More House Stuff

So Mamma bare and I have been doing a lot of soul searching with house designs, what to do, keep renting, live on site this design versus that etc etc.


We pretty much agree that we want a bespoke design that is both environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing, we also want to be able to complete as much of the house ourselves as possible some designs allow for more or less of this. One such style that I touched on in my last post but wanted to talk more about is straw bale.


Strawbale houses aren't just made out of straw, if they were the wolf would blow them down. The secret to the effectiveness of strawbale is in the simplicty of construction. The bales do not hold any load and as such really ar only fill in the walls, once assembled they are rendered on inside and out with one of many options including lime, adobe, cement etc. The end result is a wall that is about a foot thick, meaning the house will maintain temperature.

In thi shot you can see the frame is already erected, a moisture barrier is then prepared for the first course of bails (the gravel bit).

From here its realy just a matter of stacking your courses of bails, then preparing them (with a mesh barrier) before render.


There are many options for render, this lightr colour is lime rendered

Different option for colour

Yo can see this desgin allows for all water cought from the roof to route to one tank at each end.

Render can either be sprayed on, trowled on or even hand rendered like this shot

One of the great things about having thic walls is doors and windows can be sunk into the structure.

The sunk in windows and doors carry to the interiors which have such a warm and "hand made" look about them, I like this the best with straw bale construction, not the windows also allow for the construction of window seats.

Windows can be made into any shape, I particularly like the reclaimed timber window sils.

The sky is the limit design wise, this homestead style post and beam is a good example, very simple.

Mmmm Thick walls

Again, windows can be made in any shape

Exposed beams and cathedral ceilings really set of the interior

A little out there, but still what you can do wth render is really only limited by your own creativity

Until next time........