Friday, October 19th, 2007 | Popularity: 100%
StrawBale.com is full of useful information that will arm you with the facts about building with bales. What’s better, most of that information is free! We have articles, an instructional E-course, an interactive blog, a free Load Bearing Straw Bale Construction report (like an E-book), audio podcasts, photo galleries, a green building resource center, and on line videos that give you all kinds of information about straw bale construction and green construction, absolutely free. My want is to get this amazing building technique in front of as many people as possible so they can see its value. I hope you’ll help me spread the word and start growing the green industry even more quickly than it is already moving.
We add new listings to the green building resource center every week and new blog entries and comments are posted throughout the week. What’s more, if you can’t find exactly what you are looking for on our site, we give you several ‘on-page’ links, like those to the left, to take your search out into the fabulous world of Google where you can find anything you can dream of. In fact, we even have a Google search bar at the top of our site. You can use this to search the depths of StrawBale.com or the Web, it’s up to you.
Here’s an idea: why not make us your home page? You will find out about the new blog entries right away and you will also have an active search link through Google available to you when you need it. I hope you find everything you need with us at StrawBale.com. We are happy to provide you with the World’s number one straw bale blog and information source for straw bale construction.
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There are a lot of myths out there about straw bale construction. There are people who will tell you that homes built with straw bales will encourage rodents and other pests. They may also warn you against the high likelihood of fire in a straw bale home. Perhaps they would even go so far as to suggest that straw bale houses cannot hold their value over time. The naysayers are around, and that is not likely to change anytime soon; however, you can find out the facts for yourself by watching this video below. Don’t rely on those who would speak false information as if it were truth. My goal with http://www.StrawBale.com is to get the truth about straw bale construction in front of as many people as possible.
The above video is a short clip about the myths of straw bale construction. It quickly sums up some of the biggest myths. Like those mentioned above, and counters them with facts about the reality of straw bale construction. At the end, there is a 3 minute (or so) slide show with music through some beautiful straw bale homes. I hope you enjoy it.
StrawBale.com is full of useful information that will arm you with the facts about building with bales. What’s better, most of that information is free! We have articles, an instructional E-course, an interactive blog, a free Load Bearing Straw Bale Construction report (like an E-book), audio podcasts, photo galleries, a green building resource center, and on line videos that give you all kinds of information about straw bale construction and green construction, absolutely free. My want is to get this amazing building technique in front of as many people as possible so they can see its value. I hope you’ll help me spread the word and start growing the green industry even more quickly than it is already moving.
We add new listings to the green building resource center every week and new blog entries and comments are posted throughout the week. What’s more, if you can’t find exactly what you are looking for on our site, we give you several ‘on-page’ links, like those to the left, to take your search out into the fabulous world of Google where you can find anything you can dream of. In fact, we even have a Google search bar at the top of our site. You can use this to search the depths of StrawBale.com or the Web, it’s up to you.
Here’s an idea: why not make us your home page? You will find out about the new blog entries right away and you will also have an active search link through Google available to you when you need it. I hope you find everything you need with us at StrawBale.com. We are happy to provide you with the World’s number one straw bale blog and information source for straw bale construction.
Popularity: 100%
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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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October 20th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Andrew,
Locally for me (Southeast) there has been a severe drought this year, coupled with a series of heat waves. Farmers are being wiped out, and hay is at a premium. I have noticed local grocers, and even Walmart, tend to bale their cardboard. I was curious if you’ve used cardboard as a building material before - instead of straw. I cannot really determine if there are any downsides to the idea. Care to comment? Thanks.
October 21st, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Stephen,
Absolutely! I have heard of people building with densely baled cereal boxes. As long as the bales are tight and dry, they will work. The key is making sure the bales are very tight so they do not pose a fire risk. Cutting the bales to notch them around posts can be difficult if you do not have very sharp tools; however, with those sharp tools, it can be very easy. I would love it if you would keep me posted on this and if you would send me any photos if you decide to go for it! Good luck.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Love the site and video. I was directed here by a girlfriend who built a wonderful studio in Mendocino after taking a class - I’m having fantasies about building on the family homestead I have in rural Michigan - any comments on building in areas with lots of snow and ice? It’s zone 5, winter cold gets down to -15. There have been a lot of buildings on the place over the last 150 years - all of them destroyed by weather and rodents. Straw bale, properly done and raised off of the ground, looks like it might hold up better.
Red squirrels are a real problem in that area, they chew through wood as if it were cheese, move into the roof/ceiling area and it’s all downhill from there. Happens pretty fast if you aren’t vigilant. Plug a hole and they’ll just gnaw a new one next to it.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:35 am
Lynetta,
Straw bale homes are fantastic in climates like the one you describe. They are so efficient that the cold winters will be fun again! In terms of the squirrels, I think bale homes would be much better for you as well. My reasoning is that in a conventional home, when a squirrel gets in, it has the run of the place because the wall cavities are hollow, filled only with insulation that can easily be pushed aside and turned into a bed. In a bale home, the walls are solid all the way across and through with dense straw. Cover that with 1-1/2″ of plaster, and the little red squirrels will have a much harder time getting in and if they do get in, they will have no where to go. Good luck. If you are interested, check out www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com and sign up for a workshop with me this coming year. We will get you on the path to building your own sweet bale space!
November 8th, 2007 at 1:55 am
Hello, Andrew.
I’m from Korea(not really north ^^).
I’ve had interest in strawbale house a month ago
and I happened to visit this lovely, beutiful website.
I wonder if steel frame can work properly with SB house.
Can U give me information about books on steel frame SB house?
looking forward to ur reply.
Thank you.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Hi Krishna,
You can indeed use a steel frame with a bale house. I do not have any specific leads on books that address that process though. Be sure to isolate the steel from the bales with a waterproof membrane so that any moisture laden air does not condense on the cold steel in contact with the bales as that condensation would get sucked into the straw. If you do a search on my home page, you will find some blog entries on the subject of steel framing. Good luck.
November 10th, 2007 at 4:37 am
thank you for your kind and caring reply.
good luck~
December 9th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Hi Andrew,
I am considering building a straw bale cabin in Interior Alaska. In my area, it’s quite dry (around 15 inches of precip/year), but also extremely cold in winter. It is not uncommon for temps to drops as low as -40 or stay below 0 for weeks at a time. How do you suggest dealing with exiting air condensing on the exterior wall? How would you suggest incorporating a vapor barrier and is this something you would recommend?
Thanks!
December 14th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Anne,
That is a really good question. If the air is relatively dry there year round, I think you would be better to omit the vapor barrier. Bales can handle being a bit damp for a short time as long as they are allowed to dry out. If there is ample moisture throughout the year, you may want to add a vapor barrier. In this case, it may be best to add the barrier to the interior face of the wall to prevent the moisture from getting into the bales. It would condense on the barrier and drop down through the plaster to the toe ups. I must admit, this is a bit of a theoretical estimate of what would best work as your climate is very different than my own. I don’t mind being wrong, so if some one has a different take, I am open to hearing it! I hope that helps nonetheless.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Andrew,
Thank you for such a wonderful and informative site. I like Anne am looking into building in a cold area, Northern Maine at the northern border with Canada.
My question is; How would straw bale work as an earth berm home? My wife and I would really like to use both SB and EB for a hybrid home, but we are not too sure with the compatibility of them.
Thanks again for this wonderful site.
Chandrapada
January 25th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
correction….. Earth sheltered not berm
January 25th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Hi Chandrapada. Bales can definitely be used in conjunction with an earth sheltered home. The important thing is to be sure the bale sections are only on the exposed walls. Do not allow them to come in contact with the buried portions of the building. I would suggest turning the corners from the earth sheltered sections before changing to bales. This has been successful in the past. Thanks for your kind words.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Would a layer or two of Polystyrene be ok or something along those lines? We are trying to do this as in-expensive as possible.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
You have to connect the bale portion with a structural connection to the earth sheltered walls. In light of that, I would not recommend foam. You could simply use a framed section of wall. The earth sheltered portion, assuming you use concrete block, rastra block, or some other insulated block, would accept the frame well and so would the bales.
January 25th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I continue to research, and at this point am focused on Nebraska bale w/ a super adobe foundation in zone 5, Michigan. Frost line is down to 4 or 5 feet. Have you had any experience with SB/super adobe? I know I could go with a classic stone foundation, but prefer the speed of super adobe construction if I can pull it off. No cement… I’ll be using earth plasters.
Any thoughts?
January 25th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I am not well versed in super adobe. Perhaps some one else out there has some input.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I’ve been interested in load bearing straw bale construction for about 12 years now, and helped a little in a friend’s house in KY. His walls ar up to 25 foot high (at the eaves), 15 foot at the sides, the center of the roof is supported by a 3 ft wide sycamore trunk from the property, and doubles as support for the spiral staircase up to the sleeping loft.
I have a number of questions for my future endeavours in building.
1). Overhanging roofs. My friend’s house “Toad Hollow” had a wrap round porch, and was indead in a deep hollow, so the roof overhang doesn’t get much wind. I’m worried about the gusting and “straight-line wnds” we get in the flatter areas of KY, as almost all roofs have minor overhang, and still can get blown off! So my thought was to shape the top layer of stucco like weather-boards, and paint the upper surface, leaving the undersides clear to allow the walls to breath. Is this a possibility? I would still go for the wrap around porch, but only on the first floor. Which brings me to my second question.
2). Multi-Storey buildings. I’ve read how walls will bow out if more than 1 storey high, but no-one ever mentioned butressing (until I read some of your Q&A’s the other day) and I had always thought that this would be the way to go. I have designs on paper for 3 storey load bearing structures, where each floor is made up from a series of 20′ X 30′ units, tied together in the building process (laying of the bales) as “T” junctions. The second storey would be built on top of the center sections (straw bale on straw bale) the level below butressed by the walls of the exterior rooms, and the 3rd floor on top of the very center of the building, the walls below butressed by the second floor exterior rooms. I’m sure this would work! I can send you the plans if you like.
3). Continuous sills for doors & windows. I was thinking that all doors and windows would “top out” at the same layer of bales on each floor, and I would attach a continuous layer of scrap “slab” wood around the entire surface at that level, nailing it together, and pinning it into the bales above and below with rebar, or as it is in KY “Tobacco sticks”, proving that you can make anything with tobacco sticks and bailing twine! Would this help in keeping walls in line during multi level construction?
4). Summer Kitchen. Cooking in a straw bale house WILL generate condensation. If I (as I have in one of my designs) build in a summer kitchen into an alcove of the outside wall, will the condensation be too much for the stucco?
Any help or advice will be appreciated.
P.S. My friend installed a window air conditioner in his house, which acted as a dehumidifier in wet or humid weather, or when cooking inside!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Some great questions here and some of which are too engineering oriented for me to answer. As you may have seen in recent conversations on here, there are different views about load bearing construction and multi level dwellings. One thing I will respond to is the roof overhang question. I can’t imagine that th ewinds in your area are higher than the hurricane force winds experienced in Florida and other parts of the Southeast. New construction codes require the use of “Hurricane Clips” on all rafters and trusses to resist wind uplift. I use them on all my structures and believe they would be enough to resist the uplift in your area as well. Of course, a call to a local engineer would be a smart idea as he or she will know for sure. I would not rely on paint for the overhang protection in either case.
I don’t think it is necessary to provide a continuous sill around the entire building. In fact, I think that might actually cause problems by increasing the surface are of joints or breaks in the plaster skin. Personally, I keep all of my windows and doors as close to flush with the exterior of the building as I can and do not use sills at all. Of course, I live in the dry part of the Northwest, so construction detailing may well be different in your area.
I am not sure I know what you mean by a summer kitchen but condensation from kitchens needs to be directed out of the structure through ventilation. Whole house heat recovery ventilation systems are my favorite for removing excess moisture; however, a simple kitchen fan is a must.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 am
Some KY basics.
“Straight Line Wind” as I understand it is a tornado turned on it’s side (before it becomes a funnel) where the wind blows in one direction only. Conditions are not usually bad enough for a full blown tornado, but the process starts as if it was going to be one with rolling clouds that eventually turn down into a funnel. In KY, they often start at ground level. They can rip the tin off a roof and wrap it several times around a tree trunk.
A summer kitchen is a screened in outdoor kitchen for use in the summer, when it gets too hot to cook indoors, but too wet (or an incompatible menu) to fire up the barbeque. I wondered if the steam would be too much to build that into an alcove.
Summer kitchens are also used for “canning” fruit and vegetable, “sugaring” either maple sap or pressed sorghum into syrups, and drying produce, wild mushrooms or herbs.
I may have to build litecrete roofing with just enough slope to drain, but flat enough to form an upstairs patio, at least that will take a water sealing coat. the overhang is then a 5ft “frill” around the top of each floor, and can be supported with posts to a flat surface below.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 am
I would realy like some information on straw-bale for a shed in my back yard and if there are any builders in the dallas tx area