Monday, January 21st, 2008 | Popularity: 61%
The answer is quite simple: keep the bales dry. Mold can only grow and therefore have an affect on the bales when there is moisture. As long as the bales are kept dry, the spores will not be able to grow and will eventually shrivel up. The walls, sealed with plaster, will not allow any of the spores to enter the habitable space.
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I recently heard that some, if not all, straw and hay out of the Pacific Northwest has a mold spore in it. The question that accompanied this information is how to counter act the affects of the mold on the bales so they can be used for constriction.
The answer is quite simple: keep the bales dry. Mold can only grow and therefore have an affect on the bales when there is moisture. As long as the bales are kept dry, the spores will not be able to grow and will eventually shrivel up. The walls, sealed with plaster, will not allow any of the spores to enter the habitable space.
Popularity: 61%
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Andrew Morison is a licensed contractor specializing in straw bale and green construction. He has shown thousands of people how to build their own straw bale projects through his comprehensive series of instructional straw bale, concrete foundation, and plastering DVDs. You can check these out at http://www.LearnStrawBale.com.
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January 26th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Andrew is there any way to tell how moldy the bales of straw are that you are buying. I realize that buying something that is already turning black isn’t smart however I would like to know how to tell if the mold level in the straw bale is safe to use.
January 26th, 2008 at 7:54 am
In general, it is about appearance and moisture content. Using a moisture meter to test the amount of moisture in random bales is a great idea. you can get a good idea of the quality of the bales by checking that number as well as a visual inspection. If the bales look dirty or dull, they have probably either seen moisture or the rake was set too low while baling. If the rake was low, the chance of having dirt and other junk in the bales is high and hey probably are not the best option for you.
January 26th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Andrew
I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep bales as dry as possible. Lung damage due to inhalation of spores is a very serious business. Here in UK there a lots of farm workers who rue the day they worked with moldy bales. A friend on mine suffered years of debilitating chest problems because he used damp bales and contracted what in UK is known as Farmers Lung. So if bales are delivered with mold clearly visible or raises a cloud of smokey dust when hit REJECT them. If you already have them and the problem is due to your lack of care then take the offending bails out into the middle of a field and set fire to them. Don’t chance years of ill health on the price of a few bales of straw.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Okkkkk…let’s see if I can make this question clear. We are about to begin building…BUT…the only way for us to buy bales is to order them from a company in Colorado. We live in Texas. How to make certain that the bales we are buying are suitable for construction? It would be crazy to drive to Colorado to pre-inspect the bales…the only recourse that we have is to trust the company. Given the sad experiences that we have had with other contractors during this building and planning process, trust is getting hard to come by…so the question is…what to do to make sure that we get good bales?
Thanks for your input
January 26th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Brian: Good point indeed!!!
Gilberto: I would suggest you ask them to send you test results of moisture readings with some kid of guarantee that the delivered bales will meet the test results upon delivery. I would also ask for pictures of the bales and the storage facility if applicable. Finally, I would ask what their return policy is should they not meet the criteria you spec upon ordering.
That said, I would look long and hard for a nearby source. I find it hard to believe that with all the cattle in Texas there is not a local source for straw. You might contact the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Hay Hot Line at http://www.agr.state.tx.us/agr/program_render/0,1987,1848_5410_0_0,00.html?channelId=5410. (Yes, I know it is for hay, but the farmers will know where to find straw). You might also try the Texas Hay Exchange at http://www.hayexchange.com/tx.htm. I hope that helps!
January 27th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Hello Gilberto,
We are in the process of building in Texas and got really nice straw bales from Texas. Email us if you would like information on our straw bale source. birkbach@hotmail.com
January 27th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
In addition to the sources that Andrew mentions above, we put together http://StrawLocator.com to help bridge the gap between straw sources and buyers. It’s essentially a classified ads site for straw, with sections for bales available, bales wanted, tools, and even transportation. It’s free to post. We ask for a donation if a deal goes through, but to be honest we’re not that concerned about it.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Thanks Bill. I thought about this link and then almost immediately forgot to put it in the post. Thanks for posting it so others know about it.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Hey guys. I’m no where ready to buy or build a house, but I’m looking to the future. My boyfriend and I are currently in the planning stages of our relationship and he is very supportive, understanding and even a bit enthusiastic about my ideas of living green. Being the girl that I am I’ve looked up everything that I can and we have started doing basic planning for our home of the future. The only question I have not been able to find a answer to is one that one of my friends (a particularly aggrivating type of naysayer) has posed. I would like to tell her with absolute certainty that she is wrong. She has hay fever and says that a straw built home would trigger a reaction from her. While I’m sure that over an inch of plaster is more than enough protection I just have to ask to make sure. Thanks so much.
February 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Sarah,
You are absolutely, without doubt, correct in your assumption that hay fever would have no affect on your friend in a straw bale house. I have horrible hay fever and I am pretty reactive to the straw when I build, but once the house is plastered, there is not a hint of concern for me with hay fever. Your friend can nay say all she wants, but she won’t win that argument.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Hello!
I was reading the questions & replies here. I was shocked when read about the intention of importing bales from Colorado to Texas! this is tipically welfare stuff: people have got more money than sense! How can somebody believe that moving bales over great distances like that is still “green”?! I live in the UK, but got a farm in Slovakia, where the house is literally next to the fields from where I could get my very own bales that are apart from the fuel & string costs for free. Unfortunately it is not possible to build houses from straw yet so I have to give up for now and rebuild from “conventional” materials, but I can still make it as green as possible, using more natural & local materials. If I could do it when bales are laying on the ground after harvest just a few yards from the house I want to rebuild, than you could try that as well when the transport is a many hundreds of miles away!
February 15th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Zoltan,
I agree with you about the transporting of bales. I always encourage people to buy locally if possible. If not, then it is important for people to figure out the cost (both financial and environmental) for moving bales. Does it balance or out weigh the benefits of building with bales? If it is more impactful than the savings created, then other options should be considered.
February 26th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
We are starting a school in our local community and wish to build it using straw bale construction however some of the land is flood prone. Is traw bale construction ever been done on stilts?
February 27th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Maggie,
Bale houses can be built on stilts or standard raised floor foundations with no problem.