With a straw bale house, you want to keep the bales away from moisture and that includes water splatter from the ground as well as snow drifts. That's why the bottom portion of the first floor does not have bales. We have (inaccurately) called this section the pony wall.
Behind the stone, this area has rockwool insulation, and a number of layers of special papers and venting to insure property moisture management. We originally had wanted to put dense packed cellulose in these cavities, but it would have held on to too much moisture. The stone now looks lovely. The remaining pieces will get put in around the doors and windows as the latter are installed.
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Some snippets of the electrical and HVAC work. We tried to keep as much of the electrical out of the walls as possible. Where we couldn't, the electrical wires were fished directly through the bales. To do this, the electrician had to cut through the 2x2 inch mesh. Not ideal, because I then had to follow up to repair each of those sections (about 10 in all) with stapling, pins, and sometimes plaster lath. (This is the result of us trying to get the bales done before winter). In an ideal scenario, you should frame your walls, install the bales, install the electrical, and then mesh the bales.
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AuthorKatie Jones and Peter Schmitt chronicle their building adventure. Archives
January 2024
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