Tim Lamb wrote:

In message , John
Rumm writes

BigWallop wrote:

The only thing that really worries me on these types of buildings, is
how do
you make them fire proof? I don't mean from electrical or chip-pan
fires, I
mean from water droplets hanging around when the sun shines, or from
lightning strikes etc.


Daub is probably the answer... IIRC there was a Grand Designs self
build that used that technique. Once up the interior was daubed /
plastered and ended up looking much like any other wall. Can't
remember what they had outside. As the OP said good insulation and
very cheap (handy if you set out the house design in multiples of bale
length though!)


Hmm. What about vermin? The Grand Design program failed to even ask the
question.

Straw bales contain a fair amount of unharvested grain and are predator
safe winter housing for rats and mice. In order to get at the food they
soon learn to chew through the polypropylene (sp?) string.

The on-farm cure is to bury a bag of bait sachets in the bottom layer
but I don't know how effective or how much of a problem this might be
for a single bale wall. Also farm stacks are used and rebuilt each year.

regards

Its not hard to encase the straw in somthing tough enough.