Special Offers

Advertising Links

Search:

Advanced search

Building with Straw

By David Mason-Jones

Many small farm holdings come into existence due to the sub division of a larger property. This means that many of these farms come into the hands of the new owners without a residence being included in the price. The small farmer purchases a bare block and needs to establish a house as a high priority.

If the small farmer has purchased the property with the commercial intent of running a farming business, he or she must be acutely aware of cost control in the farming process to help maintain a profit. If the cost of constructing a house is enormous this can detract from the bottom line of the farming business.

If farming the property as a business and main source of income, most new small farmers will need as much of their money as working capital rather than lifestyle capital. On the other hand, no farmer should live in poverty just to liberate some working capital. Methods such as straw bale construction provide a financially sound alternative.

The costs of building a conventional residence in the country are higher than in the city. This is so because the costs involved with the transport of building materials are greater and the builder and tradespeople will have to travel greater distances to visit the site. This could mean, in the Central West of NSW, for example, the cost of building an on-farm residence may be up to 30% greater than building the same residence in a suburban area.

The growing popularity of small farming is not an activity that is confined to the city fringes and many small farms are springing up at long distances from major cities and regional centres. The case of the Statham family at their property around 10km South from Canowindra, in the Central West of NSW is an example. The property included one homestead when Richard and Florence arrived and founded the vineyard. However, a further building has been required for the use of their son who intends a long term future on the farm.

This is a classic situation where the use of innovative new building methods, such as straw bales, comes to the fore. In this situation the use of straw bales method has resulted in the erection of a substantial house with a comfortable living area at a significant discount to what would be available through conventional options. The house includes a main living area 9m wide by 14m long, not including the area required for a bathroom and a spare bedroom. It includes a mezzanine level with an additional sleeping area.

Richard reports that the entire cost of the building materials for the house has come in at around $30,000. A comparative building using a conventional building option could easily cost $175,000.

The cost of the building does not include the cost of the residents’ own labour but, even if this were included, it would come in at a huge discount against the cost of employing a builder to erect a conventional dwelling. Remember also that time spent by an owner in erecting such a house is a completely tax neutral form of labour. If the same owner were to work to accumulate enough money to pay a builder, he or she would have to pay that builder with after tax dollars and would have to earn much more money to actually pay the figure on the builder’s invoice. In most cases of building a conventional house, it is usually the case where a large mortgage is taken in order to fund the project. The borrower must actually earn money, not only to pay the builder, but also to pay the interest on the mortgage. Building a house from straw bales represents a cost effective method of building and a method of protecting the farm’s bottom line.

Straw bale houses can be built so that the straw walls are either load-bearing or non load-bearing. In the case of the Statham property near Canowindra, the first house constructed was a non load-bearing structure. This means that the weight of the roof and the mezzanine floor is carried on sturdy timber polls. The use of the straw bales in this situation is to provide in-fill between the poles.

The use of straw bales in this situation provides some enormous benefits. These include:

Commonly available. Straw bales are an item which a readily available in most rural areas. The technique, therefore, uses a building material that is either available on-site or from close by. Transport costs are not incurred from some distant manufacturing base.

Simple to handle. Straw bales are easy to handle and two people can easily lift a bale into position. There is no special need to cement the bales together with expensive cement mixes or special glues. There is no special apprenticeship or expensive training required for the people who are going to form the bales into walls. Maximum use can therefore be made of unskilled family labour.

Easily shaped. The bales are easily shaped at places where they meet an angle, such as occurs where the wall meets a hip rafter for the roof line.

Wide base for wall construction. The walls the bales have a wide base - at least 500mm. This creates a stable base for the construction of the wall. No special skills are required to make the wall stand vertically and, with the wide base, the walls are stable.

Insulation qualities. The walls are thick - at least 500mm - and trap a large volume of air within the compressed straw. This is an effective form of insulation.

Suitable foundation for rendering. Using a brush cutter, the surfaces of the straw walls are cut to an even finish prior to rendering. This creates a textured finish which assists with rendering with either mud from local sources or cement. Once rendered with a layer of mud, which is the best material for gripping to the straw naturally, the surface of the wall is then finished with a preparation of lime putty. This gives the wall a firm and impervious exterior. In cases where the owner builder chooses to render the walls with cement, it is necessary to run a layer of chicken wire across the face of the walls to provide a better grip for the rendering. Because of the natural ability of the local mud to adhere to straw, mud is actually the better material for rendering purposes.

Other options are available from the non load-bearing method chosen by the Stathams.

In the case of another straw bale building being erected nearby, the owner has opted to use the bales as the load bearing system for the roof. The choice of whether to use the straw bales in a non load-bearing role or a load bearing role is up to the owner.

Richard advises that many of the steps in building the straw bale house are the same as required for building a conventional house. He reports that the local government authority in his area was conversant with the strengths and advantages of straw bales as a method of building. Richard emph-asises that the local council, including the need for development applications or building approvals, must be kept informed at all stages. His experience is that the council will not baulk just because the house is made of an innovative material.

Richard also notes that the idea of building a straw bale house is not necessarily a total rejection of other conventional building products. For example, the house was built on a concrete pad because this was assessed to be the most efficient way of making the foundations and providing a floor.

A concrete pad also assists with the overall mass of the house and helps keep it cool in summer. As it turns out the concrete pad was the most expensive part of the house - at around $9,000.

Constructing a house of straw bales gives the builder the option of using some conventional methods - where appropriate - and using easily available mater-ials to complete the rest of the house. It is an econ-omical way of providing good accommodation and still allows access to working capital to run the farm.

Free Articles

Building with Straw

Calculating Fodder Reserves

Farming Truffles

Fixing erosion with turf

Growing Sandalwood with a host

Growing your own fodder indoors

Monitoring your farm by computer

The benefits of a small farm

Using a farm contractor

Building with Mud

Maintain a spring or soak

Maintaining high productive pastures