Strawbale Building Part 1

Wow, time flies when you're busy! I don't know why June is the month for the kids activities but whew. Aside from that, though, we've finally got busy with that strawbale room/house thing we are building for oldest child. It's been an education and we've only just started.


First we built and insulated the floor on a post and pier foundation. We'll see how well that works up here but time and money are of the essence this summer. We also built the toe ups (gets the bales up off the ground/floor) and the top box beams. You run cord strapping under the toe ups before fastening them to the floor. When the wall is stacked, you put the box beams on top and, with more strapping, cinch them down tight, compressing them. Sort of a large sandwich.

Then we put up some braces to help us keep the wall straight. Note: check braces again before starting and frequently while building. Our wall may be just a wee bit crooked. We also got the door and window bucks made and ready to go.


Then we got to stack the walls. That was actually pretty quick and easy. The hardest part was making smaller bales. Even with gloves that baling twine got to be pretty hard on my hands.

Once that was up, we put on the box beam, stuffed it with straw and put more OSB on top of it. Foam insulation would be more effective but we didn't have any left from insulating the bottom toe ups. Bad counting on my part. I didn't want to drive an hour just to get some more.

Then, before strapping the walls down, we went over the bales with a weedwacker. I think we could have done more and gotten a more level wall, but there is a lack of skill on our part and we REALLY don't want to split the strings on the corner bales.

Finally, we got to work on the roof. That should have gone faster than it did, but we some unforeseen mechanical difficulties. Isn't it always something?

As of this morning, the roof is done and the gable ends are enclosed. We still have to pin the window and door bucks in place and get some mesh put on in places to help hold the plaster. Where ever wood meets straw or there is just some wood that will be plastered, it gets tar paper and chicken wire. We also have to do around the windows and door. That'll be interesting. Then, this coming weekend, we will hopefully be able to plaster. That will be an adventure for sure!

We did get some pretty sunsets during all this.

I'll keep you posted!