| Project by dennis | posted 232 days ago | 301 views | 0 times favorited | 17 comments |  |
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I live in a handmade strawbale house. I’ve tried to avoid economy or standard building practices at every turn. I can claim ignorance and just enough knowledge to get into real trouble. When you tell people you live in a mud hut they tend to take pity on you….I’m growing to like that. This type of strawbale uses a frame to support the roof. The economical way would have been to build load bearing walls out of straw, but I wanted to use logs.
I used pine logs for the posts. A family picnic made a great day at the mountains. I had never cut down a tree before. Let alone a 100’ tall pine. These are beetle killed pines. The logs have lots of character. I use them in my furniture all the time. The beams are Fur 8X10’s from a local family owned sawmill. I planned on using time honored hand cut joinery, but just ended up screwing it all together with the biggest lag bolts I could find.
The roof is a truss/joist hybrid thing I made up in my own head. The inspector didn’t even blink and it hasn’t fallen down yet. I used 2X12’s and routed and shaped the exposed tails. The outside walls of my house are 6’ sloping 6’ to a 6’ wide flat ceiling 10’ tall that slopes back down to 6”. I finished them in 4” T&G pine.
You can see the bales beginning to go up….more later.
-- http://woodsongsfurniture.com
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17 comments so far
RooferRon
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9 posts in 232 days
posted 232 days ago
That straw is going to make great insulation, keep the pictures coming. What style of roof will you be installing?
-- Roofers stay above it all, look out below.
dennis
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56 posts in 232 days
posted 232 days ago
I went with a metal roof.
-- http://woodsongsfurniture.com
MRTRIM
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505 posts in 232 days
posted 232 days ago
it looks great dennis !
DAN
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37 posts in 232 days
posted 232 days ago
cool idea … how much land does it sit on ? beautiful place
-- danwalters@lumberjocks.com
PanamaJack
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74 posts in 232 days
posted 232 days ago
I think you’ve done well Dennis. It looks very nice. Is it about 24×36?
-- If you believe in forever, then life is just a one-night stand. ~ Righteous Brothers, "Rock & Roll Heaven"
Tikka
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3 posts in 232 days
posted 232 days ago
Very nice work and Eco friendly
-- Tony - All things are possible, some things are more difficult than others. -- http://poydatjatuolit.fi
MsDebbieP
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298 posts in 245 days
posted 231 days ago
looks funny to see it all built around a dirt floor
if you were to build another would you do it all in this same manner or did you find a few “next time” ideas
-- ~ Debbie, Ontario Canada
Thos. Angle
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9 posts in 232 days
posted 231 days ago
We all should have a mud hut like this one.
-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Jordan Valley, Oregon
dennis
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56 posts in 232 days
posted 231 days ago
It sits on 38 acres of family land.The structure is about 20 X 50. Next time I would put down a concrete slab, just to cut down on labor. Thanks everyone!
-- http://woodsongsfurniture.com
Bill
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113 posts in 232 days
posted 231 days ago
Way to go Dennis. Any jokes about the three pigs and the big bad wolf? haha
I am looking forward to seeing more pictures.
-- Bill - Turlock, Ca. - http://www.brookswoodworks.com
DaveH
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2 posts in 232 days
posted 231 days ago
I’m guessing you live in a location where building permits are not required. It looks like you have done some things that would not meet current code.
-- Boise,ID - If it were easy, anyone could do it!
dennis
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56 posts in 232 days
posted 231 days ago
No Dave it is all covered and inspected. The building inspector supplied me with lots of information and was quite helpful.
-- http://woodsongsfurniture.com
Dadoo
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30 posts in 231 days
posted 231 days ago
Go for it bro! Keep blogging this…we’re all interested in how it turns out.
-- Dadoo!
ww_kayak
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12 posts in 232 days
posted 231 days ago
Looks great. I get the same look when I say I’m cutting my own lumber for my house ;) They think of Grizzly Adams, and that I must be building a lean-to.
-- Tom, Central New York
tenontim
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137 posts in 231 days
posted 231 days ago
This is great Dennis. Never mind the big bad wolf, you better worry about the cows, horses, and other herbivores looking to get a belly full of hay.
-- Tim - http://www.tmuli.com
Dick, & Barb Cain
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93 posts in 241 days
posted 231 days ago
Thanks for sharing this Dennis. It must be a warm house.
-- ** Dick, & Barb Cain *************** http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Chipncut
SteveKorz
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16 posts in 232 days
posted 113 days ago
Wow, Dennis… I have to know how this turned out. I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s very fascinating, very creative.
-- --Steve