SB: Re: Question about strawbale house on stilts

["Bill Hunt" <billhunt@redrock.net>]

It is not uncommon to fill and compact part of the site, so you don't have
to cut the whole pad. You could cut half, and fill half.  This would lower
the profile of the house, making it less obtrusive, and reducing wind loads.

Unless bedrock is an issue, a good machine and operator can do this fairly
quickly.

A double floor and double roof sounds expensive.  Other forms of insulation
are commonly chosen in these areas for practical reasons, such as less
weight, easier to install, less cost...what is your climate?  Passive solar
in heating climates that get sun is one of the best "green" strategies there
is.

Cheers-Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: S. G. Fawthrop
To: Strawbale List
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 5:50 PM
Subject: SB: Question about strawbale house on stilts



I have recently been excavating the foundations for my garage/workshop.
Needless to say the walls will be strawbale.  This task has been such an
onerous chore because of the slope on my land that I, half facetiously, said
I was going to build the house on stilts when I finished the garage so that
I did have to go through this again.

Later I thought about that and wondered if anyone has actually done that.  I
would want to build a double floor with bales between the two for
insulation. (Same with the roof.)  I would also build a post and beam
structure strong enough  to support the bale walls. Biggest problem as I see
it is the lack of a concrete slab as a heat sink.  I would have to come up
with an alternative if I wanted to design passive solar.

Anyone got any thoughts on this matter?

Thanks, Steve


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to:
   <strawbale-unsubscribe@crest.org>

or for the digest to:
   <strawbale-digest-unsubscribe@crest.org>

Please send any list administration questions to
strawbale-owner@crest.org