Thank you for posting this I am getting ready to do the off grid thing soon. I used to bale and sell straw Im gonna get me a baler again. the bailer can be adjusted quite easily to make any length. I think I'm gonna make bales and half bales to cut my labor down to speed things up. For a fee I bet the baler operator would do so also that you buy them from.
Interesting. I thought the insulation value of the straw bale is much better when installed vertically (!). When the straw is installed horizontally, the thermal bridge is also horizontal. When installing vertically, there is always a layer of air in between.
It's absolutely not. The cob/plaster mixture that is applied over the straw is virtually fireproof. It's a very sustainable and safe way to build. Much better than the modern ways of building.
@@adeleamra Ehh, not really. They're okay homes in the right situations. Probably best for desert conditions. To say they're better than modern ways of building would need a lot more specificity on just which "modern way of building" you mean. There's tons of ways people build modern structures, and plenty of them are significantly better than straw bale homes. The main issue is a lack of structural strength to the walls, they aren't weak, but they're nothing compared to brick or concrete, or even a wood framed construction. To keep them strong, they require a lot of wood to build, less than some methods, but still a lot. Plaster uses a lot of cement generally, and water damage and mold issues are common in straw bale homes even with plaster/cob/stucco. Again, desert conditions would be best for avoiding this. Rodents also tend to get into the walls and nest, especially once the plaster has aged a bit and started to crack from settling and thermal expansion. They often treat the straw bales with a rodenticide, but it's not terribly effective, and hardly ecologically friendly to soak your house in poison. And they are a fire hazard, its just that bales tend to smolder rather than burn out of control, so it's relatively easy to deal with. But the roof and supports are all timber, and will burn just like any wood framed house would. People tend to oversell straw bales as a construction technique, mostly due to the cost of the materials being so cheap, but honestly aside from lower labor/material costs, there are other alternative construction types that are significantly stronger and more resistant to pests, fire, and water, and as environmental if not more. CEB is probably the easiest and cheapest, and one of the strongest types. Bit more labor to make the blocks than having bales delivered, but actual construction is way simpler than cob or rammed earth building techniques, and generally faster. You can automate the block making as well, to save labor and time. I'd go that route in a damp climate, rather than straw bales, and the CEB thermal mass is probably more useful in a desert than the insulative value of straw bale walls.
Thank you for posting this I am getting ready to do the off grid thing soon. I used to bale and sell straw Im gonna get me a baler again. the bailer can be adjusted quite easily to make any length. I think I'm gonna make bales and half bales to cut my labor down to speed things up. For a fee I bet the baler operator would do so also that you buy them from.
Man this is really impressive but at the same time seams to be a tremendous amount of work hope it pays well enough
Interesting. I thought the insulation value of the straw bale is much better when installed vertically (!). When the straw is installed horizontally, the thermal bridge is also horizontal. When installing vertically, there is always a layer of air in between.
thank you...straw in northeast AZ was over $10 in 2023
Yeah when he said the cost and i looked online they were completely diffent. Maybe you get a better price in a bulk buy.
What about the naked rebars inside the straw bales? Don't they draw condensation and moisture into the straw bales?
how to get in touch with Stefan Bell about future workshops or hiring for building?
I get that this was made a couple of years ago, but where did you find straw at $1.50/ bale?
I have been able to pre-harvest buy hay by the ton, so maybe that is a way to avoid buying 1 at a time from a retailer....
Do you know how to build a house or what is natural?
Originally we were using bamboo in place of re-bar…your thought’s
Why not.
the tying to the post part is ridiculous.
Fire hazard.
It's absolutely not. The cob/plaster mixture that is applied over the straw is virtually fireproof. It's a very sustainable and safe way to build. Much better than the modern ways of building.
@@adeleamra Ehh, not really. They're okay homes in the right situations. Probably best for desert conditions. To say they're better than modern ways of building would need a lot more specificity on just which "modern way of building" you mean. There's tons of ways people build modern structures, and plenty of them are significantly better than straw bale homes.
The main issue is a lack of structural strength to the walls, they aren't weak, but they're nothing compared to brick or concrete, or even a wood framed construction. To keep them strong, they require a lot of wood to build, less than some methods, but still a lot. Plaster uses a lot of cement generally, and water damage and mold issues are common in straw bale homes even with plaster/cob/stucco. Again, desert conditions would be best for avoiding this. Rodents also tend to get into the walls and nest, especially once the plaster has aged a bit and started to crack from settling and thermal expansion. They often treat the straw bales with a rodenticide, but it's not terribly effective, and hardly ecologically friendly to soak your house in poison.
And they are a fire hazard, its just that bales tend to smolder rather than burn out of control, so it's relatively easy to deal with. But the roof and supports are all timber, and will burn just like any wood framed house would.
People tend to oversell straw bales as a construction technique, mostly due to the cost of the materials being so cheap, but honestly aside from lower labor/material costs, there are other alternative construction types that are significantly stronger and more resistant to pests, fire, and water, and as environmental if not more. CEB is probably the easiest and cheapest, and one of the strongest types. Bit more labor to make the blocks than having bales delivered, but actual construction is way simpler than cob or rammed earth building techniques, and generally faster. You can automate the block making as well, to save labor and time. I'd go that route in a damp climate, rather than straw bales, and the CEB thermal mass is probably more useful in a desert than the insulative value of straw bale walls.