[Strawbale] load bearing vs PB SB

[Raftercat5 at aol.com]

Andrew et al.,

Personally, I am far more fond of load-bearing design  than bale
infill. However, outside of seismic zones shouldn't the frame  itself
be designed for adequate sheer strength?
 
(South Carolina has earthquakes, altho thankfully, not as bad as  
Calif!)-Kathy

I have also been reading and speaking with many  people over the last
few years about stucco, and the consensus seems to be  that cement
stuccos can be troublesome far beyond their worth. Has this been  your
experience? I am always interested in differing opinions on  topics
such as this.

At present, I am planning to build a load-bearing  house with earthen
stucco and with a surface coat of lime stucco for  durability and
somewhat increased weather resistance. If I were in a very  rainy
climate, I might consider a non-load-bearing design, but other  than
that I can't see that it gives any major advantages. I realize  others
differ on this one, though. It simply seems to me that  the
load-bearing designs are somewhat more elegant and are  potentially
more conserving of lumber.

David
 
David:  S. Carolina won't allow non-load bearing.   Anyway, if we were 
allowed, we'd have to put it up quickly and get the roof on  before it rained again. 
 That would be impossible for us  "old-timers".   It's just me and hubby 
(he's 65 and I'm...  50-something.  Ok....I'm (gulp!) 56!)
- Kathy
 
Dion,
I believe in this case, the mesh is the lateral  shear support for
the engineering of the structure.  The mesh is used in  place of any shear
straps, etc.  In addition, if you use a cement based  stucco, you are
required to use mesh of some kind.  Only earth and lime  plasters (with no
cement at all) are allowed to be placed directly on the  bales.  I am not
sure if she is using a cement based stucco or not, but  that is another case
where it would be necessary to use  mesh.

Andrew

We'll be using lime plaster/sand on the exterior, and a lime  plaster, clay 
and sand on the interior.  I've already experimented with  'mudpies'.  We can 
find Type S lime here, so that's what we're  getting.  
- Kathy
 



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