Straw Bale Workshop

Nothing but huge thanks to everyone who came out! We had family come from Dallas and Atlanta, lots of friends from our running group who showed up for several hours, and many other who have an interest in straw bale building. This was also our first hands on experience working with bales so it was an amazing experience to learn with everyone else. I would like to send out a huge thank you to our amazing instructors Ben and Sarah, without your help we would have been completely lost.

Bales delivered on-site, this is the small pile of them!

Another of the small pile

Friday night was a nice introduction to the weekend and an opportunity to get familiar with straw bale construction and the job site. Ben gave a good overview of the benefits of straw bale along with the longevity and beauty that it can provide.

Ben going over his slide show

Saturday morning before we got started

Saturday morning started with Rudy's breakfast tacos, coffee, and delicious doughnuts! Once the work actually started it didn't take long for the first bale to go into place. We started from the very beginning by placing the insulation and felt paper that the bales will sit on. This was probably the worst part of the  morning as the insulation was very fine and made a nice dust for everyone to breath in and irritate their lungs. Once we got past the coughing and laid the felt paper over the insulation it was time to lay the first bale.



The bales went up very quickly at this point. Everyone was excited and ready to work. It was fun to watch everyone break into their own work groups and just go for it. Although it wasn't long before things slowed back down a bit by placing the first window. The window frames are floating windows that sit on top of the bales and are set in place by dowel rods. This meant a quick learning session from Sarah and Ben on how to make custom bales. It didn't take long before multiple people were proficient in making these bales and the project moved on!

The Master suite taking shape

By the end of the day Saturday we had completed a large amount of the master suite and a pretty good amount of the back wall. Check out the pics below!

Everyone working hard!

Setting the floating window frames in place

End of the day Saturday

End of the day Saturday in the Great Room

Another master suite pic

Sunday morning started out a some muscle soreness and a nice rain shower. Luckily we arrived early enough to water proof what needed to be covered. There was a very little chance of rain that morning but luckily we were prepared. Also it was a nice chance to sit and relax in the garage and enjoy the breakfast tacos and coffee before the day got going. It was nice and humid once the sky stopped dumping rain and it was time to get started. The attendance was a little lower on Sunday however having a day of experience really sped up the pace. Again everyone broke up into separate groups and got to business. Before you knew it we were completing the gables on the master suite. This was the first room to have all of the bales up and it looked pretty amazing! Here are a couple pictures of the end of the day on Sunday.

Yasmin mixing up some special drink for Sunday!

Completed Master Suite on Sunday afternoon! See below for comparison once straightened and trimmed

Since the initial workshop weekend Yasmin and I have been working most days after work and just about every weekend to get the remainder of the bales up. We have enlisted the help of willing family and have even hired a few attendees of the workshop to help finish out the bales. The last bales went up  last Wednesday 6/26/13.

Finishing up the back wall

Working on the second floor...by myself....after work...exhausted!

The process now is what every straw bale builder needs to know. We have been working on straightening, stuffing, and trimming the walls. The plan is to work on this for the next week or two until completed. This gets us closer to placing the stucco netting and handing the job over to a professional stucco contractor to make our home look beautiful. The more time spent now making the walls straight the better our home will look later. Also, this is the time to shape corners, windows, and create niches in the walls. This is the time to be creative! So far we have straightened and trimmed the east, west, and south side of the first floor on the exterior. The goal for the week will be to finish the north side of the first floor exterior. I have been using a make shift hammer that Sarah built using scraps of wood on-site. This "tool" has been crucial into persuading the bales into place. It seems the easy part was getting all of the bales up. Now the real detail work begins.

Before straightening and trimming

After Straightening and trimming!

Another after picture of the east wall of the master suite after straightening and trimming, what a difference!

After picture of the master suite finished

All of the bales completed!

Using the Fred Flintstone hammer to help straighten the walls!

Inside of the great room after all bales up

Completed gable section in great room

Completed gable section in upstairs bathroom/bedroom area

I will be out working this July 4th weekend from Thursday thru Sunday. I am currently working on straightening and trimming walls, placing electrical boxes, and prepping for stucco. Anyone interested in coming out to learn what needs to be done after the bales go up feel free to email strawbaleaustin@gmail.com I can let you know what time I will be out working. This will be very informal so just bring an open mind and be ready to work!


Thanks for reading!

Bye, Bye Beams... :(

I have not updated the blog in a while out of pure disappointment. We unfortunately had to come to the decision to not use the beautiful hand hewn oak beams for the structure for our home due to questionable structural integrity. Despite this we have carried on. We replaced the oak with Douglas Fir beams. The replacement process took a couple weeks out of our schedule and left us scrambling to make it to the straw bale workshop. This was a very long, arduous and frustrating process. The crew kept good spirits and completed the work safely.

We decided to have the new Fir beams hewn to make them look a bit more organic and get rid of the straight cut lines. We also wanted a bit darker of a look so we stained them with a soybean oil based stain call velvet oil. The color is called Mediterranean #217. It actually came out a lot darker than expected but we like the look. Here is a picture of me staining the beams 20ft in the air on some rigged up scaffolding left by the framers.

Other work we have taken on was cleaning up and painting the metal brackets hat will hold the framing together. These were cut from scraps of metal left over from prior projects. Our contractor hired a local church with a metal shop to do the work. We saved about $800 dollars by doing this. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't seem like much however each little bit of savings can add up. I will provide a picture of these when they are attached to the frame.

We have been scrambling to get items completed that have to be done for the straw bales to go up. Because of the delay in framing we will be working right up to the last minute to get this done. All window frames must be completed by framers to dry fit into the bales. All base plates must be in place on first and second floor to stack bales on. Also all of the metal brackets must be in place to safely have volunteers on-site working on the bales. These are all items that will be completed today, the day before the workshop...AHHHH

I should have an update next week regarding the straw bale workshop.