A Little Granola

Straw bale houses have been around in some form or another since the late 1800’s, many of the earliest buildings are still in use. A straw bale house basically consists of either 2-string or 3-string straw (not hay) bales stacked like legos. The bales are then plastered to keep moisture and pests out and provide further stability. Some houses don’t have any other structural supports beyond the bale walls but ours will have a post an beam structure as well. This will give us a roof to work under while we put the walls up. This is handy because while straw bale walls are in general very long lasting, fire resistant and sturdy moisture is the bane of their existence. You do not want your bales getting wet, it can lead to mold and possible even spontaneous combustion, obviously bad things.

Costwise straw bale houses cover a large range. Owner built houses have been made for as little as $10/sq ft while high end houses can be as much or more than $100/sq ft. Obviously we are shooting closer to the $10 end. Building codes are slowly beginning to include straw bale systems. Luckily in our area there is already one other permitted straw bale house so we don’t have the difficulty of introducing a brand new system.

Straw is highly insulating (r-values from 30 to 60 have been reported) and the plaster provides a certain amount of mass to help stabilize temperatures. Straw bales also provide excellent sound insulation and the thickness of the walls gives the house a cozy sturdy feel.

Any questions?