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Straw Bale Building

May 09
Love1
70 year old straw bale house

99 Year Old Man’s 70 Year Old Straw Bale House

By Straw Bale Building

70 year old straw bale house

Straw bale houses have never been common. However, there are still several of significant age that are being lived in. The oldest straw bale house is over 100 years old and is located in the sandhills region of Nebraska. This is where the idea to use baled hay and straw to build homes was first conceived. 

A local Wyoming news outlet has a very sweet story about a (now) 99 year old man who learned about straw bale building in his younger years, and decided to build a home for his family with a shoestring budget. To this day, he still lives in his handmade creation.

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Mar 03
Love5
Clay Plaster Benefits

The Unique & Beneficial Properties of Clay Plaster

By Straw Bale Building, Light Clay Straw, Cob Building, Clay Plaster
Clay Plaster Benefits

Clay plaster base coat application in process

Clay soil is one of the most ancient, rudimentary, yet effective building materials on the planet. Besides being naturally abundant across much of the earth, clay has unique properties that make it not only suitable but very desirable as a natural building material. Clay is used for the production of fired brick, sun-baked adobes, cob, and natural plaster finishes.

In this very basic introduction to clay soil, I will highlight some of the unique water-loving features and other useful attributes of clay when it’s used as a natural building material, particularly as a plaster finish.

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Feb 16
Love9
insulation thermal mass

The Differences Between Insulation and Thermal Mass

By Straw Bale Building, Resources, Cob Building, Winter
trimming straw bale wall

A highly insulated straw bale home under construction

If you’re new to natural building, two of the most important fundamental concepts to understand are thermal mass and insulation. Materials for constructing walls typically fall into one category or the other. Understanding the differences will be critical if your goal is to build an efficient, comfortable house appropriate for your local climate. Let’s look at thermal mass and insulation in the simplest terms possible.

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Dec 05
Love2

Our Natural Building Story in New Pioneer Magazine

By Straw Bale Building, Strawtron, South Slope Farm, Cob Building, Media

New Pioneer Magazine - The Year of Mud

This summer,  April & I were interviewed for the winter issue of New Pioneer magazine. In it, we talk about our natural building journey and experiences living at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and moving to Kentucky. It’s been a long time since I built the cob house that started all of this business (9 years ago, in fact). And even though it was only recently that we sold our straw bale house, we began work on that structure 5 years ago.

Doing this interview conjures up all those weird feeling associated with time and memory — like, some things feels so far away yet so recent at the same time. Anyway. Jereme did a great job with fact checking and this story gets my “yea that happened” stamp of approval. The article captures our story of learning how to build with mud and straw and all the mistakes and successes along the way.

You can purchase the winter issue of New Pioneer magazine here.

Apr 03
Love0

Our Straw Bale House in ‘Small Homes’

By Book Reviews, Timber Framing, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
small home book - lloyd kahn

Lloyd Kahn’s latest, Small Homes: The Right Size

Lloyd Kahn of Shelter fame has a new book out, titled Small Homes: The Right Size, and I feel much gratitude that our straw bale & timber frame home is featured within its pages. Lloyd’s books have been a big source of inspiration for me these past 10 years. Flipping through Shelter, Home Work, and Builders of the Pacific Coast have been powerful influences and have helped me to feel connected to the worldwide movement of folks creating beautiful, unique, hand-built homes.

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Jan 06
Love1
Properties of clay plaster

How to Make and Apply Base Coat Clay Plaster

By Light Clay Straw, Resources, Clay Plaster, Straw Bale Building
Base coat clay plaster

A student floats a creamy layer of clay plaster during one of our workshops

In my recent series of posts, I’ve described the process for building and finishing a light clay straw wall. First there was mixing the light clay straw itself and stuffing it into wall cavities. Then I discussed how to prepare for plaster by making and installing wood trim, and coating the walls with a simple clay slip. Next I’ll describe how to make and apply a base coat (or scratch coat) clay plaster. Now it’s really getting fun.

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Oct 26
Love1

How to Make and Use Clay Slip

By Light Clay Straw, Clay Plaster, Straw Bale Building
Clay slip on a light clay straw wall

Smearing clay slip on a light clay straw wall prior to plastering

Clay slip is an essential material for coating straw bale and light clay straw walls prior to plastering. Basically, it serves as an adhesion coat, essential for getting the first coat of plaster to stick to the wall. There’s not much science to making clay slip, and it’s really fun to smear. Here are a few really simple tips for making and using clay slip for natural walls.

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Oct 05
Love1

Another Way to Make Chopped Straw

By Light Clay Straw, Clay Plaster, Earthen Floor, Straw Bale Building
Making Chopped Straw with a Lawnmower

Making chopped straw with a standard lawnmower

Chopped straw is an invaluable ingredient for clay plasters and earthen floors. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a drag to actually make the stuff if you don’t have the right tools or equipment. If you’re building a straw bale wall, you get the benefit of collecting the chopped straw once you shave your walls (which is commonly done with a weed whacker). But if you’re working on a different type of structure, you’ll have to find a way to specifically make the chopped straw.

The ol’ “weed whacker in a barrel” gets really old really quickly, and frankly isn’t that effective. If you don’t have a leaf mulcher or wood chipper, which are far more efficient, you can actually use a lawn mower with a bag attachment to chop all of your straw for plaster. Here’s how to do it.

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Jun 07
Love0

Ziggy on The Permaculture Podcast

By Homesteading, Cob Building, Permaculture, Media, Timber Framing, Straw Bale Building
Clear Creek Road

This is Clear Creek, the valley we now call home

Last month, Scott Mann of The Permaculture Podcast came to our neighborhood to re-visit the community here on Clear Creek, the place we now call home just outside Berea, Kentucky. Last summer, he came for a visit to record a podcast and he had such a positive experience that he decided to make another trip. During his initial visit I was in Vermont attending a Permaculture Design Course, ironically enough.

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