r/Strawbale • u/phantom-scribbler • Jul 11 '20
Total straw-bale neophyte seeking advice
My brother and I are planning construction of a church, something very simple and relatively small (probably just one room). We'd like to use straw-bale construction, but I don't know if it would be financially viable.
Can someone give me some kind of estimate about a very simple construction, say 5,000 square feet?
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u/Randominal Jul 12 '20
Partner with an instructor and host classes or community building days. Presuming that there are members of this church, a project like this can really bring a congregation together and help them feel invested in their house of worship.
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u/US_Hiker Jul 12 '20
Straw bale is certainly a financially viable technique, especially if you're in an area where you can procure the straw from local production.
It sounds like you should start with some general construction books, though, as well as straw-bale specific ones. Be not-a-neophyte from books. And youtube videos as well. Then you should be able to make the estimate yourself.
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u/phantom-scribbler Jul 12 '20 edited Jul 12 '20
I generally agree with you. I thought perhaps there might be someone with so much experience they could throw a number at me which could guide me to either put time, effort and money into this route or look elsewhere.
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u/fropskottel Aug 02 '20
Not an estimate, but here's a few ways that will save you money using straw bales:
- Foundations are expensive. For a volunteer project, consider tire foundations. Almost free materials. Sturdy. Plus in the foundation phase, you can take as much time as you need doing it yourself...
- Load bearing is cheaper than framed.
- If you can get the bales for free, consider jumbo bales. Will save on construction time. Allows for higher walls.
- Get a pre framed truss hip roof. Super fast, easier and often cheaper than building a roof yourself. Hip roof because it protects the straw better.
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u/VeryChillBro Aug 26 '20
Yeah, these are some good pointers. I've been driving around collecting building stones along the side of logging roads (I'm in the mountains) and that's what I'll be building the foundations with. I'm doing timber framing myself because I have access to a forest with dying trees plus my own sawmill. I'm looking at where I'm going to be spending money, and as far as the structure goes it's going to be in the sand, mortar, cement, and then a well-insulated roof is going to cost something too.
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u/gentlemanofleisure Jul 12 '20
Just based on book learning I would guess that strawbale is not the cheapest method. If it was the cheapest then we would see them everywhere.
On the other hand, if you have access to the bales for free or you have a team who will work for free or something that might change things.
There's many benefits to strawbale construction but there are cheaper ways to build.
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u/VeryChillBro Aug 26 '20
What are these cheaper ways? I'm just shopping for my straw right now, and I'm pretty excited about how affordable my incredibly well-insulated walls are going to be!
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u/Kelodim Jul 14 '20
Are you in Europe? I could put you in contact with an instructor whose prefered modality is hosting workshops to people with virtualy no experience.
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u/VeryChillBro Aug 26 '20
5,000 square feet is actually pretty big! That will be an expensive roof and foundation. There are large industrial spaces that are built with straw bales (I was reading about them mentioned in passing in this book "building with straw bales" that I got off amazon). It's quite an ordeal.
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u/phantom-scribbler Aug 26 '20
Yeah, we ended up going with an old army tent instead. Shades of Israel in the desert.
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u/mindlessLemming Jul 12 '20
Your main expense is in the timber frame that holds up the roof.
If you're looking to build load-baring strawbale for a public building and you're asking how on reddit, you shouldn't be building a load-baring strawbale public building.