Building a straw bale house on the western side of Islay

[Iceverge]

Straw bales are fine for a fun project in the right climate and you don't care about it as a long term venture. 

 

Try to make a durable house from straw bales and it quickly becomes apparent that they're only useful as an insulation and even then they're full of compromises. Something like blown in cellulose or even chopped straw will be miles better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sgt_woulds]

Iceverge, Steamy Tea and others seem to have an aversion to strawbales.  Please could you point to sources for evidence of failure?

 

Correct levels of insulation and airtightness are a matter of design and attention to detail during construction; this applies to any material, natural or unnatural, and self-builders are likely to put more effort into this than 'real' builders.

 

Personally, I'd rather see bales insulating a frame rather than performing two functions, but I'm not aware of any building of either style failing in use that wasn't due to poor detailing or construction.

 

As with traditional cob buildings, wide roof overhangs, decent lime render, and gravel splash back zone, (with free-draining foundations) there is no reason a properly designed and built straw bale building shouldn't stand for hundreds of years in the majority of inland UK or Europe.  E.g.  World’s oldest known timber-frame straw house | EcoCocon | EcoCocon

 

In the OP's location, the addition of a, (ventilated) facing of stone makes sense - although if it were me, I'd be looking at the traditional historic vernacular for highly exposed coastal locations, which tend to favour single-storey earth-sheltered or partially underground structures.  Especially given the more energetic weather likely in the next 100 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[saveasteading]

15 minutes ago, sgt_woulds said:

traditional historic vernacular 

Use what is around you?

Stone, peat, reeds, heather, sand, (old barrels ?).

Not my choice now we have options.

[joe90]

Interesting article on the French straw house which proves it can be done but was suprised to see internal plaster was gypsum.

[SteamyTea]

51 minutes ago, sgt_woulds said:

Please could you point to sources for evidence of failure

Not easy to get accurate figures on something that is not about.

 

But this bit from our favourite Wikipedia states:

 

'Between 1896 and 1945, an estimated 70 straw-bale buildings, including houses, farm buildings, churches, schools, offices, and grocery stores had been built in the Sandhills.[9] In 1990, nine surviving bale buildings were reported in Arthur and Logan Counties,[13] including the 1928 Pilgrim Holiness Church in the village of Arthur, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[11]'

 

There are probably the same number of houses local to me, of about the same age.

All of them are still there.

 

One has to be very careful when claiming that historic buildings have intrinsic longevity, they may be the only ones left.