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It has been a while since I last gave you some tips on being your own contractor. Today, I will let you know some simple tricks of the trade for dealing with banks or mortgage firms. By the time you are ready to discuss your project with the bank, you will already have a full set of plans and an accurate price estimate and critical path. All of these things are absolutely necessary to have in place and for them to be accurate and complete. consider that the money you request and the time period in which you promise to complete the project will all be set in stone when you are done with the loan officer. Be sure you get the details right from the start or you will end up paying heavily in fees to reorganize the loan.
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When building a straw bale house, the bales are likely delivered to the site in squeeze blocks: tall 8′ x 8′ blocks of straw bales. Here’s a simple solution for getting the bales from the top of the delivered pile to the ground where you can handle them. In most cases, people climb their way to the top of the pile and then throw the bales off to the ground. This will usually damage at least some of the bales and is a good way to squish one or more of your generous helpers! There is a better way.
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I have two spots left in the New York Workshop September 1-7 and only one spot left in the Jacksonville Workshop September 15-21. This is your last chance to sign up as I imagine the workshops will be full in the next few days. Please visit www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com for more information or to sign up.

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One situation you are likely to find yourself in when building a straw bale house is the ends of bales sticking too far into a room or beyond the plumb line of an exterior wall. As you know, when you build a bale house, you interlock the corners by placing one bale East-West and then the next bale course North-South as you turn the corner. In doing so, it is easy to stack one of those bales out of plumb and not notice it until the whole wall is stacked. Another place this is common is around window and door openings. I have seen many folks terminate the bales too far into the window opening to create the shape they want when meshing and shaping. Those bales need to be cut back to allow for proper shaping.
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Example of an old stone buttress wall
When building a load bearing straw bale wall, you need to support the wall from falling over into the house or out of the house. The direction in concern is called the out of plane direction and is perpendicular to the wall. A wall should be supported in a ratio of 13:1 (length to thickness of wall). For a standard 3 string bale, this is every 25′. The question often arises about how to support a wall where an intersecting wall is not desired, such as in a living room or kitchen.
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I will be in Klamath Falls Oregon for the weekend helping to build a bale house. I guess it is more a mix of a bale raising and a class all at once. There are said to be 30 people on site waiting for me so I will either be without a voice next week or simply surrounded by a bunch of new friends.

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For years I used either welded wire mesh or (eeek) chicken wire to shape the space above windows and doors. The chicken wire was horrible, mostly because it never seems to hold a shape, but the welded wire mesh worked pretty well. The biggest problem with the welded wire mesh is that if it is not stuffed well with tightly packed straw or if the straw is packed too tightly, the plaster has a hard time sticking to the lids of the opening.
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Windows are one of the most risk prone and failure prone areas of a house, conventional or straw bale. In fact, any penetration in the exterior wall is at risk of water infiltration and thus failure. Most contractors are aware of the risks associated with this area of construction yet they do not fully understand how to minimize that risk.
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If you need some help, here is a woman looking to help you. If you want to connect, please respond to this blog post and I will make sure you get connected.

Andrew
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Hi. I’m looking to get into straw bale building, and am a bit lost. I had set up a work trade this summer but unfortunately that had been postponed. So I would like to try, if possible to set up another or possibly an internship. Do you know of any one needing an extra pair of hands? I am very portable, love meeting new people and most importantly a very dedicated worker.

I am a very hands on person and completed a month long cob workshop in Baja Mexico, through Cob works, this spring where I learned, built and understood earthen floors, roofing, foundation, natural plastering and more. Now I would like to immerse myself in straw bale. So here is my cry for help, I need some experience. Or if there is any wisdom or knowledge you could pass my way, or names of people who might be able to help please let me know.

many thanks

Mandi

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photo from www.howthingswork.com

I heard on NPR yesterday that Exxon/Mobil posted the highest second quarter profit of any corporation in history. ANY corporation EVER! Somehow this seems crazy when the cost of fuel keeps rising and the average consumer is struggling in a failing economy. They posted nearly a $12 BILLION profit in the second quarter alone.
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We are five weeks away from the seven day intensive straw bale workshop in Bainbridge, New York and there has been such a large show of interest that I have opened up 5 additional spots in the workshop.
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Thanks for your patience everyone. I have been swamped and unable to make another entry in my blog for some time. Today I want to talk about what it is like to work with your local building department while acting as your own general contractor. You might think that in the progression of events the next piece of the puzzle would be working with your bank, not the building department. After all, you won’t be working with your building department until you are actually ready to build and you won’t be ready until you have the bank funding. Actually, although a common theory, this is totally wrong in my opinion.
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I always remind people to clear the loose straw from their job sites for several reasons. The first reason is always fire protection. The second is for slip protection. The third and new reason is for snakes!
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Photo: Library of Congress; reproduction number: LC-USZ62-92466
If I had to choose the primary place where owner builders, and contractors alike, fail when building a home it would be in the estimating of costs. This is one of the most important parts of the job to get right. If you make major mistakes, your job is doomed to fail before it even begins.
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There are so many things to consider when choosing a plaster for your straw bale home. I will try and give a quick outline here to get you all started on the path of inquiry. There are many decision to be made and many details to consider in those decisions. The plaster is the thing that most people will notice about your home, so make a wise and well informed decision. Below I will give some pros and cons to Clay, Lime and Cement based plasters. The decision is ultimately yours and I hope the information below will help you decide.
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I have written in the past about performing the steps necessary to identify the perfect place to build your house. I fully believe in the importance of knowing your site before you build or even design and furthermore suggest that the information regarding your building site be premiere amongst the important data you work with when designing your home.

As a contractor, there is another site evaluation that needs to happen. Consider that the building plans are already complete and the siting of the house has been decided. What else is there to consider about site evaluation?
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Photo from: www.marathonthreadscanada.com

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Below is the link to the recent briefings on Straw Bale Construction at the US Congress. This is a potentially exciting move for the world of straw bale construction. I know how slowly the US Congress can move, so my breath is bated although not held!
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I just wanted to let you know that I am on a short vacation in Victoria, British Columbia and so will not likely get out a post about how to be your own contractor this week. I planned to write one before I left, but did not find the time between packing and finishing up my seven day intensive straw bale workshop. I will write early next week, if not before. Sorry for the delay!

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