THE HUT
Our first attempt at straw bale building

Just a temporary structure ... intended to house the solar batteries, inverter, charge controller and the like. Also doubles as the kitchen hut ... bulk food storage and the kitchen appliances.

Point the mouse at each picture to see the captions.

We learned a lot from building this hut:

• Corner guides are real helpful for keeping bale walls straight
• Door boxes need to be at least a half inch bigger than than the door frame!
• Ondura roofing is light and easy to work with ... but asphalt based, so no good for harvesting drinking water :(
• Roofs MUST have a slope or they WILL leak
• Windows need to be tall rather than wide when used in a thick bale wall
• Package strapping works GREAT as bale twine, and also to tie roof to foundation.
• Note: The Tyvek was just a quick way of protecting the bale walls. The house will be plastered.

All in all ... a very worthwhile learning experience!