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BBC environment 'Would you live in a straw house?'
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vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 15 7:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Tavascarow wrote:
& more.


One dept. or person getting the credit for all the scientific work that's preceded his report. I guess that's the way of the world.

Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 15 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

vegplot wrote:
Tavascarow wrote:
& more.


One dept. or person getting the credit for all the scientific work that's preceded his report. I guess that's the way of the world.
You know very well that until a man in a white coat with impresive equipment says it works it doesn't.
Tis the way of the world.

Ty Gwyn



Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4562
Location: Lampeter
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 15 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Vegplot,
You are the most clued up on here with the straw build construction due to your own project,

But are not these houses that are protrayed in this Bristol scenario,merely straw insulated,not straw built as in the sense of the word,as the steel construction seems to be the load bearer of the roof ,unlike your more traditional method?

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 15 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Ty Gwyn wrote:
Vegplot,
You are the most clued up on here with the straw build construction due to your own project,

But are not these houses that are protrayed in this Bristol scenario,merely straw insulated,not straw built as in the sense of the word,as the steel construction seems to be the load bearer of the roof ,unlike your more traditional method?


It would seem that way although that's nothing new. There are two principle types of straw bale building. Loading bearing and infill. Loadbearing means what its says, the straw bales bear the full load of the roof whereas infill is straw or straw bales are added insulation. I much prefer load bearing.

IMHO they aren't strictly straw bales houses. They use straw only as insulator.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 15 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

tahir wrote:
Looking back at that what did you use as your slab in the end?


This may illustrate the foundations better than a verbal description...



Mutton



Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 1508

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 8:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Foamglas - just looked it up briefly on their website as on our to-do list is

1. Externally cladding our house (which is in a damp windy rural area - so all the damp-proof, rodent proof aspects seem desirable).

2. Building a conservatory (which will effectively be the cladding for one wall)

I've seen with Foamglas that you can drive a lorry over it and other such things about its durability. Speaking to someone who has handled it is it:

1. Opaque? The carbon bit in their photos made it look opaque. Was just wondering about it as an alternative conservatory roof to the multi-layer cellular polycarbonate roof sheeting.

2. Brittle? If you hit it with a hammer, drop something onto it, would it smash? (Looked like not, but the illustrations didn't specifically say that.)

3. Coatable - so if we were to glue slabs of it to the outside of our house walls, would we then be able to render straight onto it? (Suspect not). How good does it look "in the raw" if you didn't coat it?

Also, would you mind saying how much it is? Roughly? Manufacturer's website doesn't exactly go into that.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mutton wrote:
I've seen with Foamglas that you can drive a lorry over it and other such things about its durability. Speaking to someone who has handled it is it:

1. Opaque? The carbon bit in their photos made it look opaque. Was just wondering about it as an alternative conservatory roof to the multi-layer cellular polycarbonate roof sheeting.

2. Brittle? If you hit it with a hammer, drop something onto it, would it smash? (Looked like not, but the illustrations didn't specifically say that.)

3. Coatable - so if we were to glue slabs of it to the outside of our house walls, would we then be able to render straight onto it? (Suspect not). How good does it look "in the raw" if you didn't coat it?

Also, would you mind saying how much it is? Roughly? Manufacturer's website doesn't exactly go into that.


1. No, it's not opaque.
2. If you kick it with steel toe caps you'll put your foot into it but it's can take a lot of static compression i.e. loadbearing.
3. Most rendering material should be okay. It has a rough surface texture and provides a good key. Check with manufacturer first though.
4. Cost? You'll need to get quotes from suppliers. It's not cheap.

Last edited by vegplot on Tue Feb 10, 15 9:16 am; edited 1 time in total

Behemoth



Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 9:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Is this the stuff?
https://www.foamglas.co.uk/building/building_pricelist/

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Behemoth wrote:
Is this the stuff?
https://www.foamglas.co.uk/building/building_pricelist/


That's the stuff.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Someone mentioned cob housing too. It is possible to buy cob blocks, and I have seen a building constructed with it, not a house, but looked good and with a good overhang and dry foundations, cob houses have lasted for centuries in places like Devon.

As Ty Gwyn says, getting a mortgage might be a problem but it depends on how the lender views the risk.

How come we need 230,000 'homes' in the UK, and how are people going to pay for them? I really would like to see a proper assessment, carried out through the census, asking people if they are in permanent accommodation, not, 'do you rent', 'do you need a bigger house', which are taken as a requirement for a new home. There is also the problem that those that are in most need of somewhere to live are those least able to pay for it. Round here they are building hundreds if not thousands of 3-4 bedroom standard houses. Less than 40% are 'affordable'. Fine for those making their way up the ladder, but we have a surfeit of 3-4 bedroom houses and very few starter homes, real affordable homes and social housing and virtually no hostel or bed sit accommodation. Sorry about the rant. One advantage with straw houses for these so called necessary homes is that if they are found to be surplus to requirements they can be easily taken down and the material used for something else, even if it is only compost.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
cob houses have lasted for centuries in places like Devon.


Until someone decides it's a good idea to render them in cement...



Ty Gwyn



Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4562
Location: Lampeter
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Cob buildings are also fairly numerous in this part of Cardiganshire,alongside the house here i have a Cob Crog loft cottage ,traced back to at least 1734 with all the names of occupants,and opposite the yard a 60ft range of the old cart house ,stable and barn,even the upper part of the back wall and rear parts of pine ends are cob of this house 1840`s with the rest being stone work with earth and lime mortar.

Mutton



Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 1508

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks veg plot.

So having asked a slightly ambiguous question about opaque - does it transmit light? As in would I get as much light through it as a multilayer polycarbonate sheet?

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 15 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mutton wrote:
Thanks veg plot.

So having asked a slightly ambiguous question about opaque - does it transmit light? As in would I get as much light through it as a multilayer polycarbonate sheet?


Thin sheets may be slightly opaque but for all intents and purposes treat it as though it's a solid.

vegplot



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
PostPosted: Thu Feb 12, 15 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mutton wrote:

Also, would you mind saying how much it is? Roughly? Manufacturer's website doesn't exactly go into that.


Glapor, a recycled glass aggregate, has come in at a cost of £102 per cubic metre. A 75 square metre floor to a depth of 280mm would cost £2,865.

Plus VAT.

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