More Straw Bale Building: A Complete Guide to Designing and Building with Straw

Mother Earth News Wiser Living

by Chris Magwood, Peter Mack

Straw bale houses are easy to build, affordable, super energy efficient, environmentally friendly, attractive, and can be designed to match the builder’s personal space needs, esthetics and budget. Despite mushrooming interest in the technique, however, most straw bale books focus on “selling” the dream of straw bale building, but don’t adequately address the most critical issues faced by bale house builders. Moreover, since many developments in this field are recent, few books are completely up to date with the latest techniques.

More Straw Bale Building is designed to fill this gap. A completely rewritten edition of the 20,000-copy best--selling original, it leads the potential builder through the entire process of building a bale structure, tackling all the practical issues: finding and choosing bales; developing sound building plans; roofing; electrical, plumbing, and heating systems; building code compliance; and special concerns for builders in northern climates. New material includes:

more extensive sections on electric wiring and plumbing
updated sections on bale finishes and finishing
a section on prefabricated straw bale walls
a wider selection of case studies, photographs and illustrations
a section on common mistakes
budgeting for low-, medium- and high-cost projects, and new testing data that is in no other straw bale book.

Down-to earth and complete, More Straw Bale Building makes the remarkable benefits of straw bale building available in the most comprehensive and practical book on the subject to date.

Chris Magwood and Peter Mack are professional straw bale house builders and consultants who have constructed over 40 straw bale structures and have taught workshops and seminars in several countries. Chris is editor of The Last Straw Journal, an international quarterly devoted to straw-bale building, and the coauthor of Straw Bale Details: A Manual for Designers and Builders (New Society Publishers, 2003).

Genres: Nonfiction, Construction

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[Leigh-ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The smartest decision you'll ever make, no matter what climate you reside in, is to build a straw bale home. Inexpensive, durable, and more resistant to heat and cold than any other building material or man-made insulation, it's really a crime that most community building codes have resisted allowing these types of structures to be built. Happily, those codes are now starting to adapt, and straw bale homes are popping up all over North America. If nothing else, seek out a straw bale title at your local library and admire the beautiful lines and colours of these gorgeous buildings.

[Brigid · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great black and white comprehensive guide to building with straw bales. Everything is covered in this book. It does have a few color photos, but only a handful of pages. It also includes three great sample budgets for three different homes.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you need to build a straw bale structure! I'm inspired to make a chicken coop...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and realistic.