Mike Halmarack wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 08:39:13 -0500, Asher Hoskins
wrote:


Hello.

Does anyone have any experience with straw bale construction? I'm
pondering options for a self-build at the moment and a wooden framed
house with bale infill looks interesting (mainly due to low U-value,
speed/simplicity of use and cost).

Has anyone here built a straw bale construction? (Or even better, worked
out how to fit one into the building regs!) There's a great deal of
enthusiastic information online from straw bale advocates but some more
dispassionate opinions would be nice.


Asher.


I saw this method used on one of the Louis Theroux, whacky character
shows. It was built in a remote, sparsely populated part of North
America. I remember wondering at the time how long it would take for
the straw bales to disintegrate, given expected humidity levels and
sound construction methods.


I recovered thatch from UNDER the roof of my old house,whose then (not
thatched) roof was at least 60 years old, that was in perfect condition.

Straw will last as long as wood if subjected to the same sort of damp
free regime.

The key is as with wood, to keep it dry.

In quantity its a pretty tough material.
Its also remarkably bullet resistant. I'd rather be behind two foot of
straw than 1/4" of steel with someone pumping high velocity bullets around.