Blue Rock Station,
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
+1-740-674-4300 (phone)
+1-740-674-6303 (fax)
Or contact us by e-mail.
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
+1-
Or contact us by e-
Copyright 2008 Blue Rock Station, All Rights Reserved
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Building a Straw Bale Wall
People have been constructing homes from straw for centuries, although we seem to have lost touch with this viable and lasting construction technique.
A typical project starts with standard straw bales (well dried). Obviously the straw will not support the building structure on their own, so in our case we have reconstructed a timber frame barn to serve as the skeleton of the building. The barn itself was salvaged from a farmer who was about to burn it down.
The bale is cut to size, using a cheap electric chainsaw.
It is then retied, tightly, and stacked on a foundation (in our case timber on sandstone blocks) and against a backstop of lashed saplings (cut from a nearby stand of trees)
The twig backstop is secured at the top and the bottom of the structure, to provide a strong support for the straw bales. Nothing fancy here, just cut saplings nailed to the wooden structure. The bale is then lashed to the sapling to hold it securely in place.
Windows are simply fitted into place and the bales secured around them. The ledge area kept to the inside - a nice place to put your houseplants or for your cats to sleep.
Our project is in its infancy and we will post more photos as it progresses. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about this technique, there are many good sites out there on the vast web. Several are listed below.
People have been constructing homes from straw for centuries, although we seem to have lost touch with this viable and lasting construction technique.
A typical project starts with standard straw bales (well dried). Obviously the straw will not support the building structure on their own, so in our case we have reconstructed a timber frame barn to serve as the skeleton of the building. The barn itself was salvaged from a farmer who was about to burn it down.
The bale is cut to size, using a cheap electric chainsaw.
It is then retied, tightly, and stacked on a foundation (in our case timber on sandstone blocks) and against a backstop of lashed saplings (cut from a nearby stand of trees)
The twig backstop is secured at the top and the bottom of the structure, to provide a strong support for the straw bales. Nothing fancy here, just cut saplings nailed to the wooden structure. The bale is then lashed to the sapling to hold it securely in place.
Windows are simply fitted into place and the bales secured around them. The ledge area kept to the inside -
Our project is in its infancy and we will post more photos as it progresses. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about this technique, there are many good sites out there on the vast web. Several are listed below.
Other web sites that will give you a bit more about this...
