Customer Reviews

Build It with Bales: Version Two: A Step-By-Step Guide to Straw-Bale Construction

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If you THINK you want to build a straw bale house then read "The Straw Bale House"; it has nice pictures and will convince you to build. When it comes time to build your straw bale house read this book. Straw bale design and building methods are improving with each new straw bale house built so read the latest information available. This book gives you all the facts you need about straw bale houses. We are currently building a straw bale house in Arizona, and used this book to do it. They just make it sound so easy. Matts is an extreme character, but he knows how to build a straw bale house, and he can show you how to do it too.

I've collected several Straw Bale building books and this is perhaps the most informative of them all. It's not bulky,143 pages,but covers almost everything. Most books just gloss over most of the details and while this one doesn't pretend to tell it all you do get a good start and leads for further information. I really appreciate the construction details shown here, most of the books just kind of talk about stacking bales and plastering, this one gives enough detail that you'll know whether or not you want to actually build this way.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know the basics of straw-bale construction. I have worked with the authors in introducing straw-bale construction techniques in a community-development context in Mongolia and China, and I can say from first-hand experience that the authors know what they are talking about (some designs from our Mongolia work ended up in the book). In China, where my organization is working to promote sustainable housing design, I use the book to explain to government officials and others just what straw-bale construction is all about. Because the illustrations are so clear, the book is very useful in this context. I have passed out some 20 copies in China so far, and have had requests for far more.

We own most of the straw bale and alternative green building books that are currently on the market and each has inspired us to further explore the possibilities of alternative green construction. However, this guide, in our minds, is possibly the best of the best and based on reading it cover-to-cover, we will build our straw bale home next year. What makes this a stand-out book? Great, detailed illustrations, witty humor, lots of solid hands-on experience and most of all, no glossy, glamour foo-foo never-break-a-sweat coffee table book b-s. YEAH! My wife and I have building and remodeling experience, however, this a fantastic book for a beginner. We will be beginners come the day we stack our first bale. And this guide will be our constant guide. Thanks for all the great info! A must have for serious work.