Are straw bale walls strong enough to hold up a roof? What about a second story?
Yes, you can build one or two storey load-bearing straw bale buildings. There has been a lot of testing on the compressive, lateral and sheer strength of bale walls. Recent compression testing of an earth plastered straw bale wall at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, revealed that the wall surpassed conventional stick-frame walls in this regard.
