Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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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.

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.

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

This book is detailed enough to actually build a house using this information. I can say that, because we did it. The caveat is, however, you do have to know at least a little bit how a house goes together, or you need to hire someone who does. Knowing nothing, we hired an architect (who specialized in SB houses), and a framer for the post-beam and roof. The architect's drawings were clear enough for anyone to see how the house was to be put together. After that, we put up the straw-bales and plastered it - and this book was the most helpful all along the way.

This book has lots of photos, and explains the problems you might run into. It does spend a lot of time talking about methods, which is good, and gives pro-cons about important problems you'll meet. It's probably not going to be the last word on SB building (there's so much variety in method these days, and some people are so very sure that there method is the ONLY best method...), but this book should certainly be in the library of books you are gathering, if you are serious about building a SB house. DO get LOTS of different books, including this one, and videos on the subject, figure out what will work for you, figure out what's the most current, researched information, and go for it.

(Believe me, if we could do it, anyone can.)

I was very impressed with the level of detail and thoroughness in how the authors explained about building with straw bales, the details, etc. If you are considering alternative building materials with an eye on energy conservation and reducing your "footprint" on the planet, this is a must for your library and to use while planning your home design.

This is the book I have been looking for. It is even more extensive then I had expected!

A VERY HIGH QUALITY INFORMATIVE PUBLICATION. ANYONE INTERESTED IN STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION SHOULD HAVE A COPY.

love the book chipping fest ,i hope wan day i ken built my dream home ,for NOW i kip one dreaming

sent this book as a gift, and the recipients seem very happy with it. it arrived quickly.

This was a pretty good book. But, I must admit, I am waiting for one book that says it ALL!! I haven't found that book yet.