Straw Bale Homes?

Question

How wide are the walls made with straw bales? &

What kind of roofing works best with a straw bale house?

Answer 1

Never heard of a straw bale house

Answer 2

fire traps for the poor

Answer 3

you wouldnt be allowed to build a straw home in state.

Answer 4

Since the standard square bale runs about 20 inches wide, you can count on your walls being that plus another 3-4 inches (or more) for framing and stucco (or other coverings).  So, you're looking at approximately 2 feet of thickness, depending on the size of bales you use.

As far as roofing goes, you can use any traditional roofing.  Most people who use straw bales put up framing and roof, then go back and start putting in walls and bales--pretty much the way you'd do regular stick building.

There are many resources on straw bale construction.  Use your search engine.  Check with Countryside Magazine.  They have had several articles on it <countrysidemag.com> including this one:

http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/84/...

Answer 5

I've heard of straw bale homes and how inexpensive and energy efficient they can be. If you search for "straw bale homes" on Amazon, you'll turn up at least a dozen titles of books that will have all this information for you.

Word of caution: before tackling a project like this, you might want to check with your city's building department. While a straw house may be eco friendly, your city's building code may blow the idea to pieces.

Answer 6

We built a 750 sq/ft straw bale "cabin" about 15 years ago and it is still in excellent condition.  The walls are about 24" thick.  We built our roof trusses on the ground with a 24" overhang all around, then roofed with rough-cut spruce 1 x 6, tar paper and home made poplar shingles.

We built up the site about 12" with clay to give good drainage all around and poured a 10" foundation/pony wall on 12" concrete pilings 10' on center.  Both the inside and outside are covered with stucco wire and three coats of stucco.

It makes a great cabin that stays nice and cool in summer and is easy to heat if we visit in winter.

One little tip:  Our neighbor who built a similar cabin used oat straw and has encountered some problems with moisture.  We used wheat straw and have not had the problems.

BTW - we got the original design from Mother Earth News magazine

Good luck