How to Build a Straw Bale House

Straw bale houses are beautifully unique green living spaces. These homes can often be built up to 50 percent cheaper than conventional buildings. Additionally, the homes retain their resale value. There are several different options in straw bale house construction.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Books. There are some excellent published resources on the market. “The Straw Bale House” is an industry canon. A new edition to the straw bale construction library is “Strawbale Home Plans” by Wayne Bingham and Colleen Smith. Although out of print, this classic is still available online: “Build It With Bales: A Step-By-Step Guide to Straw-Bale Construction, Version Two” by S. O. MacDonald and Matts Myhrman.

2. For a conservative style of straw bale construction, check out the book, “Building a Straw Bale House: The Red Feather Construction Handbook” by Nathaniel Corum and J. Goodall. This book follows the construction of houses and buildings on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and in other American Indian communities.

3. Instructional DVDs. There are a few instructional DVDs on the market. The “How-to Guide to Building with Straw Bales (Post and Beam Infill)” provides some good basic information on the actual process of straw bale construction. Whereas, “Natural Building and a New Sense of the Earth” gives you great ideas of hybrid building with straw bale construction combined with other natural building techniques.

4. Consider little house construction. Some of the advocates who specialize in straw bale construction promote only creating the amount of living space that you really need. “Little House on a Small Planet” puts this philosophy forward in an easy-to-digest manner. The book is packed with amazing photos of little houses. Shay Salomon also gives workshops to women who are interested in learning the straw building technique. Saloman is also a contractor and can build your little house for you.

5. Online expert advice. Numerous internet resources on straw bale construction are available. A quick Internet search will provide you with hours of entertainment and a mountain of resources. If you are currently looking for a contractor, you will find several during your internet search.

[Summersile]

on 2/23/2009 Thanks for these resources. I am planning to build my first small straw bale late this summer and am looking for all the resources I can get my hands on. Thanks.

[benmat75]

on 10/28/2008 The savings is when you look at your energy bill, and since you can achieve a rather large r-value, it will cut on your heating and cooling bills

[tweetbird]

on 2/7/2008 Cordwoodguy - Kim is correct in that most literature on this subject states that straw bale building is cheaper. The assumption is that the owner will participate in the building process and/or choice contractors that aren't inflating the price in the market of building with natural products. As for insurability, it really depends on the region you live in. My understanding is that most strawbale structures that meet building codes can be insured. Now, building with cob techniques is a different story.

[cordwoodguy]

on 2/5/2008 KIM.....A STRAW BALE HOME IN MY AREA COSTS A LOT MORE THAN A CONVENTIONAL HOME.A HOUSE OIN MY AREA WOULD BE ABOUT $100 PER SQ FT...THE STRAW BALE HOUSE COST $140 PER SQ FT.WHERE IS THE SAVINGS???

[forrestra]

on 1/27/2008 is the straw bale house insursble