The Straw Bale Casita in Spirit Valley NM

Straw Bale Casita in Spirit Valley

Well, it is probably about time that I wrote about my experience in building with straw bales.  I had an unusual situation where I already had a post and beam framework in place, a hexagonal burro “shed” that had levels that spiraled upwards with a few different levels, including a hay loft and a central support system that doubled as a feed drop and feed bin.  I was out of money and had quit smoking cigarettes, so I was needing a project that 1) kept me away from people and 2)I could use salvage and saved items to build it with and 3)was physically challenging to give me a way to vent my energies.  I built the thing using credit cards for about $15,000 and that money was almost exclusively for the purpose of feeding me and paying the small mortgage I had at the time and taking care of my children when I had them.  The banker was horrified when I told him I had racked up that much  card debt and was now trying to refinance the property (40 acres with an adobe house, a big adobe “Teen Cottage” and a huge log shop/studio).  I had plenty of collateral and equity in the place, but no clear way to prove income other than the rental I was starting to get from the straw bale rental house, called BJJ, the BJ job; BJ (Benjamin) was my donkey who was now being relocated to slimmer digs, along with Isabella, his female sidekick.  I am sure they were not pleased with this new arrangement, as the “shed” was very cool with a good winter southern exposure and a good windbreak from the northern winds and a nice place to hang out in the summer too.  And the girls liked to play in it and hang out in the loft and hang off the beams and goof around.  There was water there, too; placed for a steady supply of well water for the tank. 

I am something of a rustic artist, so I decided to go for that aesthetic and celebrate the shed and also make it clearly made from recycled items, scavenged items and smaller pieces.  It had an overhang all around so I realized I could put straw bales in between and have them still roofed.  I knew that a lot of straw bale places were made this way; post and beam with infill.  I had designed various straw bale construction methods before, thinking about ways to get the electric line and other things into boxes that were part of the “post and beam” scenario.  I also had a few 8 x 8 “logs” left over from my shop project and knew I could continue that construction method; post and beam.  I was also interested in Mike Reynold's “Earthships”, which utilized car tires, rammed with earth, for foundations for houses.  I needed something strong under the bales without making a completely new foundation and that was labor intensive and low cost.  I also owned a small “bulldozer” with a front bucket, so I could easily get the gravel and stuff to ram the tires with.  So I went to local tires stores and they gladly gave me their old used tires, which I stuffed into my Bronco and brought home.  They, of course , were the perfect sized for a straw bale set-up.  I planned the lay the bales not on edge, but the thick way, which was close to the size of a tire.  I also dug trenches where needed and put in gravel foundations under the tires, where I could.  Now, this project was under the radar of the authorities, so “unconventional” was easier to accomplish than in other places.  The building already existed and looked like a now plastered over burro shed that had been there for some years, from the public side, which was the back. 

Pictures of it can be found on my blog:   http://thor-sigstedt.blogspot.com under the architectural slide show category; found following links to another blog or two, etc.   Others are on my Picasa Web Album, I think, which is public.  I can provide others if need be.

Of course, it is important to get dry and mold-free bales, and ones, that are tight enough to not be too goosey loosey, as they are being stacked and need some strength.  They are actually harder to deal with than one might think because they tend to tip over and are not heavy enough  to easily stabilize themselves.  I was surprised at how gangly the whole thing could be.  The sizes are important, too, and the spacing for post and beam if you are going that way.  You can break them apart and rebind them, but it is just more work to do that a lot. 

I invented a way to attach the stucco netting, which we call just that around here.  I also used some chicken wire, but it is weaker and harder to plaster.  I tried lacing tie wire through the bales to hold the stucco netting, but it was almost impossible, so I took old steel cable (and maybe some aluminum I had lying around), thick cable like they use for guying power poles. And cut it into lengths, say about 15” or so (I really don’t remember the exact best length, so you would need to experiment) and then separated the strands and then bend the single strands in half so you ended up with a bobby pin sort of deal with wavy forks.  Then you could just jamb them into the bale and pin down the wire quite easily.  I was truly impressed with myself for this invention.  I used this for both sides as they lathe support system.  You need quite a few to get a good tight fit against the bales. 

Then it was scratch coat of Portland, sand and lime mix on the outside; then a “brown” coat (which has nothing to do with the final color) of the same mix.  The brown coat is floated with a  special sponge to get a stucco type finish/surface.  Then the bank, when they finally agreed to refinance me, made me put on the final stucco coat so it looked finished.  The place looks like a 200 year old double adobe building and it quite attractive in that respect. 

The down side has been that it does attract mice and pack rats.  So I would recommend that special attention be paid to sealing it off really, really well from the outside.  In my case, I left the inside with barn wood siding from the original shed and it has many cracks where critters can come in and out.  I do not believe that the problem is impossible, but I know to be aware of it from the get-go.  I am still puzzled at how they get in.  Of course, they would be trouble in a fiber glass insulated building also, like most homes, so it is not unique to this place; most of my neighbors have had trouble with pests. 

The best features are that the insulation value is stunning for a wall (R40 or more) and the sound proofing from outside sounds is extraordinary (we have a train that passes by a few feet from the building and you can hardly hear it go by!), the looks are stunning. 

It is really important to have dry bales also, especially in an eastern climate.

Well, there is a lot more to talk about here, but that gives a basic overview of the deal as it relates to my experience. 

Good luck…….

      -Thor Sigstedt, Adventure Trails Ranch, November 20, 2011