Underhill House is a blend of high-tech materials and natural building materials – like straw bale and lime clay plaster. But before they are, we need to map the mysteries that will be buried by plaster. Wiring, plumbing and wooden framing all need to be noted. Doug and I spent […]
Last weekend we got to visit the Whole Tree Construction, straw bale house that we helped build last year. Doug and I participated in a 6-day strawbale, clay wall workshop. (See posts Straw bale – Bending Walls , Stitching Straw Bales Makes Strong Walls, and Earthen Clay on Straw Bales […]
The second weekend of our straw bale construction workshop (led by Mark Morgan of Bearpaw Design and Construction ), we got a chance to try earthen clay plastering on the interior walls of the building. The first weekend, we troweled concrete stucco on the outside of the straw bale walls. […]
If there is one lesson I’m learning as I explore straw bale construction, it’s that there is no one way to work with straw bale. This form of construction involves a lot of craft, and experience is very valuable, but it is a form that is being re-invented all over […]
Straw as a building material may seem sketchy the first time you think about it. But the more you learn, the more it makes sense. I am in the middle of a 6-day workshop adding the straw bale component led by straw bale building master and local legend Mark Morgan […]
Straw is a natural material that can be sourced very locally. Isn’t it great to see examples of straw bale construction popping up all over the world? I can make such a grandiose statement because I have found a really cool application of straw bale construction in England. The other […]
Digging in the Driftless 