Home Renovation & Building Forum
https://forum.homeone.com.au/

A Strawbale House
https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=51099
Page 1 of 3

Author:  Variegated [ Sep 13, 2011 9:02 pm ]
Post subject:  A Strawbale House

Now that I have progressed to having preliminary plans for my proposed house, I thought it might be the appropriate time to begin my building thread, even though there are, no doubt, several months before the actual building will start, and lots of decisions to make before that happens.

My sister and her partner built themselves a strawbale home near Toowoomba, and my interest in strawbale, and the resulting research I undertook convinced me that it would be an ideal material for the climate here, with its low humidity and high diurnal range. Wanting to use strawbale as a building material pretty much excludes the project home builders, so I went looking for a design/building company to assist in this project. After a false start with a company that really didn’t get what I wanted, I have been working with the architect in a small, local firm – Jigsaw Housing http://www.jigsawhousing.com.au with whom I am very happy.

The land is 2032 sq m (that’s a tiny smidgin over ½ acre) in the hills to the west of Canberra. It is fairly flat with a fall of approximately 1 metre over the 57 m length, so not really noticeable when standing on the land, and hopefully easy to build on.


   ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅  

Street frontage is roughly on the south side, (north/south is along the long diagonal of the block) so it is well positioned for north facing living areas, and has lots of room for vegetable gardens and fruit trees, which are being planned -well,more dreamed-about at the moment - using Jackie French’s The Wilderness Garden and Backyard Self-Sufficiency for inspiration.

The house is to be essentially a three bedroom, two bathroom home with two living areas, with a slight twist – the second living area will be my textile studio, and the third bedroom will be a study with the ability to become a bedroom for visitors when necessary. I have long wanted to have a loft bedroom, and more recently a walk-in pantry has become a “must-have” as my interest in preserving food has increased, along with my collection of glass jars!

My reading of other people’s threads tells me that plans are a “must” so here you go:
1) siting of house on the block
2) proposed floor plans - ground and loft
3) south and west elevations and section

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... siting.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... awbale.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... ations.jpg

Plans will now be checked for energy efficiency and to ensure things like windows are correctly positioned and sized, and preliminary costings will be done – please keep fingers crossed that these come within the ballpark!
Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Author:  planfan [ Sep 13, 2011 10:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Hi Variegated
I guess you subscribe to The Owner Builder magazine ;)
There's a strawbale house in SE suburb of Melbourne - Lynbrook.
Your plan gives a big bathroom to upstairs - luxurious.
FWIW, I'd swing the pantry door from the other side -i.e. put shelves on living room side, then access seems more direct to kitchen.
Which sort of textiles are you into - weave, dye, sew.......
Good luck with your build.

Author:  Variegated [ Sep 14, 2011 7:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Planfan,
I've certainly come across Owner Builder magazine, but I'm not actually a subscriber! I don't plan to build the house myself, although I'm more than happy to throw a few bales into the walls.
Textiles - yes, weave, dye, sew - and spin and knit as well. The list, and the stashes required keep growing, hence the need for the studio.posting.php?mode=reply&f=31&t=51099#

Author:  Variegated [ Sep 14, 2011 9:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

I shall claim insufficient caffeination for forgetting half of what should have been in my last post!
Planfan - that is an excellent suggestion re the pantry door - thank you. It is now the first on my list of "things to change".
The loft size is determined by the size of the centre module of the house, and a benefit of that is a little bit of luxury in
bathroom size :lol:

Author:  Pauankim [ Sep 14, 2011 11:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Exciting stuff!
Cant wait to follow your build, have always had a fascination with SB but thats now off the table for us as we moved to the tropics several years ago :)

Author:  Variegated [ Sep 14, 2011 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Pauankim Pauankim
Exciting stuff!
Cant wait to follow your build, have always had a fascination with SB but thats now off the table for us as we moved to the tropics several years ago :)


Thank you Pauankim - I'm getting impatient to start too! A few steps to get through first though.

Author:  Variegated [ Nov 08, 2011 8:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

I had a follow up meeting with the architect and the builder half of the firm yesterday. They needed some further information about what I wanted for flooring (bamboo with carpet for the loft bedroom) and windows (um, once we get past double glazed casements I don't really know), what sort of heating, and where should it be? Options are still being looked at.

We also talked about making the central module from strawbales instead of roughsawn timber, and I said I'd be very happy to have this - the cost difference is in making the slab a bit bigger to keep the internal dimensions of the rooms the same. If this happens the living areas could be made a bit shorter and wider to ensure that eave protection for the walls is sufficient, and that means that the slab changes shape rather than getting bigger, which helps to keep costs down.
Timeframes for starting were also discussed, and the builder felt that all going well and budgets being OK that it might be possible to begin building in March next year, which would be lovely. Having already paid a substantial sum of money to extend the building start and completion times for a year - start can be no later than end of June 2012, and completion is required by June 2013 - I'd much rather not have to do it again!

As was suggested previously, I have requested the pantry be flipped to ensure that the doorway is more in line with the kitchen, and that the vanity in the ensuite (upstairs) be on the wall dividing the shower and loo from the rest of the space. This means it will be the first thing seen when you enter. As I already have a triangular above counter vessel basin I am hoping this will add a bit of "wow" factor, and it also means I could put cavity sliding doors from the bedroom, as I need to have doors on my bathroom.
And I asked for stainless steel water tanks which caused some surprise, and sparked some thoughts about using them as a feature rather than trying to hide them.

So plans are now being modified, and costings completed, and we will meet again hopefully by the end of the month to get approvals progressing.
So there is something happening, even though it is still feeling very slow.

Author:  Sir Snagger [ Nov 09, 2011 1:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

I like the look of this house already. Always good to see people doing something different, haybale houses are deffinitely in that category! Keep up the good work!

Author:  * jas * [ Nov 09, 2011 1:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Good luck, your plan looks great.
A friend built a strawbale house (her hubby is a greenie) and you would never know what it was made from other then noticing that the external walls are really wide but it makes the windows look really nice as there is a nice ledge for plants etc.
Our average summer temp is about 45 and it does get alot hotter but she says that it is always cooler in their house and they dont use the ac as much as everyone else. The other day it was 42 and she said that they had to put the fans on in ther afternoon as it got a little warm but everyone else had their ac on as soon as they woke up.

Author:  Variegated [ Nov 09, 2011 7:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Sir Snagger Sir Snagger
I like the look of this house already. !


Thank you Sir Snagger - I like it too!
I hope that by building a super insulated home I can keep running costs to a minimum, and I really like the idea of putting what can sometimes be a waste product to good use.
By the way, it is most definitely strawbale, not hay bale. There is a bumper sticker in the US that says "Hay is for horses, straw is for houses".

Author:  Variegated [ Nov 09, 2011 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

* jas * * jas *
Good luck, your plan looks great.

Our average summer temp is about 45 and it does get alot hotter but she says that it is always cooler in their house and they dont use the ac as much as everyone else.


Thanks Jas - That's the result I would like too, although for me it's more about keeping the warm in - most of the time anyway.
The window sills are certainly a dead giveaway. I like the solidity of strawbale walls, and they minimise noise too.

Author:  Variegated [ Dec 05, 2011 7:05 pm ]
Post subject:  A Strawbale House

A little bit of progress - Back from another meeting with architect and builder. Following our last meeting there has been a further variation of plans drawn up - essentially the same house, with some slight size-of-room differences to accommodate strawbale walls in the middle module of the house. The problem with this variation is - what else? - the cost. Rendering the walls is costed at $120 per sq m, and strawbale needs this on both sides. This adds about $100,000 to the price. Whilst this might be possible to wrangle, I had planned on retiring some time this century to enjoy my house, so I guess I'll stick with the first option (link to plans in first post). Architect is looking at submitting the "shell plan" for Development Approval, which can take up to 2 months to get approved, while we work together to get the details sorted out. First draft of the energy rating system is 7 stars with aluminium dg windows, and the assessor said it may be possible to tweek that a bit without adding costs. She also said that 7 stars mean a 25% saving in heating/cooling costs over a 6 star building, which adds up to significant savings over time!
We also talked about heating, and I have suggested underfloor heating - does anyone have any ideas on cost of this? There is currently $8000 allowance for heating, and it would be nice to know if this is enough.

Author:  Variegated [ Feb 11, 2012 8:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

This can be a slow process, can't it?
Ffurther meetings with architects have been held just before Christmas, and again yesterday, and papers have been signed to put the documentation in to get Development Approval!
Choices have therefore been narrowed down a bit - the roof will be either Colorbond Windspray or Shale Grey, the render on the strawbale walls a warm white, and the cladding on the non strawbale walls will probably be a rough sawn timber, left to weather to a soft grey, something like this:
http://www.architecture.com.au/awards_s ... 2010012581
Further refinement of the plans continues - the size and shape of the house are settled, with changes to the interior still possible.
   ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅  

   ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅  

Yesterday we discussed the possibility of pushing the wall in the loft bedroom back, so that the bedroom is bigger, and the vanity space in the ensuite is smaller - there is really lots of room in there.
Another option put forward was making the bathroom a bit smaller, and using the space as more storage - linking up the storage space in the roof so it is one space rather than two separate ones. Any thoughts?

I'm thinking that I might tile the entry foyer, so that's something else I have to make a decision about!

Author:  Mclaren [ Feb 13, 2012 4:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Looking forward to seeing your strawbale house take shape ... the plan looks great - you should use the space you have to maximum advantage so it's up to you whether you want the indulgence of a larger bedroom or more storage space..... or leave it as it is ::wink::

Author:  Variegated [ Feb 14, 2012 9:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Thanks Mclaren - your summary of my options is masterly! :D

Author:  Variegated [ Feb 26, 2012 2:22 pm ]
Post subject:  A Strawbale House - Development Application Stage

The documents have been submitted and have passed initial scrutiny. Application fees for Development application have been
paid so the process can start. Hoping that it doesn't take too long....

Author:  james_d [ Feb 27, 2012 7:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Hydronic underfloor heating should be around $55 - $60 per sq meter plus boiler and connections.
For your lower floor i would estimate $9000.00. Do you have town gas or bottle?

Author:  jodge [ Mar 18, 2012 10:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Hi Variegated. . . looking forward to watching your build come together! Jo.

Author:  Pauankim [ Mar 18, 2012 11:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Have you considered a wonderful freestanding bath in that spacious ensuite of yours?

Author:  Variegated [ Mar 19, 2012 7:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A Strawbale House

Pauankim,
I haven't actually thought about putting a bath in the ensuite, although I agree that there would indeed be plenty of room.
When my architect and I were discussing bathrooms, I realised that the last time I used the bath would have been about 3 years
ago, and that was to wash a fleece (wool for spinning). I would get so little use from it that I really don't think it is worth the expense.
Despite the bathroom companies attempting to convince us that bathrooms are a place to retreat to relax and unwind, I just want a pleasant
place to get clean :roll:

Page 1 of 3 All times are UTC + 10 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/