What is a straw bale home?
Don’t fret if you’ve never heard of straw bale homes—they’re much less common than they should be. They’re basically just what their name says: homes made of straw. Straw bale homes are constructed by stacking bales of straw in the same way you’d stack bricks. In the most common form of construction—called post and beam—a framework of wood, steel, or concrete is erected, and bales are placed in the walls as insulation. Chicken wire is then wrapped inside and out and sewn to the bales. To finish the construction, earth plaster or cement stucco is applied to the wire. Of course, it’s not as easy as that, and there are a few precautions you’ll need to take—such as keeping moisture and oxygen out, stacking the bales straight, and burying plumbing. Overall, though, straw bale homes are much easier to build than conventional houses. (For a more in-depth description on how to build a straw bale home, visit the Iron Straw Group’s site.) Before you get started, you may want to observe an expert
