Graham Walker Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Hi, I’ve been a member for a while but have been mostly sitting, getting frustrated, waiting for our planning decision. 2 weeks ago we finally got our approval for a strawbale house in the village of Minard, in Argyll and Bute. Now we’re moving into the building warrant stage and at least this time, we’re prepared for a wait - our planning took ten months after being told ten weeks. I’m a bricklayer by trade and this one is going to be the last house I build. 61 years old and I’ve had enough, but definitely looking forward to getting stuck into this. Graham Walker 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Welcome, what prompted the use of straw bales? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Walker Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 Mainly it was costs, both outlay and running costs. I’d like to say environmental issues were foremost, but apart from reducing fuel use, the benefits, many though there are, are incidental. Having said that, we are using foamglass and Stieco Flex for the other insulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 >>> this one is going to be the last house I build just wait until you get the bug . have a great view to share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Walker Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 Hi Alan. Haha, I’ve been building houses for 40 years. I’ll be over the moon to finish the next one and relax. The view will be decent from the main bedroom, over the loch and mountains with the sunrise too, but the winner on the plot is the river at the bottom of the garden. I’ll pop a video walk through of the plot later, just needs to be shortened a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Interested in the straw bale idea. I worked on one straw bale house and I recall the biggest issue was firstly finding anyone with a working small baler, and then finding a weather window to cut it, dry it and bale it then a barn to store it dry until ready to build. It was certainly not a cheap solution and you end up with thick walls for an insulation level you could achieve other ways with a much thinner structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Walker Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 Hi Dave. Time will tell, but the availability of bales isn’t an issue. There are places that store bales specifically for building. As for insulation, I’ve lived in and worked on many many traditional houses in my 40 years in the trade, and I’ve stayed in bale houses and there’s no comparison, but as I say, time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 2 hours ago, Graham Walker said: approval for a strawbale house Welcome. What I would worry about, and needs consideration. What is the expected life? I'd hazard 20 years. I know very little about it but my thoughts are that it will work, and be very low in carbon footprint but I'm wary of trendy ideas. There has been straw around for centuries but I don't see old houses of it. Wattle and mud yes. Reeds for a roof yes. So it could be ok. Adobe works in southern Spain but not here. It gets wet in Spain where there is no drizzle, but quickly dries again. Rot is the issue. so casting rain off it and away is crucial. Achieved by keeping the straw well up from the ground and having big roof oversails. And yet these same oversails will keep some of the wind off it Have you researched these things and have answers already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbeard Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 8 minutes ago, saveasteading said: Adobe works in southern Spain but not here. It gets wet in Spain where there is no drizzle, but quickly dries again. Yes, but cob has worked for hundreds of years in the UK. It has also failed spectacularly where modern materials (sand/cement renders) have been used to repair it. 9 minutes ago, saveasteading said: What I would worry about, and needs consideration. What is the expected life? I'd hazard 20 years. Yes, it is 'newer', but there is at least one straw house in USA over 100 years old and many an awful lot older than 20 years. Straw bale in the UK is pretty young, so yes, 20 years may be 'the norm' in UK, but arguably (and I haven't checked the true figures) because the 'start' was only 20 years ago. It doesn't mean they won't last another xxx years+. You are right that lime and a big roof oversail will help a lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrowhawk Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Welcome Graham. I hope you'll share your build here as it goes. There's a lot of skepticism about straw bales on this forum; me I'd build a straw house if I could for the carbon footprint, but mostly as I like the aesthetic they end up with. Fingers crossed that the warrant doesn't take as long as planning did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Are you thinking of structural straw bail construction, or just using it for insulation properties? Personally I would avoid both, and most other 'natural' materials, except timber. If straw bail, rammed earth, spit and sawdust were so brilliant, all houses would be built from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Walker Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 18 minutes ago, Sparrowhawk said: Welcome Graham. I hope you'll share your build here as it goes. There's a lot of skepticism about straw bales on this forum; me I'd build a straw house if I could for the carbon footprint, but mostly as I like the aesthetic they end up with. Fingers crossed that the warrant doesn't take as long as planning did. I’ve noticed the skepticism wow! I’ve done the research and spent a lifetime in the construction industry, as has my dad, who is also involved, albeit not in a physical capacity. I’m hoping for 6 months on the warrant. Thanks for the welcome 🙏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Walker Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 39 minutes ago, saveasteading said: Welcome. What I would worry about, and needs consideration. What is the expected life? I'd hazard 20 years. I know very little about it but my thoughts are that it will work, and be very low in carbon footprint but I'm wary of trendy ideas. There has been straw around for centuries but I don't see old houses of it. Wattle and mud yes. Reeds for a roof yes. So it could be ok. Adobe works in southern Spain but not here. It gets wet in Spain where there is no drizzle, but quickly dries again. Rot is the issue. so casting rain off it and away is crucial. Achieved by keeping the straw well up from the ground and having big roof oversails. And yet these same oversails will keep some of the wind off it Have you researched these things and have answers already? Thanks for the welcome 😁 yes I’ve researched this for two years. Northern France, 100 years and still going strong, so time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 13 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Personally I would avoid both, and most other 'natural' materials, except timber. If straw bail, rammed earth, spit and sawdust were so brilliant, all houses would be built from them Oil and stone based materials are more often than not cheaper than "natural" materials if you want a label on them that a BCO or SE will be happy to sign off on. I think that's probably the real reason we don't see more of them. However I would be cautious of using a plant based materials without a good rain screen in the British isles. I have seen straw buildings directly lime rendered and the rain has ultimately caused a lot of damage. If you want an official label on straw product the Ecococon do a system. https://youtu.be/uFKUPEmzgT0?si=FbcBY7vVC-L3mnxh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thomas Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 4 hours ago, Graham Walker said: 2 weeks ago we finally got our approval for a strawbale house in the village of Minard, in Argyll and Bute Congrats, definitely keep us up to date! Have you had any contact with straw bale professionals in the UK, been on any courses? There's a lot of good information, details, etc, available out there if you need it, and if you arrange things early enough you can sometimes get your build site turned into a course location - which means free labour and very qualified people providing oversight, checking your plans, etc. I'm finishing up a (load-bearing) straw bale garden room at the moment - hoping to move onto render in the next month or two. It's a much smaller-scale project, but it's been good fun. Number one tip - keep the rain off it. Number two - just make sure everything's square as you go up. As a brickie, I'm sure you'll be much more on that than I've been! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markharro Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 I am sitting in my straw bale garden office atm. Its awesome. I am sure your house will be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 30 minutes ago, Iceverge said: Ecococon do a system Looks like a normal timber frame build with straw instead of 'something else' as insulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thomas Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 6 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Looks like a normal timber frame build with straw instead of 'something else' as insulation. Yeah, they're just SIPs. The big thing they do is compress the straw - much more than in regular bales, although I can't remember the details offhand. The other company that tends to get mentioned alongside is modcell - https://www.modcell.com/ - same idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Nick Thomas said: Yeah, they're just SIPs. The big thing they do is compress the straw - much more than in regular bales So squeezing the air out, which makes the U-Value worse. SIPs is a bit different in that it is a monocoque construction, the insulation, which is usually an expanding PU foam, bonds the two outer sheets (usually OSB) together. This changes the bending moment of the structure. Maybe @Gus Potter can comment more as I am very rusty on my structural engineering terms these days (took me decades to work out what a 'moment' was). In the past I have worked a lot with structural PU resins, and they are chemical engineering marvels. They do shrink over time which is what has always worried me about SIPs. This can be overcome to a certain extent, but the manufacturing becomes a more complicated processes, though mass production could make them price competitive. Edited April 22 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thomas Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Oh, I'm being silly https://ecococon.eu/assets/downloads/ecococon-technical-specifications.pdf . Straw infill at 115kg/M³ - so not actually super-compressed (bales will be anywhere from 80-120). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 2 minutes ago, Nick Thomas said: Oh, I'm being silly https://ecococon.eu/assets/downloads/ecococon-technical-specifications.pdf . Straw infill at 115kg/M³ - so not actually super-compressed (bales will be anywhere from 80-120). Were you having a moment? Sorry, couldn’t resist that 😂 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 5 hours ago, Graham Walker said: .... 61 years old and I’ve had enough, but definitely looking forward to getting stuck into this. I started our build when I was just over 60 ... now 70 and I've just about finished. Your project has really got me hooked. Please start a blog. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 (edited) 41 minutes ago, Nick Thomas said: Oh, I'm being silly Not as silly as me. Edited April 22 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 33 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: I started our build when I was just over 60 ... now 70 and I've just about finished And just enough fingers left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 I have been on two straw bale builds as a volunteer as that was my first intended build medium. I think it’s way under estimated and very doable. The ones I was on plastered (with lime) by hand which is very slow, I was planning spraying the lime. I prefer using the bales like bricks and spiking rather than timber cassettes but they both have merit. I studied this for about a year, best of luck and keep us updated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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