Strawbale Archive for November 2001

And checking my notes, I see that Sunny John mentioned that 
  "straw coated to a point where it is *just* covered and then 
form-tamped ("normal" wall) " weighed in at ~ 40 lbs per cubic foot.


It should be obvious from the above observations that straw/clay "stuffed" 
into a gap would optimistically fall somewhere in the above range of 
20-40 pcf, and most likely closer to the 40 pcf density, since there is bound 
to be a certain degree of compaction as a result of the stuffing process.

[Of course, this does not address the school of thought which goes:
       "If *some* insulation is good then certainly stuffing MORE in is bound
         to be better" and the adherents proceed to conscientiously jam the 
         insulation in until it is rock-solid 
          (and highly conductive/poorly insulating). ]