Hi Bruce,
According to EBNet website, I should contact you if I have a topic,
I would like to discuss on the Build Well Forum.
Well, I do.
My wife and I build a strawbale house in Lyngby, close to Copenhagen
in Denmark in 2001. At the time we didn?t think a lot about it, just
rushed right out into it?as one should, when you are young and ready
to learn new stuff :o) You can see a few pics of the building times
and the house.
Today, 2011, after having experienced a major rainfall on 2nd July,
the largest in Denmark in more than 100 years, which flooded our
fine house, we are probably less openminded and more focused on
finding the right way instead of the right experiment. Not that we
have made some bad choices, not at all, but this time we need to
make sure not to.
We have a great insurance company which takes good care of us, so we
are fine. Things take time, but that is ok, as long as they happen.
I have some specific questions for the bale-experts, which I haven?t
found answers for anywhere:
Do we have to use welded chicken net/wire ? we did the last time,
but we have also heard of a method of using straw mats, example:
http://www.hiss-reet.de/produkte/naturbaustoffe/unterputzgewebe.html
My thoughts are that the bales and the mats are the same material,
and using the mats to close the gaps over wooden joints etc. ought
to ensure a wall that does not work in different ways.
Will this ensure a rendered wall without cracks and tears or should
we stay with the chicken nets?
If we end up using the chicken nets ? should we then cover all bale
surfaces with the nets? Or only the wooden joint parts?
We intend to build the new walls in bales, but start with a not-
water-absorbing material for the first 50-60 cm from the base ? no
reason to invite disaster a second time. Should the joint of the two
materials be separated by a water repellent material like to avoid
ascending moisture or will that force any moisture in the bottom
strawbale to stay there thus causing problems in the bottom
strawbale. The direct reason for this question lies in the
construction of the last wall, which was mounted on a wooden bench
of 2 by 4 inch beams parallel to the house deck and elevated about
30 cm above ground and actually fully ventilated from below given
the bench construction (should have been a bit further up, as we
realize now, but no one knew at the time). That construction ensured
that no water could accumulate in the bottom strawbale. It there any
technical advice on this?
In your experience will bigbales have a relatively better insulation
effect than the small traditional ones. My thoughts are that they
are very heavily tightened and there the free floating air inside is
less than in the small bales (relatively). Am I wrong? What do you
recommend and what do you use yourself?
That is all for now.
Hope you will let me bring my story, picas and questions ? or just
the questions :o)
All the best from Denmark
Cheers
Michael
Michael M. Joergensen
Om Kaeret 4A
DK- 2800 Lyngby
http://g.co/maps/ff6pp
<fotos fra om k?ret byggeproces.pdf><om k?ret inde 032005
006.jpg><om k?ret inde 032005 007.jpg><IMG_0263.JPG>