Anyone build with cob/strawbale/etc?

[PenelopeJune]

Anyone? I'm really, really interested in building a strawbale house and have looked at nothing on the internet lately except houses! Feel free to share any info, photos, websites, or problems. Thanks!!

[kimmom]

We are building a cob home.. ask any questions you like :)

www.canadianfamilyrobinson.com

[Hykue]

We're working on a straw bale chicken coop - we started it last fall and are hoping to finish it this spring.

Mostly I have two bits of advice.  The first is that everything takes longer than you think, even when you take into account that everything takes longer than you think.  The second is that it might be wise to try out these techniques for smaller projects first before you try and go for a home.  I'm very glad we started with a chicken coop - it's smaller, it's simpler, and if we mess up, the chickens won't mind.  We have been learning a lot . . . and some of the things we learned would have stressed us out if we learned them on our own house.  One of the things we've learned is that we can totally do this.  Another is that it will take a long time, and that the planning process should include a lot of details that we hadn't thought of until we actually started to build.

We're planning to try cob in the next year or two as well, probably something VERY small like a dog house, or maybe as big as a garden toolshed.  If bales weren't so big and seasonal, I would think we would have been better off starting REALLY small with them too.  We did make a little play staircase for our goats out of 5 bales, after we'd gotten the bales stacked and the roof on the chicken coop, and we plastered it to see how that went.  It was worth it, we learned a bit about mixing and applying the plaster, without making our mistakes even on the chicken coop.

Definitely get a good book or three.  Are you planning on doing the actual building yourself?  Planning/designing?  Do you need approvals?  Do you already have a site picked?  Regardless of any of these answers, really, I recommend getting a book.  I don't remember the name of the cob book that my MIL has, but we found that the most useful straw bale book was "More Straw Bale Building, A Complete Guide to Designing and Building with Straw", by Magwood, Mack, and Therrien.  The same authors published a detail book that was very helpful as well - I think it was called Straw Bale Details, we just got it out of the library.

So, yeah.  You can totally do this.  It might be more expensive (depending on how much of it you'll do yourself) than you expect, and I would bet money that it will be more time-consuming than you expect, but you can totally do it.

I'm certainly no expert, but I have a little bit of experience now - if you have specific questions, ask by all means.

[Toolip]

I have played with cob and other natural building techniques. I have lots of ideas for a house... subbing!

[Arizona Straw]

I have built two straw bale homes. I am a contractor. Below someone commented that it takes a long time. Well, that is because people think because it is built of straw bales how hard could it be. It would be like deciding to build a standard home by yourself with not experience in building at all. But, that said, the best book I have found that will really give you some education and good ways to build a straw bale home is "Building with Awareness". If you do a search it will come up. It is professional and one of the best books/DVD I have read or viewed. I have bought three and gave to people to view and they seem to never return. Another source for good information is straw bale.com and is one of the oldest and best sites for straw bale information. You can build it yourself but I would recommend a contractor in your area who has experience.