Research page:Natural building
Building with straw bales
- Is is difficult to build with straw bales?
Well, to learn the techniques of building with straw bales and adobe isn't too difficult. Everyone can learn it, although you need time to practice and get handier.
You need a good design. Especially important are details such as the foundation (which can of course not be made of straw bales) and the transition between foundation and straw bale walls. In most cases, first a wooden frame is built that gives strength to the structure of the house. The straw bales can then just be used as fill ups. There are other methods where no frame is built, but in most cases designs for the wood structure are similar to balloon framing.[1]
First thing is to get the right materials, straw bales that are pressed harder than normal bales, the right mix for adobe, etc.
Problems can come when the straw bales aren't entirely dry, or when you build in the wrong time of the year. Mud needs time to dry and when the season is rainy or cold, the moist mud could make the frames and straw bales rot.
Something else to pay attention to is to prevent thermal bridges in the construction.[2] This is so you wouldn't get water from condensation into the walls.
There exist simple techniques to make straw bales smaller when needed. Big pins are used as needles to first bind the entire straw bale into smaller segments, after which the original ropes can be cut.
You may think well beforehand whether you wish all walls made of straw bales. The inner walls could also be made of just adobe or mud bricks. Straw bales do consume a lot of space.
The roof is important to prevent water leaking from the roof into the walls. In most cases overhanging roofs are applied. In that case you don't need a waterproof stucco for the outside walls. When you make a normal roof, special attention is needed for the plastering of the outside walls, as normal adobe won't be resistant against rain.
Find a good architect with experience in this field, or if you wish to do all yourself, spend ample time to read and study what's available. There are quite some books and web sites about the topic. If you have no experience, you could also start building a smaller shack or barn with straw bales. That will give you the experience needed for building an entire house.
Straw bale houses are beautiful and very pleasant to live in and working with natural materials is really joyful. But you do need experience or else you could be in for disappointment.
