What is a straw bale house???

I just realized that I've emailed some of my friends and family about my blog assuming that the world even knows what a straw bale house is... most people might be thinking, "Isn't that the house in the three little pigs that burned down???!!!" That doesn't sound like a good idea at all!

Well actually, a straw bale house is more fire proof than a conventional house. Basically, it is a house that looks like an adobe house from the outside but the walls are about 18 inches thick b/c they are insulated with straw bales making our house super efficient. Our straw bale walls will have an R-value of about 49.5! Most conventional homes have an R-value of between 10 to 20. So our house will stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter because the resistance to heat flow (R-value) through our walls will be so AWESOME!

Link to helpful radiant info

http://www.byoh.com/radiantheat.htm
This web page has some good illustrations on the different types of radiant heat.

I've been reading Carl Heldmann's book about being our own building contractor- very clearly and simply written. His website has tons of useful info on all different aspects of building.

Radiant Floor Research

After some research and discussion we're back on board for doing a hydronic radiant floor. The electric mats that go under tile/linoleum/wood floor seem just as much of a hassle as the water tubing in the concrete slab because if something breaks either way you still have to tare up a layer to fix the problem. And the cost is about the same for the supplies on 1- stained concrete floor/hydro tubing kit or 2- electric mats/whatever floor covering you plan to use.
That's what I know for now.
I'm going to try and make it over to the straw bale being built in the next couple of days!
:)

Other Straw Balers in Town!

Today we drove up north to sell a "grease car" (car that runs on used vegetable oil) to a new convert and then stopped by Lowes to start the cost estimating portion of our building adventures. There are so many things in the house that we want to find salvaged but one hting we know for sure is that we want the best and most efficient appliances. Looks like we'll be spending about $6,000 just on those!
On the way home we thought we'd check out a house being built in town that we heard was a straw bale. Sure enough... literally two blocks away from where we are going to build, there is a really nice older couple that are building their dream home, too. They were so nice to show us around their partially built home. They have the straw bale walls halfway up and are planning to start plastering by the end of next week! We are going to head over and help when we get a chance this next week.
They told us how they came to decide against radiant floor heating (do to expense, space, fear or a leak). We will be having a serious re-thought about what we decide to do as far as that goes. Also, how they came to decide on a regular asphalt shingled roof, instead of metal (because they didn't want a faded "ugly" roof to replace in their lifetime).
It was a fun and very helpful impromptu visit...we came home with a dvd on straw bale building and a list of local contractors that they used and recommended!

Thus far....

We've bought the land...
Found straw bale house plans...
Had them slightly altered and engineer stamped...
Blueprints arrived in the mail today! (a few minor errors to be fixed)
The lot has been leveled...
Surveyor expected to come in the next couple of weeks...
Russ will start calling around for estimates...
It's all very big and exciting to me. Hard to believe it is happening!