Building with Straw Bales: A practical manual for self-builders and architects

By Barbara Jones

Building with Straw Bales explains in straightforward terms the principles of straw-bale building. It covers design principles; the different types of foundations; how to raise and stabilise walls and protect them from the weather, including a detailed analysis of how straw performs with humidity; and how straw-bale buildings can easily meet Building Regulations requirements. Straw-bale building is now entering the mainstream - used by firms who see its value in terms of cost-effectiveness, ease of installation and energy efficiency. Straw has great loadbearing qualities and provides superb insulation at an affordable price. Now in full colour for the first time, the beautiful photographs throughout this book illustrate the techniques described and show-case the diverse possibilities of straw-bale building. A book for self-builders as well as architects and construction industry professionals; straw-bale building is accessible to many people and provides immense opportunity for creative fun, enabling you to design and build the sort of shape and space you'd really like.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Green Books
• Release date: May 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9780857842299

Reviews for Building with Straw Bales

[skepchris_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very practical book explaining what your options are when you want to build a house using strawbales. Detailed construction tips, even including how-to's on making your own plaster from the base materials.Compared to the American strawbale books this one pays much more attention on how to keep the straw dry in the northern climate, and a technical but understandable explanation of why renovations with the wrong choice of material have led to moisture problems.