The straw bale house a real goods independent living book. This book highlights various benefits and critical points, allowing you to decide if this construction alternative is right for you. It has two holes or hooks near the top, and a handle perpendicular to other end of the pin. Chris magwood is a professional straw bale builder and consultant who has constructed over 40 straw bale buildings, and consulted on many more. Chris magwood and peter mack are professional straw bale builders and consultants who have constructed over 40 straw bale buildings, consulting on many more. The red feather construction handbook corum, nathaniel, goodall, jane on. The idea was to create a modern urban working and living environment discovering solutions to both ecofriendliness and sustainability whilst simultaneously promoting awareness to these factors. Lots of free straw bale house plans natural building, straw.
Sam is a great communicator and our participants cover a great deal of detailed information during the 3 day course. This book does not try to cover too wide an area, a trap that many other straw bale books have succumbed to. Building your straw bale home, brian hodge, 9780643093867. We heated our house with wood, and we used approximately half a.
One of the things i love about my job is completing the straw bale installation of a house or a wall, and seeing the rich yellow color of the bales, the stucco netting tightened, the windows and doors fit into place. The days can be hot, evenings cool down fast when the sun goes down, and the nights are cold. Participants in this course will learn the right way to undertake the construction of a straw bale building, it will help you be knowledgeable enough to avoid common. Ive written this straw bale book so that you can get a precise look at the details i recommend for building a high quality, long lasting straw bale home. The organic feel of the uncovered structure makes me almost hate to plaster it. Straw bale constructiontools wikibooks, open books for an. Tablehurst straw house peter browns straw bale self. A collection of free straw bale house plans straw bale houses are a cheaper option to normal constructed houses, this is a great way to save lots of money and have a great insulated house once its built. It covers the improvement course of from site preparation by means of to foundations, concrete slabs, strip footings and stumps. The smartest decision youll ever make, no matter what climate you reside in, is to build a straw bale home. The thing that i like about it is explained in this example.
When you imagine a strawbale house its usually small and shabby, definitely not similar to this marvelous creation. Straw bale buildings are costeffective, easy to build and are highly energy efficient, enabling you to design and build beautiful, environmentally friendly buildings. Straw bale construction can be used in almost any climate to create a comfortable home. A line drawing of the components of a straw bale wall panel. A bale needle is a steel pin of about 80 cm long and 10 to 12 mm wide. This book is a timely and important tool for the empowerment of communities facing housing deficits.
The lime plasters and washes on these straw walls look stunning adding a sensuousness to any straw bale design that would be hard to emulate with other materials. For those who prefer using natural materials, building a straw bale house may seem like a great option. Structural design for straw bale and rammed earth architecture 1996 and making better concrete. Designers and architects are constantly exploring new possibilities in terms of materials that can help them build energyefficient homes. The hardest part of building a straw bale house is knowing how to build a house.
Asthmatics too find a straw bale house a healthier environment to live in. Written with nonexperts in mind, this practical book takes you through everything you need to know in an easy, accessible way. Building a straw bale house the red feather way was very informative. Though the book is a bit older now, it still has plenty of good information. It is a practical book reflecting the authors personal experience, with tips and wisdom learned from his own pitfalls and mistakes.
In 1994, when chelsea green published the straw bale house, the response from many people was a loud, huh those days are gone. Build it with bales, along with the straw bale house and the last straw journal, launched the modern straw bale building movement. Living in a straw house protects you from all that. Jan 02, 2005 despite mushrooming interest in the technique, however, most straw bale books focus on selling the dream of straw bale building, but dont adequately address the most critical issues faced by bale house builders. If a page of the book isnt showing here, please add text bookcat to the end of the page concerned.
Straw bale building details new society publishers. The straw bale house stayed a lot cooler throughout the summer and a lot warmer during the winter. Straw bale house construction dancing rabbit ecovillage. Straw bale house construction why build a straw bale house. Sam lives in a straw bale house and has for over a decade. Some books are not exclusively about straw bale, but offer information on natural building, as well or hybr. Some books are not exclusively about straw bale, but offer information on natural building, as well or hybrids, if you will. Throughout the course you will learn key factors in building your own home, and almost more importantly, when and who to ask for help. Whether you build an entire house or something more modesta home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction is an exceptionally durable and inexpensive option. There are straw bale houses that have been standing for hundreds of years and are doing very well. It is a natural,breathable material that has no harmful effects.
I contacted chris keefe of organicforms design and asked him to help me with the drawings, as he is an excellent straw bale designer. It seems to be a great instruction book for the very beginner. The house is modern and quite spacious, not to mention highly attractive. The straw bale house is a great introduction to straw bale building. Oct 01, 2005 building a straw bale house the red feather way was very informative.
A practical guide for the uk and ireland 2nd revised edition by barbara jones isbn. This book is a pictorial howto guide on strawbale construction basics that emphasizes lowcost methods to help those in the greatest need for affordable housing. This new edition of the book building with straw bales by our director barbara jones contains the most up to date strawbale building techniques, including. We built it in place of our previous shed which was on the property and needed a bit of upgrading. The book deals with every facet of building a straw bale house, from council approval. Get a leg up on the first little pig with the straw bale house, your guide to inexpensive, durable, earthfriendly construction that will stand up to much more than the big bad wolf. The material is ecofriendly, fairly affordable, and reasonably easy to work with, making it an appealing approach to building a home. Building your straw bale home is thorough, practical, easy to understand and most importantly i think teaches you how to build a house not just straw bale walls and render. In my online straw bale house building workshop you will learn everything that you need to know. This book explains in straightforward terms the principles of strawbale building for selfbuilders, architects and construction industry professionals. It is a practical book reflecting the authors personal.
When building with straw bales, you will often need to split bales. Hay fever sufferers are not affected by straw,as it does not contain pollens. Straw bale house building workshop the online workshop. In fact strawbale houses typically only save about 15% of the wood used in a conventionally framed house. Strawbale building can seriously transform your life. It can protect us from the sun, provide outdoor living space, and allow the straw bales and the internal thermal mass to moderate and maintain a relatively even temperature inside the house. Straw bale homes will rot or grow mold as long as the house is designed and the materials drained correctly, there is no need to worry about mold or rot in the walls of a straw bale home. Books in this section are listed by date of publication.
The straw bale house a real goods independent living book by athena swentzell steen, bill steen, david bainbridge, david eisenberg. Whether you build an entire house or something more modest a home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually renewable resource, for half the cost of a. Click here to search for all books from this author. We built it in place of our previous shed which was on the property and needed a. Whether you build an entire house or something more modesta home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually renewable resource, for half the cost of a. Straw bale houses are easy to build, affordable, super energy efficient, environmentally friendly, attractive, and can be designed to match the builders personal space needs, esthetics and budget. Inexpensive, durable, and more resistant to heat and cold than any other building material or manmade insulation, its really a crime that most community building codes have resisted allowing these types of structures to be built. An illustrated guide for design and construction by casba straw bale. This book is serious about building straw bale house anyplace and from many construction approaches. Click on numbers 1 to 9 above the picture to see the building stages of the house.
The straw bale house, known also as the house of straw, was the concept, design and accomplishment of sarah wigglesworth and her partner jeremy till. In a modern look at straw bale construction, i have presented. Despite mushrooming interest in the technique, however, most straw bale books focus on selling the dream of straw bale building, but dont adequately address the most critical issues faced by. See also the books listed under straw bale building books. The strawbale house stayed a lot cooler throughout the summer and a lot warmer during the winter. Whats more, its fun, because the technique is easy to learn and easy to do yourself. So a porch wrapped around straw bale walls made sense to us. For many, they are locally available and affordable. There are many books available on strawbale building. Now i just need to gather the materials and bodies then get to work. You may not learn it all from books, but you sure can learn the best of it. There isnt a lot of text in the book, just highquality drawings detailing how all the parts fit together in a straw bale house. This book is a great volume for a layperson, with little or no construction experience, interested in straw bale building and other construction topics.
The low afternoon sun cast a warm, rich light on the straw. Build it with bales is a straw bale building classic, published in 1997. Straw bales are a highly insulative, lowembodiedenergy, natural building material made from an agricultural waste product. This category contains pages that are part of the straw bale construction book. Building your straw bale home is a howto book for people interested in straw bale building. Lots of free straw bale house plans natural building. Pushing twine through the middle of the bale requires a bale needle.
My brand new straw bale book, a modern look at straw bale construction is complete. There are a couple of dated pieces of advice in there. Bruce king is a registered structural engineer in private practice in san rafael, california. Building a straw bale house green homes mother earth news. House of bales, links and resources about strawbale building. So a porch wrapped around strawbale walls made sense to us. This blog details the process, the pain and the glory of constructing peter browns straw bale house at tablehurst farm.
Strawbale buildings are costeffective, easy to build and are highly energy efficient, enabling you to design and build beautiful, environmentally friendly buildings. Now there are thousands of strawbale houses around the world, and strawbale building is now in the building codes. If you want a chance to get a free copy, be sure to read this whole post or skip to the end if you prefer. You can view a list of all subpages under the book main page not including the book main page itself, regardless of whether theyre categorized, here. I sat one afternoon and read book after book on strawbale and i can honestly tell you there is nothing that comes close to what dad has written. Charlies home is designed from the natural resources available on the land using stone, roundwood, straw bales, clay, turf and lime. Whether you build an entire house or something more modest a home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction is an exceptionally durable and inexpensive option. This book highlights various benefits and critical points, allowing you to decide if this. Straw bale constructiontools wikibooks, open books for. Every year, over 200 million tons of straw goes unused in the united states. From its irregular pentagonal design to its use of large straw bales each one weighs around 400kg.
Straw bale house building workshop the online workshop that. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. This is a prefab house built by uk company modcell. This is the only book that provides truly useful information to architects, engineers, building officials and builders who want to design intelligently. Despite mushrooming interest in the technique, however, most straw bale books focus on selling the dream of strawbale building, but dont adequately address the most critical issues faced by bale house builders. Get a leg up on the first little pig with the straw bale house, your guide to inexpensive, durable, earthfriendly construction that will. Buy a cheap copy of the straw bale house a real goods. Straw bale building is a radically different approach to construction and this book explains, in straightforward and commonsense terms, the principles of straw. Building a home using straw bale construction mother earth news. Building a straw bale and plaster house is a lowcost and environmentally friendly way to create a home. Moreover, since many developments in this field are recent, few books are completely up to date with the latest techniques. This smart info is written notably for the proprietorbuilder and provides stepbystep instructions supported by diagrams and footage. I read it in one afternoon and have the concept down pretty good.
If you want to make sure you are buying a valuable resource, here are the best books about straw bale houses available today. Well, i did just that, and then the idea expanded and this book was born. From foundations to the roof by brian hodge of strawbalehouses published 2006. The ebook rings in at 214 pages, contains 1 photographs to outline various points and steps, and has 22 professionally drawn architectural details created by chris keefe of organicforms design.
For someone like myself, with modest building experience, ready to build a straw bale house, straw bale building doesnt have enough detail. Straw is easy to work with for people new to construction as they are flexible and can be very forgiving. This is a good practical guide with lots of relevant and useful information. Sep 19, 20 the days can be hot, evenings cool down fast when the sun goes down, and the nights are cold.
Guidelines to using fly ash for higher quality, ecofriendly structures 2006. Building a straw bale house green homes mother earth. On the outside are generic beams, a suspended ceiling, blocking. Its a structure that offers an innovative approach on the traditional strawbale construction. For the first time, a design manual for practicing professionals, as well as teachers, is made available, drawing on the collective experience of the most senior and respected figures in the rapidlyemerging field of straw bale construction. House of straw, straw bale construction comes of age. Erecting bale walls can go amazingly quickly, and does not take a lot of skill, but then the rest of the creation of the building is similar to any other wood framed house.
Get a leg up on the first little pig with the straw bale house, your guide to inexpensive, durable, earthfriendly construction that will stand up to much more than. This sustainable method of building uses baled straw from wheat, rice, rye or oats to construct and insulate the home. Building your straw bale home is thorough, practical, easy to understand and most importantly i think teaches you how. Serious strawbale by paul lacinski and michel bergeron. They have taught workshops and seminars across the continent and overseas, and are authors of one of the first straw bale howto books, straw bale building new society, publishers, 2000 which has sold 20,000 copies.
Barbara jones, one of the uks foremost straw bale builders and teachers, compiles her 20 years wealth of experience into the goto guide for building with straw bales, for use by architects and construction professionals, as well as selfbuilders this revised and updated edition includes three new chapters. This guide covers the materials and methods you might use to build a straw bale house, a house that can last hundreds of years, is energy efficient and is cheap to maintain. Building a home using straw bale construction mother. He has taught workshops and seminars across the continent and overseas, coauthored one of the first straw bale howto books, straw bale building new society, publishers, 2000 and edited the last straw journal, an international quarterly devoted to. Having designed over 40 straw bale homes, he has a ton of experience. If you have an urge to build a planetfriendly house that will give you great pleasure and satisfaction both to construct and to live in, then this is the book for you. Dec 23, 2014 build it with bales is a straw bale building classic, published in 1997. Straw bale building courses australian rural education.