Contracting Part V: Working with the Building Department
Learn the ins and outs of creating a positive relationship when working with your local building department, right off the bat.
Contracting Part IV: Estimating and Creating a Budget
The primary place where both owner-builders and contractors fail when building a home is in the estimating of construction costs. Learn some tips to help you avoid that pitfall.
Contracting Part III: Site Evaluation and your Building Process
As a contractor, you’ll need extensive knowledge of each site evaluation and what it means. There are some easy to forget details that might surprise you…
Contracting Part II: Reading Your Jobsite Construction Plans
Mistakes are often made in contracting when reading plans. Make sure you know your plans well and know how to read them to catch any potential mistakes.
Contracting Part I: Know What You Are Getting Into
It is important that you fully understand what will be expected of you as you embark on the contracting of your home. It is easy to say that you want to contract the construction, but there is a lot to the process and perhaps the biggest pitfall is not knowing what will be asked of […]
Plaster Tip: Applying American Clay Over Natural Hydraulic Lime
In this article I discuss using American Clay plaster over a Natural Hydraulic Lime plaster, making sure that cure times are accounted for.
Smooth Plaster on Straw Bale Walls
I recently received an email asking if it was possible to get the interior walls of a straw bale house flat and smooth. I have included the email and my response to it below. Question: Are there any alternatives to finishing the interior walls of a straw bale home with plaster? More specifically, can I […]
Plastering Tip for Straw Bale Walls
Plastering has a lot of challenges to it from mixing recipes to application techniques. Some challenges may not be obvious from the start, so be sure to spend some time learning what you need to know before you jump in. Today I spoke with a client who had spilled Natural Hydraulic Lime (NHL) all over their […]
Call For 2017 Straw Bale Workshop Hosts
I am currently accepting host applications for the 2017 straw bale workshop season. If you hope to host a workshop on your project, please apply today.
Easier Insurance and Lending for Straw Bale Homes
The inclusion of straw bale construction in the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) has made it easier to get insurance and lending for straw bale homes. It may not be as easy as getting insurance and lending on conventional homes yet, but we are making major headway.
Help Define a New Name for SBC
Here’s your call to action. We need a new name; one we can all get behind and present to the world in a new and powerful way. What ideas do you have? Please comment below with your ideas and share this article with anyone you think may want to help define the way forward for this amazing building technology.
FREE Three-Day Crew Training May 24-26, 2016
If you are interested in straw bale construction and live near Gravette, Arkansas, then you will want to join us for a FREE three-day crew training on May 24-26, 2016.
Add Your Straw Bale House to the International Straw Bale Registry
Here’s a simple call to action. Please add your straw bale house to the International Straw Bale Registry!
New Pricing on Straw Bale Plans
A quality designer or architect is absolutely worth every penny spent on them; however, if you don’t have the money to spend, it doesn’t matter how amazing they are. So for those who cannot afford to hire a private architect or designer, there is a “next best” option: previously designed homes.
Heading to the Desert
I’m heading to the desert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of CASBA and to share and learn about straw bale construction.
The Power of Education – A 15 Question Test
It may sound obvious, but learning how to build a house, of any kind but especially a straw bale house, is a good thing to do before you actually start building. Ask yourself the following 15 questions and if you cannot answer them with a high level of confidence, you would be best served to gain some more experience before you start building.
Mosier, Oregon Workshop Sold Out
Just a quick note to let you know that the workshop in Mosier, Oregon scheduled for September 18 – 24, 2016 has sold out.
California Straw Building Association’s 20th Anniversary Gathering
The California Straw Building Association (CASBA) has done amazing work in the field of straw bale construction for the last twenty years. This year’s annual meeting will celebrate those achievements and look to the future to see how CASBA can continue to build positive relationships in the field.
Acid Staining Floors While Protecting Plaster Walls
When acid staining concrete floors, it is very important to properly mask off walls and doors so that none of the stain gets onto places where you don’t want it. One of the hardest surfaces to protect is unsealed plaster.
Finish Plaster Texture Options
There are a lot of finish plaster texture options available for your straw bale home and knowing which one is best for you can be difficult. The best decisions are based on understanding the combination of application-technical difficulty, personal aesthetics, durability, crack hiding ability, and material availability.
The Importance of Tool Organization
I don’t think that the importance of tool organization on a job site can be overstated. This is true for owner builders and professionals alike.
Simplify the Installation of Roofing Felt Behind Your Plaster
I wanted to share a few great tips as a means of simplifying the installation of the roofing felt needed on wood that lies behind your plaster. As you know (or may be learning…right now…) you have to cover all wood that will end up behind plaster with roofing felt or an equivalent product.
Hardwood Floors in a Straw Bale House
Hardwood floors in a straw bale house may not be the most common of floors, but they sure are beautiful. The reason they are not the most common is that most people want to couple the thermal mass values of concrete or earthen slab floors with the thermal insulation values of the bale wall assemblies. This makes sense, but is not always applicable. For example, some homes are built on raised floor foundations and as such, are better suited for lightweight floors like hardwood or engineered wood floors. Some owners simply prefer the look of wood over slab products, while others find that their physical and/or financial limitations require them to work with wood floors over slab materials. No matter what your reason for choosing hardwood or engineered wood floors, you will run into an issue that folks who build with slab floors won’t have: edge gaps.
Getting Ready for the 2016 Straw Bale Workshop Season
Ever wonder what one of my straw bale workshops is like? This video will give you a taste. For starters, we have a ton of fun, learn mountains of information, build someone’s dream, and make friendships that last.