Building the garage and workshop

[kbrigsby61]

I LUVed the music. It's KEWL!! There is sadness in life; it's a part of it. Stop running frm ur fears & embrace that which troubles u & u shall be healed. Losers!!

[cgrobe21]

At first I was saying, "Damn, what a flammable building this guy is constructing." haha then I realized that you added mortar and cement. Nice job. I wasn't expecting this.

[1tufftahoe]

I'm wondering if the straw loses the cut hay smell and if it decomposes at much slower rate or if at all when it's encompassed in the cement? What type of coating or covering is being used on the inner walls, if any?

[toppertruthio]

more to the point ....how much was the cost?

[woodbinedrinker]

Interesting, but shitty muzak.

[texas3056]

I feel very depressed right now but this music helps lift me up. ---->Loading shotgun

[TeriiK]

Radiohead>all

love the music, great video man...

[Kandiwood1]

Thumbs up you guys! Loved it!  I built my own Eco Straw House . com and my next project is the extension and the workshop, just like yours!

Excellent video for info purposes for people who are just researching this type of building. I am in the snow belt of Ontario, and toasty warm in my Eco Straw House!

Cheers!

[16vastraturbo]

ive seen a house built from timber and all the walls built from straw on t.v on a program called grand designs.... look mega when done....

[blumgeorge]

why do you put the plastic down before you put the straw down .. i thought you could just put it on the concrete??:)

[pipshy]

Basically to have a moisture barrier between the floor and the straw. Good in case we get water on the floor of the garage.

[latitude500]

@blumgeorge

You do this to keep water and moister from getting at the straw. You want to keep the straw as dry as you can get.

Great job on the garage.

[parkerjwill]

cool music..  (jk)

[munga007ful]

what render did u use?

[pipshy]

Our render was 6 parts course sand, 3 parts fat sand, 3 parts lime and 1 part cement.

[munga007ful]

were in oz is it .was it easy to get a permit

[pipshy]

We're in Tasmania. Lots of strawbale houses here and with a good designer everything went straight through the council without any problems.

[jayluketa]

nice work and nice song choice :-) Cheers!

[NovusChaoMundi]

What kind of plaster did you use for the walls?

[pipshy]

Our render was 6 parts course sand, 3 parts fat sand, 3 parts lime and 1 part cement.

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@pipshy Is it difficult to get a nice smooth plastered wall? That's incredibly how little cement it uses!

[pipshy]

Well, it all depends how you want it. Our surface is smooth and that wasn't too hard: after finishing with the trowel we rubbed it by hand to get a smooth finish. You could also use a sponge. When it came to getting it straight, that was a bit tricker in that our bales were not as tight as we would have wanted. But we are very happy with an "organic" wall that is not straight at all ! Cheers

[EarthREALTOR]

Love it, love it!!!  Thanks!!

[89239dfkdk]

Nice job but why the torture music?

[pipshy]

Sorry, just really like it!

[GrettyBoyCustoms]

Oh noes, you has hayfever!!!

[ilivensoca]

What did you use for seismic bracing?

[pipshy]

@ilivensoca

Basically nothing. The structure is constructed according to Australian building standards and there is no specific need here for seismic bracing. The bale walls are infill only, but have a layer of chicken wire on both sides that firm them up and which also works as reinforcement for the render.

[domyaska]

THANKS A LOT FOR SHARING!!! grazie e saluti dall'italia

[HackerGuitarist]

erecting a garage /workshop should be exciting...not all depressing like the music ..!!

[aaronready1]

oh my gosh people!! Thank you for this GREAT MUSIC!!! love radiohead, and this song is absolutely gorgeous!! thank you thank you!! ok, now i'll watch the video :)

[carrabec99]

looks like something outa the flintstones ha ha great vid

[stugats77]

music of death

[Johnny5liter]

I almost jumped out the window but then I saw Sarah Palin in short shorts...and all was well again.

[happyasafool]

great topic,had to turn off the sound!

happy music?

[oldline90]

nice video. now i'm going to go kill myself after listening to that uplifting music. farewell.

[j2872j]

thanks for the info and good luck on your next project

[j2872j]

i bet its warm in winter can i ask how much it cost?

[pipshy]

The workshop itself is not that warm, in that we do not have any insulation in the roof, and only roller doors. The house on the other hand is really nice and warm. We are currently not having any heating and the temperature inside the house when we go to bed is generally around 19-20 degrees. That is with 5-9 degrees on the outside. When we get curtains in it should be even better. Costwise building with bales is about the same as a normal house, depending on how much you do yourself.

[donnyjayw]

do you run your eledtrical with condut?

[pipshy]

Yes, we ran all the electrical cabling that is in the straw bale walls in conduits. We tried to minimize this, but some light switches and power points had to be in the bale walls.

[donnyjayw]

thanx:]

[Bretty135]

How big a risk do you think it would be of catching fire from an electrical fault?

[pipshy]

Very small indeed. First of all, the electrical cables in the straw bale walls are all in conduit. Secondly, the fire rating of a straw bale wall is actually very good, better than an ordinary house as there is virtually no air inside the walls.

[Bretty135]

We have had hay and straw stacks go up in smoke in a blazing inferno before and it took five fire engines all night to bring it under control!

Did you use plastic or steel conduit?

[pipshy]

But those stacks of straw and hay would not have been rendered, which makes a big difference. Otherwise, the electrician used the standard plastic conduit.

[Snoopa90]

wow, i didn't even know that places today were be built out of hay, it look so good

[Zarbod]

Thanks. I'd like to try that myself one day. That place looks great.

[Zarbod]

Is the "render" cob or cement?

[pipshy]

Our render mix consists of 6 parts coarse sand, 2 parts yellow fat sand, 2 parts lime and 1 part cement. The reason for using cement in the render is that the house has a passive solar design with eves designed to let the light in during winter. As such, they are not wide enough to keep all the rain off the walls. As such we decided that it was best to use cement, though it is not what we first had hoped to do.

[leesoskol]

Hello Pipshy,

I think you done a fantastic job on your garage. Well done. I know this is not to do with straw bale building; but can you tell me who the singer and song is you used? Thanks in advance. Lee

[pipshy]

Hi there Lee,

The music is by Radiohead, from the fantastic album OK Computer. It is song no. 4, called "Exit Music (For a film)".

Just buy the album, you won't regret it!

Cheers,

Geir

[chevroleahy]

Great Vid, can I ask why use Straw Bails is for better insulation or are they cheaper, love the rendering, it's a bit like a mud brick home, this idea would make I think for a worm sound proof home, Thanks

[pipshy]

For us the major reasons for using straw bales are the insulation factor, that it is a natural unprocessed product and that it gives a great look when it is completed. A garage/workshop could of course be built out of "normal" materials, but since it is so close to the main house we decided that it had to have the same look. If you want to find out more you can search on Pipshy to see other videos. One also includes a link to our online diary.