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Hanging Cabinets in Your
Straw Bale House
If possible, eliminate the use of upper cabinets in the kitchen. A
well designed pantry can easily replace many upper cabinets. This
will simplify the baling process by eliminating the need to
provide horizontal nailers for the cabinetry. If you
cannot design the kitchen to avoid the use of upper cabinets,
you will have to install nailing backers in the bales on which
to hang the cabinets. A horizontal nailer is also necessary
for the top anchoring point of the base cabinets.
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Bale walls are not known for their flatness. In fact,
they are somewhat treasured for their natural undulations. That
said, the cabinet and counter sub-contractors will want to
install against as flat, straight and square of a surface as
possible for a solid and secure fit. Without a flat and straight
wall, the counter tops will not fit tightly to the wall. This
not only looks bad, but also creates a problem for the bales
which run the risk of getting wet from splash dripping down
behind the counter. In addition to improving the quality
of the job, creating a flat, straight and square wall makes
the installation faster and thus less expensive.
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A great advantage to straw bale construction is the thickness
of the walls. When it comes to cabinetry, it is possible
to recess the cabinets or shelves into the bales walls. This
creates extra storage space without sticking the cabinets further
out into the room. Or, you can set the cabinets back
even further and place the face frames flush with the plane
of the wall. This works well in Japanese style architecture
and creates a clean line for any set of cabinets or shelves. It
is also a good idea to recess refrigerators as they are often
deeper than the cabinets around them. By recessing it
into the wall, you can line the face of the refrigerator up
with the face of the cabinets.
Even if you do not hang cabinets within the depth of the walls,
you can still create beautiful accent pieces by cutting nooks
into the walls. The nooks can be any shape your imagination
conjures up and can be cut to any depth. In general,
do not cut them too deep as the insulative value of the wall
will be reduced by cutting out the straw in the nook. Often,
it makes sense to mimic a window or door opening in order to
balance the language of the building.
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