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I met Paul and Sara in 2015, long before they moved into their very own Applegate Cottage, at my seven-day, hands-on workshop in La Grande, Oregon and was immediately struck by what an awesome couple they are. They had a work ethic like I’d not seen in years, and were always full of smiles and […]
If you’re looking for an engineer in New York State to help with your straw bale build, please read on. Touson Saryon, the architect of the most popular home designs that we sell, recently gave me a recommendation for an engineer in New York State that I want to share with you all. It can […]
Having built hundreds of straw bale houses over the years, I’ve learned that bale stops do an incredible job of both strengthening and simplifying a build. I use them in every bale structure I work on. The most common placement for bale stops is at the top of the wall so that I can compress […]
Mistakes are often made in contracting when reading plans. Make sure you know your plans well and know how to read them to catch any potential mistakes.
A quality designer or architect is absolutely worth every penny spent on them; however, if you don’t have the money to spend, it doesn’t matter how amazing they are. So for those who cannot afford to hire a private architect or designer, there is a “next best” option: previously designed homes.
It may sound obvious, but learning how to build a house, of any kind but especially a straw bale house, is a good thing to do before you actually start building. Ask yourself the following 15 questions and if you cannot answer them with a high level of confidence, you would be best served to gain some more experience before you start building.
As a follow up to last week’s announcement by Arkin Tilt Architects (ATA) that they intend to offer a selection of their plans for free to California wildfire victims, I am happy to announce that those plans are now available for viewing.
I spoke with David Arkin earlier this week about the incredibly generous and caring offer that he and is wife Anni Tilt are making for those people who lost their homes in the California wildfires.
In general, the detailing of a timber frame straw bale home is very much like that of a regular post an dream straw bale home; however, the differences are important to discuss. How the bales attach to the frame and how to best seal the air gap at the transition from plaster to frame are among the important details we will discuss in this article.
When people talk about the cost of straw bale construction, they often get things a bit muddled up. They either come in way too low or way too high. I’m here to set the record straight, hopefully once and for all.