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I think it's pretty cool that he had a go at this, but how does he know that it's actually structurally sound? I'm not sure how things are in Wales, but here i

I think it's pretty cool that he had a go at this, but how does he know that it's actually structurally sound? I'm not sure how things are in Wales, but here in Missouri, you have to be concerned about things like high winds, earthquakes, etc, not to mention how your house fares if a fire starts. I'm guessing hay bale insulation isn't too fire retardant. Most houses around here are built to stock plans, and the loads on the floors/roof have been calculated by a professional. I'd be a bit weary of hanging out in that place in storm. (Note: I know nothing of likelihood of thunderstorms in Wales. People built houses like this for hundreds of years in England so it's not that harebrained). It would make one heck of shed/club house though!

dylanz 17y ago
One of my friends built a large community of affordable straw-bale housing in Afghanistan. The officials thought it was a joke, so came over and shot their machine guns into one of the buildings. The bullets didn't penetrate the walls, so they were impressed and gave them the thumbs up to go ahead.
- kirubakaran 17y ago
  Obviously the building passed ISO-AK47 standard.
- LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago
  A pile of phone books makes a great backstop for bullets when loading and unloading firearms. I imagine that the straw-bale works under the same principle. Neat stuff.
russell 17y ago
Things that you need to be concerned about in CA, MO, and other places that have hurricanes, tornadoes, and earth quakes: rafter ties and joist ties to keep the roof from flying off and to make the framing a continuous unit. The framing needs to be bolted to the foundation. You dont want the thing to collapse in a 6.5 earthquake. I've had 2 houses that each survived a different one. Compare that with other parts of the world where a 6.5 leaves rubble for miles around. I would guess that bales of straw plus fireproof facing are more fire retardant than the wooden houses most of us live in.
ijuhytgjh 17y ago
From the look of it you also want to worry about ring-wraiths and passing wizards
- electromagnetic 17y ago
  Especially the wizards, they hand out cursed rings to screw with people at every opportunity.
electromagnetic 17y ago
High winds aren't such a problem, it's built into the ground which will help negate a lot. The soil cladding is going to help a lot; I'm used to the high winds we get in England (I'm sure they're comparable) and I'm used to the tiles being ripped off the roof, so from that perspective it could well be better than traditional building in the UK. Earthquakes aren't too much of a concern in the UK, however being in the ground can help with this. Also the major damage in earthquakes is to rigid structures (primarily concrete, then brick) that cannot flex, there's been lots of designs to deal with all these problems, but the simple matter is that the lower a building is to the ground and the more flexible construction material is you're better off. However, you never know until you try. As for fire retardation it's possibly a lot worse than your average house in the UK, I don't think I've ever been in a non-brick home in the UK. I bet it will possibly be more damaging to the structure, however the bigger concern is that is it more likely to cause a fire? If you're following proper electrical designs then probably not. However, if he used exclusively 12V then I severely doubt he'd ever have a fire through the electrical system, and thats my opinion having worked as an electrician. When my parents bought a 200+ year old house in France, the building had very old school wiring, it was coated like a sock and the house had never had a fire. So with modern materials you're probably safe. In case a fire actually started; as with a lot someone fell a sleep smoking for instance. Well you'd be surprised huge hunks of wood really hate setting on fire, so I doubt the structural supports would go up before you could get out. Also if the insulation is behind a good coating of plaster, it's fire proof. I've used scrap drywall quite frequently as a backer for a paper incinerator and it usually lasts for about 30 minutes despite very hot flames (paper gets air faster and thus burns hotter). I'd say if you put the amount of plaster you're supposed to when manually rendering a wall, I'd give it an equal time before it started giving away. All in all, from the experience I've had I'd say it would be reasonably safe. You've also got to consider, living in a city you're more likely to die through other means than you are in the country. Personally, I'd have misgivings living in it. All my knowledge tells me that a huge oak beam holding up the floor has more structural support than the floor I'm currently sat on. However, it would still creep me out. My biggest concern is, how do you keep track of wood rotting when you don't have access to a large area of the building. If all exterior walls were constructed of brick, and I'd built the supports (I'd definitely use brick for a lot of the load bearing structure) then I'd definitely sleep in one.
HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
Part of the answer is in your post: it's been done for hundreds of years. The reason those stock plans have load calculations is because the engineer has to certify safety. In earlier times it was known safe by experience: in this area the roof joists must be "this" thick and there must be "this much" insulation to keep out the cold. I live out in the country and have been thinking of building a "man cave" into the side of the hill we live on. This is MUCH more extreme than I had in mind, but it's added motivation :-) It'll have to wait until I finish the clay pizza oven though...

dylanz 17y ago

One of my friends built a large community of affordable straw-bale housing in Afghanistan. The officials thought it was a joke, so came over and shot their machine guns into one of the buildings. The bullets didn't penetrate the walls, so they were impressed and gave them the thumbs up to go ahead.

kirubakaran 17y ago
Obviously the building passed ISO-AK47 standard.
LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago
A pile of phone books makes a great backstop for bullets when loading and unloading firearms. I imagine that the straw-bale works under the same principle. Neat stuff.

russell 17y ago

Things that you need to be concerned about in CA, MO, and other places that have hurricanes, tornadoes, and earth quakes: rafter ties and joist ties to keep the roof from flying off and to make the framing a continuous unit. The framing needs to be bolted to the foundation. You dont want the thing to collapse in a 6.5 earthquake. I've had 2 houses that each survived a different one. Compare that with other parts of the world where a 6.5 leaves rubble for miles around. I would guess that bales of straw plus fireproof facing are more fire retardant than the wooden houses most of us live in.

ijuhytgjh 17y ago

From the look of it you also want to worry about ring-wraiths and passing wizards

electromagnetic 17y ago
Especially the wizards, they hand out cursed rings to screw with people at every opportunity.

electromagnetic 17y ago

High winds aren't such a problem, it's built into the ground which will help negate a lot. The soil cladding is going to help a lot; I'm used to the high winds we get in England (I'm sure they're comparable) and I'm used to the tiles being ripped off the roof, so from that perspective it could well be better than traditional building in the UK. Earthquakes aren't too much of a concern in the UK, however being in the ground can help with this. Also the major damage in earthquakes is to rigid structures (primarily concrete, then brick) that cannot flex, there's been lots of designs to deal with all these problems, but the simple matter is that the lower a building is to the ground and the more flexible construction material is you're better off. However, you never know until you try. As for fire retardation it's possibly a lot worse than your average house in the UK, I don't think I've ever been in a non-brick home in the UK. I bet it will possibly be more damaging to the structure, however the bigger concern is that is it more likely to cause a fire? If you're following proper electrical designs then probably not. However, if he used exclusively 12V then I severely doubt he'd ever have a fire through the electrical system, and thats my opinion having worked as an electrician. When my parents bought a 200+ year old house in France, the building had very old school wiring, it was coated like a sock and the house had never had a fire. So with modern materials you're probably safe. In case a fire actually started; as with a lot someone fell a sleep smoking for instance. Well you'd be surprised huge hunks of wood really hate setting on fire, so I doubt the structural supports would go up before you could get out. Also if the insulation is behind a good coating of plaster, it's fire proof. I've used scrap drywall quite frequently as a backer for a paper incinerator and it usually lasts for about 30 minutes despite very hot flames (paper gets air faster and thus burns hotter). I'd say if you put the amount of plaster you're supposed to when manually rendering a wall, I'd give it an equal time before it started giving away. All in all, from the experience I've had I'd say it would be reasonably safe. You've also got to consider, living in a city you're more likely to die through other means than you are in the country. Personally, I'd have misgivings living in it. All my knowledge tells me that a huge oak beam holding up the floor has more structural support than the floor I'm currently sat on. However, it would still creep me out. My biggest concern is, how do you keep track of wood rotting when you don't have access to a large area of the building. If all exterior walls were constructed of brick, and I'd built the supports (I'd definitely use brick for a lot of the load bearing structure) then I'd definitely sleep in one.

HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago

Part of the answer is in your post: it's been done for hundreds of years. The reason those stock plans have load calculations is because the engineer has to certify safety. In earlier times it was known safe by experience: in this area the roof joists must be "this" thick and there must be "this much" insulation to keep out the cold. I live out in the country and have been thinking of building a "man cave" into the side of the hill we live on. This is MUCH more extreme than I had in mind, but it's added motivation :-) It'll have to wait until I finish the clay pizza oven though...