[Strawbale] 3-string bales...

[David Neeley]

It seems a majority of the strength comes from the render on the walls, not
the bales themselves--although when the render is properly keyed into the
bales, the resulting stability is a very "good thing" as well.

If you live in seismic areas, there will be code requirements for various
kinds of stabilization, often metal bracing running diagonally along the
wall (beneath the render). In some of these areas, bale infill with strong
frame of wood or other materials may also be required.

Some of the California members can tell you a great deal more about this
than I can.

Outside of active seismic areas, a well built load bearing strawbale wall
has far more strength than is required for either one or two story
residential construction and needs little else.

Threaded rod is still used by some, but I would be surprised if it is 3/4".
In recent years, pinning has gone from the original inside-the-bales to a
surface pinning for most--often with bamboo.

The primary utility of threaded rod lies in two areas (and not particularly
to "keep the bales from bouncing apart": to precompress the bales prior to
the roof going on and the render being applied, and to give a firmer
connection to the roof structure to resist the upthrust from high winds over
the roof--countering the Bernouli Effect, in fact.

David


On 3/28/07, Shody Ryon <qi4u at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Intuitively, to me, it seems like SBs would withstand
> direct downward pressure well. I worry about bouncing
> them appart though, ...
> Does anyone install hold downs, such as 3/4" threaded
> rod, connecting a top plate on top of the bales to the
> foundation on a bale barring wall? It would seem that
> such a hold down would increase sheer value too. Is
> plaster generally relied on for this purpose? Perhaps
> there would be a way to use bamboo instead of threaded
> rod?
> Shody
>
>
>
>
>
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