How to Sew Chicken Wire to Straw
There are many benefits to constructing a building using straw bales, including sound buffering. Entire homes--as well as privacy fences, barns, outhouses and more--can be made of straw bales. Recently, there has been a boom in straw bale construction because straw is relatively inexpensive, plentiful, non-toxic, and renewable, not to mention Earth-friendly. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Straw bales
- Chicken wire
- Bale needle
- Bamboo stakes
- 16-gauge tie wire
- Pliers
Instructions
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Pinning Straw Bales
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1
Stack the straw bales and reinforce for lateral strength.
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2
Place two bamboo stakes every 18 inches on each side of your straw bale wall.
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3
Attach chicken wire to each side of the straw bale wall by pushing the bamboo stakes through open spaces in the wire.
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4
Thread the bale needle with 16-gauge tie wire and insert the needle through the middle of each bale to wire the bamboo stakes together.
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5
Use pliers to tighten the wire and pull the bamboo stakes into the bales, which will aid in straightening your wall.
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6
Push the wire ends as deep into the straw as possible so they won't interfere when plaster is applied.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Bale needles can be made of a 1/4-inch metal rod that has been flattened and grounded to a point at one end. The flattened end should be drilled with two holes to be used as the eyes of the needle.
Bale needles can be purchased from places such as Blue Rock Station at http://bluerockstation.com/strawneedles.html or Straw Bale at http://www.strawbale.com/.
Remove all slack from the straw bales before using them for construction. In order to maintain structural stability, each bale must be tightly bound with baling twine and properly reinforced.
Only use completely dry straw that has not been exposed to moisture, which increases the chance of mildew in the middle of the bales.
