More Straw Bale Building: A Complete Guide to Designing and Building with Straw (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Peter Mack (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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).

About the Author

Chris Magwood and Peter Mack are professional straw bale builders and consultants who have constructed over 40 straw bale buildings, consulting on many more. They have taught workshops and seminars across the continent and overseas, and are authors of one of the first straw bale how-to books, Straw Bale Building (New Society, Publishers, 2000) which has sold 20,000 copies. Chris Magwood has been editor of The Last Straw Journal, an international quarterly devoted to straw-bale building, since 2001. He is also the coauthor of Straw Bale Details.

Chris Magwood and Peter Mack are professional straw bale builders and consultants who have constructed over 40 straw bale buildings, consulting on many more. They have taught workshops and seminars across the continent and overseas, and are authors of one of the first straw bale how-to books, Straw Bale Building (New Society, Publishers, 2000) which has sold 20,000 copies. Chris Magwood has been editor of The Last Straw Journal, an international quarterly devoted to straw-bale building, since 2001. He is also the coauthor of Straw Bale Details.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: New Society Publishers (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865715181
• ISBN-13: 978-0865715189
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,871 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good textbook for those interested in strawbale building., August 23, 2005

By	A. Burchfield (Conway, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I've gotten most of the strawbale books Amazon has, this is one of the better ones to own.
I'm still in the process of reading it but I've found this book to be a sort of textbook for the person interested in the idea of possibly building a strawbale home. Looks like everything imaginable is covered, from all sorts of building details and construction methods to dealing with financing and zoning issues.
I don't see it as providing all the information an uneducated, inexperienced builder would need but you will find out enough to get started or to know that you don't want any part of the idea. There were lots of little details and tips, extensive end chapter notes, even a lot of photographs. Most of these were black and white (a little too small and indistinct for me)but some were in color.
While it isn't all you need it is a book worthy of your attention and worth owning.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This rewrites the prior Straw Bale Building handbook, covering the entire process of building a bale structure , August 11, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Years ago straw bale building was considered a radical innovation: today it's developed into a major construction choice widely practiced in North America. Such homes are easy to build, very energy efficient, affordable and attractive - and over the years the specs and methods for building them have changed. That's why any considering straw bale home construction would do well to update their facts with More Straw Bale Building: A Complete Guide To Designing And Building With Straw by the expert team of Chris Magwood, Peter Mack and Tina Therrien. This rewrites the prior Straw Bale Building handbook, covering the entire process of building a bale structure from choosing bales and developing building plans to roofing, plumbing and code compliance.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Straw Bale Building, March 2, 2006

By	Nick Boersema (SW Ontario) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been reading up on SB construction for quite some time now and this is by far the best book yet. It is a nice blend of the glossy pics that are nice and the technical info that we need. It is also nice to see Tina taking a bit of credit for a change. Congrats folks you have another great book out there.

Nick