Joints and seams

Every surface where the straw stops and any other material begins needs special attention. This is where having an experienced plasterer makes a big difference.  That's why we brought Sean on board.  His expertise is priceless!

Here we see Typar, tuck tape, and lath meeting a wood subfloor

An outlet

Air and vapour sealing around the windows

Almost ready for a window

It feels good to have windows to look through

Windows, Sills, and Stools

All of our sills and stools were custom made, then varnished, then varnished and again, and again. We took our time to ensure they were thoroughly covered

Two wonderful women working in sync

Finnlee ready to help!

Zander is ripping some lumber

Friends have chipped in from time to time. Thanks for your help Austin. Glad to see safety first, the eyes in the top of your head are well protected!

Stuffing and Threading

The celebration over the last bale installed was short lived as there was still plenty to do to be ready for the plastering. We still needed to stuff the seams between bales, pin chicken wire up, and then stitch the bales together.

Stitching, a two person job.  Jan and Heather work well together

In this case the size of the needle really does matter

Here we see a gap in the straw that needs filling. Gaps like these became known as black holes. So much straw disappears into them

The handmade straw stuffer in action

Our friend Nicole stuffing straw in the foreground and Chris prepping flashing in the background

The last whole straw bales

Way back in February, Chris and I placed the last full bales in the walls.

Can you tell we're excited to be putting the last ones in?

We're happy and exhausted

Beginning winter with Straw: Part 2

I guess I should explain a bit about what putting straw in the walls means.  The bales have to be re-strung, tied, and notched to fit around the studs in the wall.  Each bale is fitted into the wall around the stud, and then loose straw is stuffed into the gaps created by the stud.  Every two levels of bales also get strapping on top to compress it tight together.  Then the entire wall will be covered with chicken wire and "sewn" with bailing twine to pull it all tight together.

A bale re-strung and tied, then notched with a chainsaw ready for the wall

Inside South/East corner.  Notice the strapping along the East wall to the right of the window.  Those will be the supports that our kitchen shelves will be attached to.  The straw bales have to be cut to fit around them

Zander and Chris fitting the last few bales into the top of the South wall

Here you can see how the bales fit around the studs.  When the walls are done, the studs will all be inside the bales and not visible from the inside or outside

Chris on his makeshift scaffold.  A board hanging from the roof because the regular scaffolding can't sit on the ground on the East wall with all the rocks!

My 2 men working on the top of the South East corner

Beginning 2019 with straw: Part 1

The last few months have been filled with straw.  Chris has been working hard to get all the straw in the walls in preparation for plastering once the weather is warm enough.

The "hallway" created by the hanging plastic hoarding covering the entire house. This plastic protects the straw from moisture until it can be plastered this spring, and it gives Chris a safe place to work out of the weather. On the left is the North wall, already filled with straw.

Chris on top of the straw in the West wall of the girls' bedroom

West wall of the second level, the girls' bedroom

Laundry/mud room West entrance

My dad Steve, Zander, and Chris working on lining up the bales

Zander loves working on the scaffold!

Break time!

Chris working on the two level South wall, above the main entrance

Looking down on the South wall from the second story

The hoarding doing its job, South wall

The hoarding, South West corner

The view down the hill to our house from my parent's house where we are still living

Bits and pieces

We decided to do the cladding of the mezzanine with cedar board and baton.  There is a cedar mill just down our road.  Chris did a fantastic job!  I love the finished look!

The next step was to rent a pressure washer and clean off the posts and beams.  They had been exposed to the weather for 2 years, and I wasn't happy with the discolouration

Wow!  What a difference!

It was a wet job!

Its hard to get a good photo of the floor now with all the building materials and tools littered about

The beginning of stairs

I think Chris is proud of his handiwork!

He should be.  I love my new stairs!

Rough, but functional.  The finish will be added later

Under the stairs closet

Finnlee helping build the wall in the kids room