Straw Bale Building: How to plan, design and build with straw [Paperback]

Chris Magwood (Author), Peter Mack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2000

Straw bale buildings speak to a part of us that insists that we should be able to build our own homes with our own hands. We look at pictures of a bale wall being raised and immediately think: I could do that! Straw bale houses are easy to build, inexpensive, super energy efficient, environmentally friendly, attractive, and - most of al l - can be designed to match the builder's personal space needs, aesthetics, and budget. It's no wonder that straw bale houses are growing in popularity.

Most straw bale books do a great job enticing us with beautiful photographs and "selling" the idea of straw-bale building - but they don't adequately address the most critical issues faced by bale house builders. In Straw Bale Building, professional bale builders Peter Mack and Chris Magwood lead the potential builder through the entire process of building a bale structure, tackling all the practical issues; from how to find and choose bales; developing sound building plans; costs; roofing; electrical, plumbing, and heating systems; building code compliance and working with building inspectors; and special concerns for builders in northern climates.

For those who do not see their lives and their values reflected in "standard" homes, Straw Bale Building offers a wide variety of aesthetic and building options, from multi-storey luxury to elegant simplicity. Over 100 professionally illustrated drawings, plus b&w photos and building plans provide an abundance of creative and practical ideas for novice and experienced builders alike.

Down-to-earth and complete, Straw Bale Building makes the remarkable benefits of straw bale building available to anyone bitten by the straw bale "bug."

Peter Mack and Chris Magwood are professional bale house builders. Together they have constructed 15 straw bale houses and structures. They teach a popular, on-going straw bale building workshop in Ontario, Canada.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
1: Why Build With Straw?
2: What Are Straw Bales?
3: The "Red Flag" Questions
4: Building Permits
5: The Hotly-Debated, Often-Distorted Question of Cost
6: Getting Focused
7: Design Considerations
8: The Many Styles of Bale Buildi

Editorial Reviews

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: New Society Publishers (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865714037
• ISBN-13: 978-0865714038
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good But Incomplete, August 4, 2001

By 

"smann" (San Luis Obispo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straw Bale Building: How to plan, design and build with straw (Paperback)

This book is a great volume for a layperson, with little or no construction experience, interested in straw bale building and other construction topics. For someone like myself, with modest building experience, ready to build a straw bale house, Straw Bale Building doesn't have enough detail. The authors spend too much space discussing general building considerations--mechanical systems, roofing styles, working with architects, etc.--taking up space that could be devoted to more straw bale-specific details like flashing, roofing detailing, and more. I like their eco-friendly bent, and there are some interesting (but brief) case studies. If you're new to construction and straw bales, this is a good starter book. However, it doesn't have enough information to get you to a finished building unless you do a lot of reading between the lines and puzzling out details.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unique and welcome contribution to architectural studies., June 5, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Straw Bale Building: How to plan, design and build with straw (Paperback)

Straw Bale Building: How To Plan, Design & Build With Straw is unique in that it does a great deal more than just tout the benefits, economies, and aesthetics of straw bale buildings. Chris Magwood and Peter Mack collaborate to instruct the reader in the nitty gritty, "nuts and bolts" of the actual construction techniques for building with straw bales. This practical, detailed, step-by-step "how to" instructional guide covers how to find and choose bales; developing sound building plans and budgets; roofing; electric, plumbing, and heating systems; building code compliance and working with building inspectors; and special concerns for builders in northern climates. From multi-story luxury dwellings to homes of elegant simplicity, architectural students and do-it-yourself home builders will find Straw Bale Building an indispensable "must" that is wonderfully enhanced throughout with photos, illustrations and diagrams.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balefull, December 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Straw Bale Building: How to plan, design and build with straw (Paperback)

This is probably the best book yet for builders. Of particular interest is the fact that as a Canadian publication the subject is covered from a cold climate perspective. These aren't southwest styled adobelite homes, but homes from the snow zone. Which is a useful addition to the literature.

The book covers both load and non-load bearing bale walls. Most of the previous books I have read have given structural details for load bearing walls more so than non-load bearing. This makes sense since non-load are basically just post and beam structures, which are covered elsewere. But putting the information in a straw bale book, and integrating it is a big convenience. To get up to speed before this book, I ended up reading all the other bale books, plus all the back-issues of Fine Homebuilding I could find, all the pole building books, timber framing, and post and beam books... This book is a big time saver.