1. Screw plywood pieces into the studs, one on the interior and one on the exterior, to create a hollow box.
2. Throw a couple handfuls of straw onto a tarp. Use a bucket to scoop on the clay slip (which is clay soaked overnight in water).
3. Mix with a pitchfork, or with your hands, until each wisp of straw is wet. There should be very few clumps of clay, but no dry hunks of straw.
4. Use your hands and then a small length of 2'x4' to pack the wet straw into the forms. Don't pack it so tightly that you push the form away from the walls.
5. Wait only a few minutes, and then remove the forms so the straw can dry. Amazingly, the straw will stay in place all on its own! (If you packed it tight enough...)
6. Repeat with forms higher up, and keep on packing.
7. An alternate way is to build a form on the ground of a custom size for each section, pack it, and then remove the form to place the straw brick between the studs by hand in one piece.
8. After it's dry (a few hours to a few days, depending on the weather) cover exterior and interior with plaster or with siding.
Mixing on the ground:
The forms in place:
Hi
ReplyDeleteLooks great.
My main question is: Can you tell me the dimensions of the timber for the stud frame you are using? Are the upright lengths wider than standard framing timbers to accommodate a thicker wall?
And... when you say to cover it with 'siding' (or render) what to you mean, like some exterior cladding? Have you experimented with this? I am just wondering if I were to cover the exterior in tin (zincalume sheeting on the southern wall that gets lots of weather) would there be problems with breathability - possible moisture gathering between the sheeting and the natural material? The inside would be natural render.
Thanks!
Jodie