Straw Bale House

[ZAGran]

If straw bales are all you have.........................

[Garand]

I've watched that episode of "Building off Grid", and I cannot see the benefits of choosing a bale house over more traditional buildings.

[Nik]

My BIL in Scotland wanted to build a bale house, but the local planners blocked it.
Note: Like a thatch roof, there are precautions you *must* take against weather, vermin etc.
He had all those arranged, but was still refused.

FWIW, after battling those planners unto futility, he finally went for a pre-approved Scandinavian kit timber house. Due to the waste of time and money, he had to compromise on house and cellar size. IIRC, cellar was supposed to be 'standing height' across entire site with an access door / adit. He settled for a third smaller house, with a 'stooped' cellar lacking external access.

[grumpygremlin]

friend has a straw bale house in somerset-next county to the east- the straw bales are covered with wooden planks on the outside and lime plastered on the inside so you don't see the straw bales. wood burner for heating.

[Applejack]

Cedar stay warm. Lots of blankets. 29 is really cold. Best of luck to you guys.

[Cedar]

I can probably figure out how to post pics on my laptop when I go to Mom's and have real internet. To charge my phone I have to sit in the truck for awhile. I can only barely see one line at a time on this forum on my phone so I am sure posting pics would be a nightmare.

I might post my SHTF story here one day, but tonight is hopefully our last night without heat, as our wood cookstove pipe goes in tomorrow (it was backordered for the last two weeks -- and it is supposed to go to 29f tonight. I have a little mini propane heater going in the trailer, but we can still see our breath.

Tomorrow I am digging a bit of ditch so we have water, but with the cold at night, I will have to unhook and drain 300' of hose (ugh). Hopefully in two weeks I will be laying underground water pipe and stop using the hoses.

And the 10th, I have a friend helping to hook up my solar power system, as that is what he did for a living.

So my daughter and I are doing weird camping at our place for a few more days.

Cedar

[Cedar]

Sadly I do not have pics of my friend's friends homes. One is a well known photographer in British Columbia, so I will see if I can find one on his website. But if you looked at them, you would think they were a house in the southwest states. All of them did have a "truth door", which is a little wee door set into the wall, but when opened, shows the straw bale interior of a section of a house.

Cedar

[Applejack]

Cedar, I would love to see a picture of one of these homes. I always have a problem trying to post a picture but maybe you can figure it out how to post one. I am not good with figuring things out on a computer.

[Cedar]

Yes, my phone thinks it is a spelling bee champion.... I have sad news for it.

It randomly changes words on me. Thankfully it stopped putting ukelele in sentences at least three times per paragraph.

Cedar

[ZAGran]

"perferabke" What is this? Perhaps" preferable"?

[Applejack]

I had seen a tv show where they used straw under the cabins they built to help keep the warmth in. They say it also would help with ground moisture as well.

[Cedar]

This could be something you could use short term or in a shift situation if you were short of cash. We had a scenario of losing house in a teotwawki situation . This might be an alternative to a 'normal build" if you could use a clay/straw coating instead of the commercial stucco. Inside and out. needs further investigation. Perhaps could just use straw or hay as insulation if you could keep it in the dry.

If I were to have a SHTF abode, I would use a mud and wattle home. You can find materials anywhere reasonably, and not so with good tight bales.

I have been in pit houses in Soda Creek, and ideally perferabke, but they would be alot of time and work. The daub and wattle quicker and easy to do with one person.

Cedar

[Cedar]

In British Columbia, I visited two straw bales homes that were owned by friends of my friend, and another which is owned by a well known BC photographer. All of these houses were 2,000-3,000sf. Two were single story, one was two story, and the photography studio was two story.

No mice, no bugs, no mold. All had "truth doors" which is traditional with straw bales homes. All of them had the bales custom baled to specs, I believe all of them were oat straw, not wheat straw.

One had a kids rock wall a story and a half tall in the kid's room. One had cork floors, one had an acid etched concrete floor. I would live in one in a second.

They stay cooler in summer, warmer in winter with 10-14+" walls. Only the lower halves had a concrete type substance, the upper parts which are more shielded from the elelents with further reaching overhangs on the roof, protected the lower bits. Often the bottom 24" or so is rocked.

Because of the house materials, molds are lessened. People who tend to have mold allergies can live in them. I suppose a strawbale house can catch fire like any other, but the three things that fire needs is air, fuel and heat. The walls pretty much prevent air and heat. I have never heard of a strawbale home burning.

Getting permits in some counties are more difficult than others.

Cedar

[ZAGran]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw-...ith_straw-bale

The above wikipedia site gives pros and cons of a straw bale house. To me the proper weather and protection against rodents during the building of the house present the biggest problems. On the funny side one straw bale house that was not coated with plaster or stucco wound up being eaten by cows!

[Morgan101]

Fire would be my biggest concern. Second would be what other critters would like to take residence inside my straw walls. It would seem that would be a haven for mice, which would attract the snakes, and other predators that feed on small rodents. I think I would opt for a teepee before I built a straw house.