All Entries Tagged With: "straw bale"
Building with Bales
by Joyce Coppinger This is original content provided by the Editor of The Last Straw Strawbale is about energy efficiency – an insulation value averaging R-30. And it likes to have its face to the sun and its back to the wind for warmth and protection like all buildings do. Strawbale is about structure – [...]
A Straw-bale Home in Idaho – TLS #55
This article originally appeared in TLS #55 and was the feature article in that issue. by Wayne Bingham and Colleen Smith – Idaho, USA Our interest in straw-bale construction grew out of our concern for energy efficiency. Our research into building energy efficiency grew into an awareness of sustainable building practices. An urge to build [...]
Finishing Bale Walls with Siding – TLS #57
This article appeared in TLS #57. Loose Strings: Technical Discussions by Jeff Ruppert – Colorado, USA T e c h T i p s A little known fact in the bale building realm is that a handful of people scattered across different continents have experimented with the idea of finishing their bale walls with wood [...]
Build Your Own Simple Bale Wall Moisture Sensor – TLS #57
This article appears in issue #57 of TLS. There have been other articles about moisture sensors in recent years. by Habib John Gonzalez – British Columbia, Canada This article appeared in a slightly longer version in TLS#22/Spring 1998. Here are the simple steps and materials needed to build your own bale wall moisture sensor: 1. [...]
Newsflash! Straw-bale Infill Meets U.S. Building Codes – TLS #54
This article originally appeared in Issue #54. This issue includes a table of straw-bale building codes, guidelines and mandates in the U.S., and links to straw-bale codes, guidelines and supporting documentation; and an extensive review of the status of straw-bale codes and permitting throughout the world. by Sigi Koko – Pennsylvania, USA The bottom line [...]
Welcome!
Welcome to the official blog of The Last Straw Journal (TLS), the international journal of straw bale and natural building. The Last Straw Blog will constantly be posting selected articles from TLS to help you in your search for information. Some of the articles you find here will be full-length straight from the issues. Other [...]
Plaster Pumping – Reprint from TLS #57
Merry Mudders (Stucco Pumping Iron) by Habib John Gonzalez – British Columbia, Canada This article, under the title “Stucco Pumping Iron” appeared in TLS#33 (Plaster special issue). [See note at end of article.] The system I’ve been using for helping owner/builders stucco their bale homes comes from New Mexico. Folks there hire the stucco pump [...]
Siberia 2008 (Altai Project, Builders Without Borders)
In mid August of 2008 we saw ourselves back on the plane to Siberia. This was our second trip as a group of builders and teachers to this far and exotic place we now consider our most remote home away from home. Paul Koppana (Crestone, CO), Cindy Smith (Durango, CO) and myself, Jeff Ruppert (McKinleyville, [...]
Window Sill Details
This is a bonus post showing a couple examples of window sills on bale walls. Both examples incorporate a drip kerf for shedding water away from the wall. The first example below is on a Nebraska-Style structure in Colorado and the second example is in Siberia from our 2005 trip. Here is a detail of [...]
