Preparing to Build a Straw Bale House

Preparing to Build a Straw Bale House
Any type of hay or straw can be used for this for construction, although the less roughage that’s still on the straw stems, the better. So preferred, is actually clean, white straw, like oat straw, barley straw- that’s going to be the best types to build with. What happens with the roughage is if it gets wet or any kind of moisture in it at any time, it can mold and you don’t want that because it can spontaneously combust. So you always want to keep your straw dry and protect it from the rain or any other kind of moisture, or rodents, you know- insects, that kind of thing from getting on it. If you can prop it up off the ground, keep it stored up off the ground, keep it stored up off the ground until you utilize it for environmental building, that’s the optimum. So I’m using this coastal, I actually prefer three string. It’s strong with poly and this is actually a two string with wire. Reasons are the wire, through time, can rust and separate, and you don’t want your bales coming apart later down the road. So the poly is actually the stronger option as far as when they bale the straw. And preferably, three string although three string is a little bit wider of a bale than two string. It’s more optimum to build with; they’re usually more solid bales. And you can feel the structural-ness of the bale when you approach it. these here are really not that strong. Normally, with well-packed straw, you’ll barely be able to stick your fingers into it, and with this one, if I really tried, I could put my hand into it, which you don’t want. So you want something that is really tightly baled, but this wall all I could find last minute. So that’s one thing you really have to look into before building a straw bale- preparing where you’re going to purchase your straw- make sure the grower has a reputation for really good straw, no problems. Make sure that he has enough every year because things happen where you get in the list and he doesn’t grow enough straw and you can’t build your home, and you’re put off for another season. So all those things are really important and matter. In some areas, there’s only a few straw growers, and people would get on the list year after year until they actually get their straw. So if you’re serious about building a straw bale, really prepare yourself and plan ahead on which grower you’re going to purchase your straw from.