It is almost inevitable that once bales show up on site, it will start raining. I have yet to build a house when there has not been some rain in the process. It does not seem to matter what season it is or what the forecast says!
As an example, I started building a load bearing structure the other day and the weather outlook was okay. As soon as I brought my bales out of dry storage to the site, the forecast changed and it has been raining almost nonstop since. For that reason, always be sure to have lots of tarps on hand when building load bearing so you can cover the bales and be sure to have the roof dried in before you start baling a post and beam structure. The extra cost and effort of having tarps on hand is WELL worth it!
About the Author
Andrew Morison is a specialist 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 www.LearnStrawBale.com..
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September 13th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
My bales got wet even under a tarp. What’s up with that?!
September 13th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Alan,
Tarps can actually cause bales to get wet even on sunny days! The problem is condensation. If you can, it is always best to use the tarp as a roof rather than laying it directly on the bales. Wind tends to ruin this idea in most cases, so laying the tarp on the bales is usually required. When doing this, be sure to stack the bales with a pyramid on top to create proper drainage from the tarp. In addition, leave the sides open if possible to allow the air to circulate under the tarp, reducing condensation.