Mailing-List: contact strawbale-help@crest.org; run by ezmlm
Lee - When I and a whole bunch of friends (25+)
laid the bales for my house in SE Arizona the bales were placed on two rows of
pressure treated 2x4's the width of the bales that had been nailed to the
slab. Prior to laying the bales the interior of the 2x4's and the slab
were coated with asphalt emulsion and then pea gravel was placed in the
cavity. Did the same thing for the second story except we nailed the 2x4's
to the sub floor. The exterior and interior walls were finished with cement
stucco. So far so good, I've been in the house 2 1/2 years and last
year we had 40" of rain from mid June to mid November. When
another friend and I built the well house, I just coated the top of the stem
wall with the asphalt emulsion and laid the bales directly on top of the
wall. Again, so far so good. Next project is a straw bale wall
around the house to keep the javelinas out. Good Luck.
Dot
