# Straw bale home



## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Do they drive a VW bus?


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## thoenew (Jan 17, 2012)

Sounds like it might burn down when they're smoking dope. :laughing:


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

thoenew said:


> Sounds like it might burn down when they're smoking crack. :laughing:


I fixed it for you.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

I searched for straw bale houses, and this website has 50, count em, 50 sets of straw bale house plans for sale. sounds like tree hugging paradise.

http://www.balewatch.com/

wonder how they do in high winds


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## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

Like I said, Eco nuts. 

I believe the exterior is stucco. And the interior is a plaster type finish. How the h e l l do you wire it? Wiremold or PVC? I'm sure they'd love to see PVC pipe.:no::laughing: thankfully I live in Minnesota.:thumbup:


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## JHFWIC (Mar 22, 2012)

They will allow you to use Romex! on straw bale houses you have to have some framing to hold up the roof so you do have something to nail a box to, and if you get to a point where you need a box and there is no wood you can use a steak driven into the bale than screw a box to it.
And did I mention that straw bale houses suck!


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## oldschool (Aug 2, 2008)

JHFWIC said:


> They will allow you to use Romex! on straw bale houses you have to have some framing to hold up the roof so you do have something to nail a box to, and if you get to a point where you need a box and there is no wood you can use a steak driven into the bale than screw a box to it.
> And did I mention that straw bale houses suck!


hahahahaha


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Some straw roofed houses in the UK are older than our country. Sounds like a straw bale house must be sorta like an Earth-Ship house, which is (was) a popular item out west where used car tires, beer cans, adobe fill, and stucco is the major building materials.


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

There is a type of mud house called a "Cobb" house. Some of them can have straw bale walls. I saw a picture of one being built, and they ran romex as they went. Somehow I don't think that would pass, but that's what I saw in the pic.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

I could see it if it was at least UF cable....


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

macmikeman said:


> I could see it if it was at least UF cable....


If you have moisture in the walls of your straw bale house, you have bigger troubles than wet nm.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Chris1971 said:


> My sister in law and her husband (Eco nuts) live in Colorado and they want to build a house using straw bales for the walls. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? Anyone ever wire such a structure?:no:


Yes and you must use RobRoy Rigid metal Conduit...:whistling2::laughing:


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

They might want to check to see if they can get insurance at an affordable rate before jumping in with both feet. Also, since the IRC does not address straw bale homes, they need both an engineer sealed set of prints AND the buy-in from whoever does plan review in their area. All of these things have been major obstacles to others who had dreams of building a straw bale home. Plus, can they get the straw bales? These are not normal bales the farmer makes. They're compacted with a specially rigged baler.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

Chris1971 said:


> My sister in law and her husband (Eco nuts) live in Colorado and they want to build a house using straw bales for the walls. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? Anyone ever wire such a structure?:no:


Would an Econut want electricity?


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Chris1971 said:


> My sister in law and her husband (Eco nuts) live in Colorado and they want to build a house using straw bales for the walls. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? Anyone ever wire such a structure?:no:


Don't that have lots of wolves in Colorado?
I remember a story about that and it seems as though after some field testing, they preferred CMU construction.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

> Don't that have lots of wolves in Colorado?


yes, on the news in fact>


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

I've wired a few of these that were designed as fema emergency shelters. The whole house was made of panels of compressed straw. It was treated with a fireproofing so that was not a problem. "The kit" came with every single wire in the whole house premeasured and cut. It came with all boxes and devices. It had everything you need to wire it. Their goal was to fully assemble them in 24-36 hrs. We did 3 as demos and they are being marketed to the government. I'll get some pics next time I'm there.


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## mediator_tom (Apr 30, 2012)

*re strawbale building*

Strawbale got it's start in the prairies of the US in the 1800's. Many of those building are still used today, including a church as I've read.

Most folks are oblivious and dubious in re strawbale construction until they understand it it's bona fides. It is a valid building technology and holds a lot of powerful virtues.

Take a look here for a fair primer on the concept, containing a link to other linked materials: 

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/04/30/how-to-construct-a-straw-bale-structure/

Only additional info I'd offer to what's said in the article ref'd above is that bugs and vermin are generally not interested in straw as it has no food value. Moisture is >the< big vulnerability to strawbale, but it is manageable even in wet climates. There are several strawbale buildings here in Wisconsin.


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## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

Has anyone wired a straw bale home?


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## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

BBQ said:


> Would an Econut want electricity?


They do.:laughing:


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Chris1971 said:


> Has anyone wired a straw bale home?


3 of them


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

BBQ said:


> Would an Econut want electricity?


well duh. They need to pug in the Prius and frapichino machine.


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