re: Re: [strawbale] Help needed?

[m.ep@laposte...]

Hi,

I tend to agree with Axel that the problems are not SB related, and am grateful that the article on the website does not blame SB. Although the title is not that flattering either. 
Then again, a house is not just SB or any other technique, it is a whole, and all pieces interact.

The mice put forward the question on where are the cracks/food as well as where the mice are situated?

Water leaking through the windows,.. do they also leak into the wall, and do we need to worry about future rotting bales?

I saw the failed pit floor. It did not work since the Cherry pits are still alive! They swell up with humidity and crumble the cement that should hold them. Life is stronger than cement ;-)
The idea was not that bad though, the cherry pits hold the heat and massage your feet as they stick out a little. Apart from the fact that the binder (cement) did not hold up, I found them very comfortable to my feet, we had taken of our shoes while entering the house. 

The heating system I saw was a huge masonry stove. They work great and give great comfort and are very economic. However........ since they do not heat up the air as much, but give their heat in radiation they 'work' differently than 'normal' radiators etc. When we visited they had noticed that the space behind the internal SB wall did not heat up much. This makes sense since the SB wall insulates. An internal  earth wall would have been more appropriate, it could stock and transfer the infrared energy of the stove. There was a mezzanine (open between ground and first floor and even the attic). I don't remember seeing other heatsources. I wonder if masonry stoves are a good option in this case (assuming it is the only heat source). Normally the heated air will move up, and heat the upstairs spaces as long as the air can come in those spaces. But with masonry stoves room temperatures of 16° C are not uncommon (while still comfortable because of the radiation) and I wonder the!
refore if

 that should heat the upstairs?

The runoff on the walls could be fixed by a veranda. Would only be needed on the east side since the west is already protected by a carport

Of course the owners feelings are first to be checked. 
Bye,
Andre

>
> After reading the article that Mr. Föllmi refers to in his response to 
> Herbert (www.beobachter.ch/ratgeber/recht/wohnen.cfm) I was both discouraged 
> and a litlle hopefull. The article is titled "Only bugs and mice live healthy 
> in the straw". 
> But in the list of problems, which is long indeed, nothing really indicates 
> failure of the strawbale walls: 
> millions of bugs coming from the spelt insulation, 
> water leaking in through the windows
> uncontrolled run-off from the roof (which will damage the walls)
> the failed cherry-pit-floor experiment,
> a poorly designed heating system or some major heatloss somewhere,
> and last not least mice have invaded the house.
> Where the mice live and breed is not specified.
> None of the above need bale-experts to be fixed, if you ask me. But that is a 
> wild guess from the far distance. If that family is willing to recieve a 
> well-meaning bale-head it can only be helpfull for everyone involved to have 
> an unbiased diagnose.
> 
> This kind of news travels very fast, I am afraid...
> Axel.

>** --------- End Original Message ----------- **

> 

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m.ep@laposte...
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