Straw Bale Houses

[Malcolm \Mal\ Reynolds]

If one were building such a house, would substituting simiilar sized bales of
shredded, compressed, recycled paper be viable?

 

[Neon John]

If one were building such a house, would substituting simiilar sized bales of
shredded, compressed, recycled paper be viable?

Only if you want a soggy rotting mess in a few years that is harboring the
world's largest colony of silver fish.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
What do you call a blonde's cranial cavity? Vacuum chamber?

 

[Malcolm \Mal\ Reynolds]

Only if you want a soggy rotting mess in a few years that is harboring
the world's largest colony of silver fish.

How would paper be any different that blown cellulose (I realize the
shredded paper might require the same treatment as cellulose, but straw
bales don't require any treatment).

 

[Malcolm \Mal\ Reynolds]

Yes. There are companies already using scredded paper as insultation.

But can you use it the same way hay bales are used...as structural elements.

 

[[email protected]]

If one were building such a house, would substituting simiilar sized bales of
shredded, compressed, recycled paper be viable?

Haven't heard of that, but for anyone who wants to learn about
building paper houses, Google "papercrete". Here's one site with lots
of info http://www.papercrete.com/. Cheap if labor-intensive. Can be
poured into logs or bricks, or even sprayed or slip-formed. Often
mixed in low-cost tow-mixers. Here are some photos of one I built out
of mostly recycled stuff for a friend.
http://www.citlink.net/~wmbjk/papercretemixer.htm It's more deluxe
than most. The whole concept is generally KIS in the extreme.

Wayne

 

[Malcolm \Mal\ Reynolds]

Straw is not used as a structural element in straw bale houses. The
structure is a framework of wood, steel or concrete that provides wind
and earthquake stability, and roof loading. The straw bales are then
stacked around and between the framework to provide insulation.

With that in mind, baled paper would be as suitable as straw for
insulation.

Thanks

 

[Ulysses]

And most of Mexico City is sitting on bails of hay put there over 1000 years
ago.

That might explain part of why half of it fell down when they had a big
earthquake.

Do you have any links describing these bails of hay under Mexico City? Why
are they there? To soak up dampness or something because the city is built
on a dry lake bed?

 

[William Wixon]

Often referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas were stationary
artificial islands that usually measured roughly 30 by 2½ meters, although
they were sometimes longer. They were created by staking out the shallow
lake bed and then fencing in the rectangle with wattle. The fenced-off
area was then layered with mud, lake sediment, and decaying vegetation,
eventually bringing it above the level of the lake. Often trees such as
willows were planted at the corners to secure the chinampa. Chinampas were
separated by channels wide enough for a canoe to pass."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa

interesting.
reminds me of this (but on a larger scale)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill

(watch the video, then go to http://maps.live.com/ where you can see a
"bird's eye view" of the what the mountain of ash looked like before the
corner of it slid off.)

Live Search Maps
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v...&scene=26187244&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

click on "bird's eye"

b.w.

(it appears to me that's basically how they built this mountain of fly ash,
they "fence in" an area using bulldozers and fly ash and then pump in fly
ash slurry and let it dry, then repeat the process over and over again till
they built a 50 foot high 40 acre mountain of ash. i wonder how far below
grade they started.) amazing.

 

[Malcolm \Mal\ Reynolds]

Yeah but where the hell are you going to find thousand year old hay bales
to build a house now?

Mexico City?

 

[Malcolm \Mal\ Reynolds]

If you go to Lake Titicaca in Peru the locals still use this system.
(Using reeds) You can stay there as a tourist. I stayed there myself
years ago. Got to watch out you don't fall through the "floor" as the
water is damned cold the lake is high up so it's cold at night.
Houses, boats, sails, everything is made out of reeds.

http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/topdestlaketiticaca/a/floatingislands ..
htm

Re bales, Who the F*** would want to buy one if you wanted to move?
Also the rats and mice soon move in. If it gets damp, toxic fungus
spores can be released into the building. (Causes a disease known as
"farmers lung"over here.)
http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001501-d001600/d001538/d001538.html
Can kill you!

Why would bales of paper suffer this when bales of straw don't?

 

[Mike]

It's the bales of straw that DO! Straw and paper is essentially the
same thing- cellulose. People have messed around with this sort of
thing over here in the UK for years/ At most it can be considered a
temporary building. Even built the ideal way ten years is the most
you can expect.

<ding>

wrong

There are numerous straw built structures over 25 years old still in
perfect condition (they are regularly monitored) and in regular use in
the UK.

I've seen them built for example on gravel filled
trenches to keep the damp out. Also this idea of smearing mud/dung/
cement/whatever on the outside soon cracks off as the stuff moves/
The most successful one I saw was where the bales were compressed
vertically between timber ground & roof plates and clad in timber.
(Didn't keep the rats/birds out)

Well you haven't been looking very well if that is your "most
successful one"

It was virtually a conventional
timber framed house with thick straw insulated walls. They trimmed the
excess straw off with a chain saw. So there was very little saving.

Sounds too much like a very well known straw insulated house. Built
for around 20% of what a conventional build would cost and will in all
probability still be standing hundreds of years from now.

Most people into this sort of thing are some kind of eco-nut out to
prove a (strange) point.

No they aren't

After a while they grow out of it. Then
they build a more conventional house with good insulation.

No they don't

You don't actually save much with the straw thing, particularly as it doesn't
last so long & has to be replaced. ((Boring the second time round!)

You save heaps of money, and use a material with very low embedded
energy and a very high U value.

Only jungle dwellers/other primitive/poor people actually need straw
houses. But they rebuild every couple of years.
Clever the way they do it mind you...... There could be a fire hazard
problem too...

No fire hazard whatsoever.

I suppose if you like the smell of straw...

No you can't smell the straw as its behind plaster. Do you go round
sniffing other insulation materials and saying they smell too?
Strange hobby you have there.

but then
you're into the unknown world of paper! Do you work in an office by
any chance?
I have a conventional house with massive insulation.

.....and a very small ****


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