[Strawbale] OSB or Not? (rendering versus sheeting)

Tue Dec 7 00:51:30 CET 2010

Max,
As for 'dangerous' builders and the dangerous building practices that 
they broadcast : I'm glad they have the freedom to do so. And I feel it 
is simply up to those who have a 'better' understanding of building 
science, who care and can afford the time it takes of their personal 
life, to share as much and as well as they can so that those who care to 
make a well informed choice can do so. I'm glad you and many others do 
so. For the rest it just takes faith.... and convincing arguments.

I agree with the long and well constructed contributions sent by several 
participants on the list. And I'll probably repeat until the end of my 
days: Test before going 'all the way' and if you do not have the 
possibilty to do so, don't expériment too much if you don't want your 
building to be an experiment.

My point of view: Plaster on bales rule, very wide overhangs (verandas) 
are excelent and well constructed vented rainscreens are the best thing 
for exposed façades. 'Clean OSB' is not the end of the world. If the 
bales are places thightly against them the insulation value is probably 
not so bad (Herbert, give us your numbers ;-) and in a 'normal' 
situation we don't care if the walls smolder after 15 minutes of fire on 
the inside of a house. You should be outside by then as everyting else 
that is burnin inside (couch, TV, curtains etc.) is turning the place 
into a humongous barbeque. As for the mold on OSB, I have no opinion 
that I dare share.

Finally, like one of my workshop participants said : "you cannot have : 
Cheap, quick and quality". You can only have 2. True, with a lot of 
experimenting or good study you can build, cheap quality buildings fast, 
but that amount of preparation takes a long time for new time 
desigers/builders. I strongly suggest all those who do not want to spent 
their life experimenting on SB to invest (at least) in good reading 
material and to participate in a few workshops. Then build and finish 
someting small (say 30M²) and ONLY THEN start drawing your dream home.

Good luck and welcome to the very complex and dangerous world of 
building. It's a facinating world...

André
France
www.lamaisonenpaille.com

Le 06/12/2010 23:18, asbn a écrit :
>> I just wanted to mention, that OSB is not a healthy building material.
>> As far as i know they use Isocyanate clue to produce them.
>> And Isocyanate is not healthy at all!
>> Cheers Kurt
> This is why we use Egger Eurostrand OSB Top4 boards, which are glued with PU
> (Polyurethan) and are Formaldehyde free. In Austria we have a huge (free)
> database for ecological products, the link: http://www.baubook.at/
> We check all the materials we use in this database for its ecological
> impact...
>
> I know, there are better ecological and baubiological products (like
> strawbales, earthplaster, woodwool, softwood, Agepan/dp50-boards, ...).
>
> When you are a carpenter and build prefab houses you have to find certified
> CE-products (this is European building law - which is not yet in every
> European country national law) with the best possible ecological AND
> structural quality.
> In a wood-area like Austria you will tend to wood products, in areas with
> less wood and forests you will build more loadbearing structures.
> There is a difference in the building tradition and building officials
> accept loadbearing and directly plastered strawbale walls in some countries
> and in some others (like ours) not.
> The reason is a mixture of building tradition and experience and the
> influence of building lobbies, fighting for their products.
>
> When I build my own strawbale house (especially when it is a renovation like
> my old converted barn) I'm not bound to such products.
> But as a national strawbale network I'd like as many strawbale houses as
> possible in Austria (and Europe), and this means also to work with
> professional carpenters and build with straw in a sometimes more complicated
> way as maybe needed. But they have their liability...
>
> Mit lieben Grüßen
> Herbert Gruber
>
>
>
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