Straw bale walls
This is what its all about. Funny how little time was actually spent doing the straw bale walls, we started with 4 of us, then 2 for most of it and I was finishing it alone. Later there is a safety warning!
Window frame 200mm X 50mm boards fixed to 100 X 100 posts.
South South East window
Large South window with lattice underneath.
The bales below the window opening are pre compressed by putting heavy
duty ratchet straps and tightening them to the max. The strap goes over a 4X2 inch timber ladder which holds down the bales and then the
base of the window frame is notched into the posts and wedged and
nailed.
Top of window frame notched into 100 X 100 posts.
On the wide windows over 1 meter span a doubled 200 X 50mm header is notched into the 4 X 4 inch posts.
Every 3 or 4 courses of bales a 100 X 50mm horizontal brace is forced down as much as possible and nailed with 5 inch nails to the posts. This helps to stabilize the straw bales.
In September 2019 as I was fitting the third last bale, while standing on a carpenters stool on the scaffolding with no handrails and just some plastic sheeting between me and the ground 3 meters below, and loose straw everywhere, the stool slipped and I fell and broke my arm and fractured my pelvis. We now have some handrails fitted, a hard way to learn a lesson.
Time to take a rest for a little while.
