The most common time I am asked the question of how to identify moisture issues is when someone buys an existing straw bale house. Moisture is not often a problem in straw bale homes as long as the house was built well. That said, there may be issues that show up over time. Here are some basic things to consider when wondering about moisture issues in the home.
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Sometimes even the best planning can result in a mistake. For example, I recently heard from someone who purchased a house and found that there is no dryer vent through the straw bale wall to the exterior of the home.

Here’s a quick step by step guide to installing a vent after the fact. Be sure that you do this job with the power turned off to the house. I suggest you turn off all of the power, so there’s no risk of hitting a live wire buried in the bales.

It’s best to cut a larger hole than what you need as trying to cut a perfect size hole in a bale wall can be difficult. By all means, try it if you want as you can always enlarge your first attempt and continue with the method below. Much will depend on what size vent (or other protrusion you’re working with) you are trying to install. It will also depend on the density of your bales.

For the larger box method, start by using a rotary hammer drill with a chisel bit to remove the plaster. I suggest you score the outline of the area heavily with a scoring tool so that the plaster doesn’t continue to break in all directions as you go.

Cut out any mesh in the wall. Be sure to leave enough mesh when you cut it out to later anchor the framing that will go in the hole. You’ll need to bend it out of the way for now.

Use a chainsaw to plunge cut the straw out of the hole. Again, watch for wiring here!!!

Insert a small wood frame into the new hole and anchor it to the wall by attaching the bent back mesh to it.

Insert the dryer vent exterior wall fitting.

Insulate around the piping.

Trim out the new box with a wood detail, tile around the vent pie as necessary to hide the repair, or replaster the area with a skim coat over the entire wall to hide the repair.

Connect the dryer vent to the stub out.

Get going on the laundry that’s been piling up!

If you plan to build with bales, you absolutely must have a moisture meter with a probe. It is so valuable that I consider it a “must have,” not a “it would be cool to have” tool.
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Many of you have written to me in recent months asking about using straw bale walls for soundproofing against noisy streets and neighborhoods. I have responded to a lot of you individually, but figure it’s better to give everyone this information as well.
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I don’t know what the weather is like where you are while you read this, but it’s pretty rainy here today! It’s always a concern for bale builders that the rains will come at just the wrong time. In fact, I’ve said it before that as soon as your bales arrive on site, you can expect rain, even if you live in the Sahara! It’s Murphy’s Law I guess. Anyway, I’ve got some simple and cool tips for you to implement when building your house and the storm clouds start to roll in.
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Ever wanted to use hydraulic lime but not been able to find it in your area? Or perhaps you can find it, but it is going to cost you more than the rest of the house combined to ship it to your location. Have hope, there is a way to produce your own hydraulic lime from a much cheaper and more readily available source: quick lime and brick dust.
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Earth plasters are hard to work with. That’s not something that most people expect to hear when talking earth plaster. Most people expect that the natural plaster will be easy to work with and more fun because it is basically just glorified mud. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Earth plaster is an art form and a learned skill rolled into one. With all other plasters, your materials are consistent; however, with earth plaster, the ingredients can change from one square foot of your land to another. You have to fully understand the materials you are working with and how they fit the bigger picture of the overall mix.
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Working with Natural Hydraulic Lime, you’ll want to have a big bottle of White Vinegar on hand. It has a lot of great uses, beyond making volcanoes with baking soda! I keep a gallon of white wine vinegar under my kitchen sink and in my tool trailer.
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When working with straw bale buildings, some people wonder whether mesh is necessary or not. I personally think it offers so many advantages that I don’t consider not using it anymore. So with that bias in front of me, I want to share a really important detail about mesh application.
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Thanks to all of you who came out to the free plastering workshop last weekend. We got a lot accomplished and I’m happy that you all learned a bunch. I was bummed that we never got a chance to take a group photo. Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be. Thanks for traveling as far as you did and from coming from as close as you did (depending on who you are!). We got a lot accomplished, but did not finish the buildings.

I may teach another workshop in the next few weeks using a spray gun to apply the plaster! Stay tuned.

To be continued…….

I can’t believe it, but I have been converted! I never thought I would stand on the side of spraying plaster as I have always believed that hand troweling is better; however, I was convinced of it this last week. After talking with Steven, a master lime plasterer from Scotland, I am fully convinced that spraying is the way to go. As you may know, Scotland is known for having very old buildings, castles like the one above even, that have been plastered and mortared with lime for centuries. The knowledge that Steven shared with us has been passed down for generations and is something I could easily understand through his teaching.
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One of the cool things I learned this last week about lime plaster is the use of “pressing it back.” I had never heard this term, nor had I heard of the concept. It is quite simple and yet creates a very powerful effect on the strength and quality of the plaster.
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I just got an email from someone who plans to install his windows and doors the following way. I think it is an interesting idea as it will provide for very good compression of the bales and a very quick construction of the walls. This is in line with how additions can be added to existing straw bale homes. I always suggest that if people have specific intentions to expand later on down the line that they plan for the expansion by leaving electrical out of the area where they plan to cut in the new hallway.
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I got an email the other day from a company that works with Japanese trowels. These trowels are amazing, especially for detail work. The shape and flexibility of the trowels makes them perfect for working with detailed plaster jobs.
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For some reason, I did not get the people signing up for the plastering workshop that I had planned. My guess is that most of you plan to hire someone to plaster your house, so why bother taking a class to learn how to do it. I get that, yet I can’t seem to jive that with the number of plastering DVDs I sell. So, the next idea is that the cost of the workshop is too much for you all during these hard times. Well, how does FREE sound?
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When building curved walls, some of the most difficult aspects to deal with aer those that don’t naturally curve. For example, large windows in a curved wall will create an area where the window either sits inside the plane of the wall or outside that plane. There is no way to bend the window, other than buying expensive curved windows, so you have to get creative in how you finish the window installation. You might add an over sized sill to handle the difference, or hang the whole thing out side the plane of the wall with a creative faux finish. It’s up to you.
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Several people have written to me asking how to find the welded wire mesh I use on my bale homes. It is hard to find, no doubt, but it can be found, I promise. Unfortunately, I don’t have a long list of suppliers. All I have is my West coast supplier. If you have successfully found the material in your part of the world, please let us know where and save the rest of the SB folks out there some time and sweat!
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Here’s a great article about the effectiveness of straw bale walls in earthquakes. This study shows how strong they really are by subjecting the 14′x14′ straw bale house to 200 percent more shaking than was seen in the Northridge, CA earthquake of 1994 which holds the largest measured ground acceleration in the world. You can view the article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090403104229.htm or read it below.
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What is the perfect bale to use in a straw bale house? I am asked this question a lot. Most times, the question refers to what type of straw is the best. Some people say rice, others say wheat. I always tell people to buy what is most local as long as it is dense, dry, and clean. The other side of this question is in relation to the size of the bales to be used. Many people want to know if a 2 string bale is better than a 3 string bale for home construction.
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Plastering is hard enough, so don’t beat yourself up trying to figure out how much plaster you will need. The first option I HIGHLY recommend is to contact the management at the place from which you intend to order your material and ask them to calculate the order. You can give them your building’s dimensions and other details they request and they will give you a very accurate bag count and sand quantity. In fact, they will most likely be more accurate than you will with the formulas below.
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