Timber frame straw bale house

Timber frame construction and straw bale walls look so beautiful together. There are some important details to know about to get it right.

Can you use exposed timber framing in straw bale home construction? Yes! Here are five areas to review during design and prior to building.

A complete recipe for building a cob house for $3000. Here's how you too can build an inexpensive, natural house for little money.

I am very grateful we are such a numerous group, there are a lot of tedious tasks that get done in one day. Filling bags with foam glass REF...

A sustainable building material wins favor on multiple fronts.

Do you want to build your home out of natural materials? If so, you can build your walls with adobe, cob, cordwood, rammed earth, or wattle-and-daub. Although all of these walls have a long history, their thermal performance is poor. If you want a well-insulated wall, one natural material is the clear winner: straw bales. A 23-inch-thick straw-bale wall has an R-value of about R-33. Moreover, since virtually all straw-bale walls are plastered on both sides, these walls are relatively…

We often hear that house affordability is what's stopping first time buyers from getting onto the property ladder. However could self build deliver more affordable solutions? This case study illustrates that there are savings to be made, although there will also be challenges to overcome. In fact when Brian Waite was looking to build a […]

Building with straw bales is a technique pioneered a century ago in the state of Nebraska. In recent years there has been a renaissance in the use of straw as a building material largely in the American Southwest, but also in Canada, Australia, France, Holland, Germany, Austria and China. Straw is a renewable resource with excellent insulating properties. It is a cheap and easy-to-use option for self-builders, and even large-scale structures can be erected using timber framework filled with…

How do you select straw bales for home construction? Bale type, size, moisture, straw length, and more all factor in to save time, labor, and budget.