm a little type A. It'll be sometime next summer since I'm working 2 jobs now (gotta get completely out of debt!), but you WILL hear from me!

Rune,
OMG. That is gorgeous. That's what my dad was wanting to do. We need to make a tack room. He obtained an old portable shed building, and we are refinishing it by cutting old 1x4's and putting them on the floor, walls, ceiling, etc. And replacing the windows, etc. We were knee deep in sawdust the other day, talking about strawbale and he said we could use this building as temporary and if I ever get my own land, turn it into a "guest" room for my visitors. (poor parents..they think I'm going to stay here and get married and have lots of babies, etc....)
Anyhoo, he said for the millionth time that he wanted to do the cordwood. I just don't think he has any clue how labor intensive it is. And I've heard it takes FOREVER.

Everyone else, thanks for responding. Some of the points you guys brought up were things I had never considered. I still am in love with strawbale though, and should I ever get the chance I'm doin' it! Of course there is bound to be a lot of trial and error and learning curves, so I'm sure I'll have quite a few outbuildings made of strawbale so I can have the issues worked out before I build the "real" house.
Nothing wrong with a little strawbale compound right?

My point about the plastered strawbale walls vs sheetrocked stud walls is that you're still paying for one or the other. You misunderstood if you thought I meant covering the interior side of bale walls with sheetrock. Other interior walls, and most strawbale houses have some interior stud and sheetrocked walls, cost the same as a conventional house. Running wire in channels through the bales is no easier than drilling through studs, and you still have to set the outlet boxes according to the building codes, so you're not actually saving anything there.

I originally thought I would save money doing SB because I thought I could do a lot of the work myself. Well, the fact is that I'm not a journeyman carpenter, or plumber or electrician or roofer or a sheetrocker. I'm not a concrete mason. I am not a certified septic designer nor do I know how to run a backhoe (it might be fun to learn.) All these skills must be hired. And they are all the same tradespeople that you'd be hiring if you were building in the conventional way. I did do most of the plastering, and I did the entire colour coat.

Perhaps you're talking non-code buildings. Perhaps you have a lot of these skills and are experienced in dealing with county inspectors. If so, lucky you. Although, frankly, if you talk to inspectors with the same rudeness that you post with, I wonder you get anything passed.

Perhaps you might have read early on in this thread that I actually do live in a code strawbale house which I built myself (with lots of help) 10 years ago, and I know how much I borrowed to do it. Perhaps you might use a less disparaging tone in your posts because arrogance comes across as really bombastic when you get your facts wrong.