24 September 2011

Hay Hay, no more straw to lay...

Celebrations!!! 

The Master bedroom is complete
The last of the straw bales were laid today, all 7 of them... and it took all day to finish!  Much of the work was splitting and cutting baby bales to fit in awkward and bizarre spots.  But with relief, we can now say the walls are up and the real fun will begin as we get organized to render. 

We’d really love it if we could make it look as easy as last week’s Grand Designs episode about the Pommy family who built a straw bale house in rural France – ie. bang up the bales & blow on some murky lime render and… shazam, it’s all done.   

We, however, still have many jobs to do in preparation.  Watch out for future blogs about straw shaving, tossing sand on glued frame posts (a bit like Pro Hart), stitching chicken wire to sections of walls (the GD ep. touched on this riveting process) and then the big enchilada... rendering inside and out with a mixture of lime, sand and cement.
Exact measurements required


Making a "baby bale"











MOTH placing the final bale
Having just seen MOTH walk in the door with straw covering his clothes, it reminds me of how much we are all looking forward to the day we can work at the house and NOT end up covered in straw... and finding the stuff on one's body in places where straw really doesn't belong.
While MOTH was working above the ceiling beams today, I requested a pose of him “planking”, but this was the best he could do…  epic fail.