How to build a straw bale house.

The easiest way to build a house.

[@ahteechia2687]

I built a straw bale house (the first) on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, 25 years ago. I discovered that staking was useless to stabalise the bales. Instead I tie the bale cords of adjescent bales together which stabalised the walls laterally as well as vertically. I noticed that the bales used here are hay, not straw. Hay consists mainly of leaf material, whereas straw consists mainly of the grain stalks. Leaf material is very attractive to insects and fungus whereas straw is not. It is a very important distinction if you don't want your walls to rot away.

[@petergambier]

Good point Ahtee, do not use hay, straw is much better, we stored our straw bales for one year in a barn to make sure they were bone dry, because in SW England it quite damp with too short a summer. We stacked the bales 6 high and put stakes in from the top.

[@boshenaw.929]

Good to know. I think I want to build one now. Jon makes everything look very doable and if I was stuck, I think I could actually build a shelter...

[@vwbusguy]

Lucern hay/straw bale

[@tolfan4438]

Hay versus straw? It depends. Do you want your horse and your cow to eat your house or just shit on it

[@petergambier]

@@tolfan4438 Shit's a good binder especially if they have high fibre diet. Hay or straw will still get chewed into if you house livestock in such a place with a thin covering.

[@adrii9996]

My hometown back in Mexico has very old but beautiful homes made of Adobe bricks. They are some of the most beautiful homes in the city all hacienda style homes. My grandfathers is also made of Adobe bricks. I remember being a little girl searching fields for horse poop to add to the Adobe it was what helped it stay strong and together. It’s beautiful to see how God provides everything we need around us.

[@catherineromero1862]

What area of Mexico? I’ve designed a strawbale house and would like to build it in Mexico.

[@adrii9996]

@@catherineromero1862 I live in a city called cotija de la Paz michuacan. I’m pretty sure you can find videos on KZbin or google earth

[@catherineromero1862]

@@adrii9996 thank you. I was googling strawbale in Mexico and haven’t found much. I’ll be interested to meet some people down there who have built using this method. 😊

[@balasubramanianp1372]

20:56 "if it's hard it's wrong" 👌

[@wadatmusik2859]

A mantra for life.

[@thisisnotmyname4700]

We live in a straw bale home, built it with workshops too. A straw bale is an amazing place to live in, so warm and cosy, and very rustic! And yes, they are cheap to build, and easy and fun! Thanks for the video

[@nieslicznotka]

That's awesome! What do you use instead of bamboo sticks?

[@kevinburgess6112]

what an enjoyable video to watch and listen to. i hope one day this is a more accepted way of building as it is very strong easy on the trees and most peoples can build own house and have much much fun doing. thank u much for sharing 🙂

[@viejitaaa]

Thank you for all of your videos, especially the ones about building homes!

[@MASADHIYA]

Hi John, I Srini from Coimbatore Tamil Nadu India and I am really amazed at the way you conducted this workshop and inspired everyone, Both on-site and off-site and I am so much motivated that I want to make a 600-700 sqft Adobe house but by using only Limestone powder mixture with equal amounts of Mud, Jaggery Kadukkai Aloe Vera and Neem oil mixed mortar and seasoned for 15 days and then used either as a foundation mixed with one inch gravel and also use it for plastering the Straw bales and then painted using natural dyes and pigments... thank you for your tutoring and we have a similar organisation called "Thannal" in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu India.

[@petervermeer.4904]

To make it a lot easier to put the pvc pipe through the straw bale wall. Take a broomstick, or a piece of broomstick and a big hammer. With a few blows it will go through the wall. Pull it out and then push the pvc pipe through the hole. Or instead of a wooden broomstick use a long piece of iron. But anyhow, today i learned how to build a house with straw and clay. With low costs and pretty easy. Thank you sir, Jon Jandai. I also like the top floor,the open space, and the extra roof on top of that.

[@Jayhhardy]

Eight inches high and fifty centimeters wide, love it. That's just how we work in the UK.

[@thanhlevan1037]

if it is rain or storm coming, how about the wall

[@maartenlaarhoven160]

I live in the Netherlands. Can you tell me where to find British resources on building with stone foundations, straw bales, and cob? I see many American builders talk about old cob buildings, and they refer to Wales and England. But I never see videos where I can learn your old ways.

[@pbjsilverstudio4882]

This was a wonderful demonstration video!! Thank you very much! 🙏🏼

[@zenzen6417]

The genius in your simplicity is sublime my friend. Look forward to attending one of your courses. Thanks very much for sharing. Not selling, but sharing.

[@marymungai4429]

never seen such kind of straw house. it's cool love it. Thank you for sharing Masyer Jon. indeed life is easy we need not complicate it. we have more than we need at our comfort glory to God

[@simonmuringla1]

I was totally fascinated with the workshop video. Wish to visit some day and learn many more physically.

[@christophergwala5531]

You're such a great teacher and I had to subscribe. You're empowering the world. Thank you and keep up the good job🙏❤️💃

[@catezaida8081]

VERY wonderfully done video! Useful information and well presented. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

[@makeitkate3240]

What an amazing guy! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@carlton2361]

This is a nice house ☺👍 I'd live here

[@nancythomas-wardm.b.a2993]

wonderful work and narration. Many many thanks n

[@sudarshanjuyal]

Simply wow.... Amazingly simple, elegant, sustainable... A real beauty

[@cherriemckinstry131]

I want to do this.

[@randybacurnay8089]

Thanks for sharing. From the Philippines

[@maverickgood5204]

Excellent instructional video jon jandai!

[@SamaMuslimVillage]

Thank you so much John please show us more details (building of the roof and shape of the entrance)..PLS!

[@kennethrosbury2819]

Awesome job thank you for your wonderful video

[@kyrie26]

Thank you, love this.

[@_Wai_Wai_]

LOL, First !! I love this Jon Jandai !!

[@sowathanakhamphean8356]

This is amazing workshop.

[@user-zs7dd8zm7w]

Great work my friend easy to understand easy to do 👍👍😊

[@TTL81]

Nice. Thank you and love you!

[@jamesmagee5542]

Wow that's beautiful. That's skills

[@felixmaritan1856]

I love this channel, i dont skip the ads to support this chanel..thank you contenue sharing the good vedeo

[@Br1cht]

Good job there buddy!

[@RajeshKumar-ne5jc]

You are real hero. God bless you.

[@petergambier]

Interesting to see your project but I'm sorry to say it but the finished structure looks pants and a little bit naff but thankyou for sharing it. About 8 years ago I helped a friend to make a similar sized single floor, straw bale building almost the same size (inside & out was 100 square meters). Instead of the rope tied over the bales we placed the bales inbetween an oak wooden frame with 2 double doorways, 3 windows and one small internal shower room/bathroom. 1st coat, dubbing out, filling the dips we used wetter 3:1 sand and hydraulic lime, quite wet, mixed with chopped straw and finished by back-raking with a trowel and using an 8 inch wide scratcher to make cross hatched lines.. 2nd fill/coat, using a diesel compressor and gravity feed hopper sprayer I covered it all over (100 lb psi) once again and scratched it all over. 3rd coat trowelled on to further flatten out walls, no scratching. 4th coat, a final spray of the last coat to make a rough-cast finish like it's been harled (thrown on), total thickness about 3 feet. The building was left covered with damp hessian sheets for 5 days between each layer/coat and we used 14 tons of sand with about 50 bags of lime. Now with my work I only use lime putty mortars which I make with lime putty I've slaked a week before, sometimes I slake the quick-lime and mix with 3 sand to make mortar for that days work. All the quick-lime I buy from my supplier is finely kibbled (sandy not lumpy) because it all slakes better together. In the old days every region with limestone rock had lime kilns into which were burnt multiple layers of wood and stone. They start a fire at the bottom and when it burnt down you had wood ash and lumps of quicklime. When you put a lump of quicklime into water it will react and start an exothermic reaction and One 20 kg tub of quicklime becomes 2, 20 kg tubs of lime putty. I've seen a fire start in a building yard when ton bag of quicklime got damp and it caught fire. The quick-lime brought from the lime kilns to the building yards or sites was then slaked into lime putty and left to mature, the Romans matured their lime putty for about 3 years where it sat in big pits in the ground covered in a layer of water to stop it setting in the air. When you slake lump-lime and mix that with the sand you create a coarse lime putty with small unslaked lumps that might still pop or burst open spoiling the surface finish. I buy the finely-kibbled (grounded) quicklime. Making the mortar I use 3 buckets of sand to 1 bucket of lime, others use different grades of chalk. when you add animal hair to the mortar it increases the tensile strength and helps to bind it together like the coarse and angular particles of the sharp sand, you don't want to use river sand the particles are too smooth and don't bind as well. Have a nice day.

[@sonorangiant]

Excellent job.

[@gt-maxjuwita721]

Truely appreciate you upload the video.... especially for common people want to build house from scratch....tqvm

[@dawnmccray4194]

Gorgeous Fred Flintstone looking home iconic

[@resistireland694]

Brilliant video my brother. An excellant visual instructional aid. Guna save up for an acre here in Eire and we're guna build our own straw bale home. Thanks for sharing. Respect.

[@ohwhatelse]

If yr thinking USA, be careful... 1st. Get country requirements!!! Not so easy OR inexpensive any more! Bales are not so inexpensive here now!

[@ohwhatelse]

Careful, if yr talking NW USA. Building codes & straw costs don't make it so cheap OR FAST in Northern states (for 1 thing, foundations must be same as stick built.).

[@231rft]

I know this comment was posted 2 years ago but I’m just wondering if you ended up building with bales in Ireland? I’m Irish and it seems like it would be impossible to get planning for it there. I built an earthen house in Thailand and used strawbale in it too but would love to know if it’s possible to do back in Ireland.

[@sanjaytha309]

Like it .. Nice video..

[@iamgroot4706]

Awesome 👍👍👍

[@skullparty7638]

I am about to buy land. I was thinking about doing this :D

[@ruangthong-mittare]

เยี่ยมค่ะ. ปกติเห็นแต่ต่างชาติทำค่ะ ลุงโจนก็มีสอน. อยากให้พาทำ rammed earth ด้วยค่ะเพราะสวยมากๆ

[@Oggiwara1]

จะหาก้อนฟางที่ดีในประเทศไทยได้ที่ไหน?

[@johnpick8336]

Awesome! Thanks.

[@user-lw5nn3nt3r]

Thankyou Very educational

[@implumkrazy]

This great !!! very will insolated and stong

[@turbopokey]

🐺 , "Imma huff, imma puff...!" 🐺🐺🐺🐺, "weesa blooooooow yo house innnn!!! Turbopokey- "Why are you booing? You know I'm right!"

[@litahsr.8226]

LOVE IT WANT TO SEE MORE

[@jaywatts333]

really nice job.

[@RVBadlands2015]

I have a Strawbale home in California.

[@Fenixswe]

Are you happy with this building material and home in general? I'd love to have one in Sweden but i'm worried about the rains and colds!

[@cantbringmedowntoday]

@@Fenixswe I read a book a couple of years ago about straw bale houses. It talked about using drainage systems, overhanging roofs, the right fundation etc for wetter climates. Im sure there is enough to be found on the internet :)

[@Fenixswe]

@Helen Wheels Hope you enjoy it there ^^ You happy with it?

[@laitang2004]

@Helen Wheels How did you get on with the local building codes and inspectors?

[@charleskulvet4911]

Please, can you tell us how expensive it is to build? I want to save up for one

[@petermathewvanaardt74]

best thing of these homes, no aircon or heater required, stays constant through the year

[@ohwhatelse]

Depends on where you live & how much you keep the door flapping open!

[@user-xb9mn3tb7f]

BRAVO..!!

[@martinselwa5946]

The master builders are those who use natural materials

[@orlandobusayong9893]

Understandably Jandai just needed native matls that's it. Not bad. Simple living. It reminds me of century back history. Keep abreast with progress complicates things while living in simple ways simplifies life. AND THAT IS PRECISELY JANDAI'S PRINCIPLE. I ADMIRED it.

[@joannenardoni17]

Fabulous

[@lovepeace29981]

What about the roof. I wish to see a detailed video of it too.

[@arvindupreti1913]

Simply loved this . Didnt the straw catch fire when you were welding the roof beams .

[@VikingMan44]

Straw will burn when in the presence of direct flame, but it will extinguish almost immediately when the source of flame is removed. Densely packed cellulose is not very flammable.

[@archcast5550]

Wow the Amount of Insulation this has is very very well!

[@Oggiwara1]

Thanks for sharing! Where in Thailand is this house?

[@franciscolontro5219]

Thank you for sharing. Do you have any data (or references) about the maximum house dimensions this kind of building technique might support?

[@naturalfarming1611]

Nice video Looking for more videos from you Please help to make video on clay paint also

[@NICEFINENEWROBOT]

Jon, I see how hard it gets to pierce the PVC pipe through under the bale. Why not lay it there first then complete the bale wall?

[@Shah-cd7fp]

Thinking the same thing

[@petervermeer.4904]

Yes, or hammer a round piece of wood through the straw wall. Or a long piece of metal. And then push in the pvc pipe through the hole you made.

[@catherineromero1862]

Rebar or bamboo and then diagonal metal strapping on the exterior

[@PeterAdlard]

Hi Jon, cool video, thanks! what's the plaster mix - just clay, or is there a cement additive?

[@parthoroy5300]

Sir it will be great if you can teach us how to make the straw bell pls.

[@phnx4life]

Lovely. .yes, use straw bales only.

[@RealDill69]

This technic is amazing

[@user-ew1gf5pj1d]

👍👍응원합니다 👍👍🇰🇷

[@user-pe9wj7tl7n]

Thank you tha you exist in our life

[@randyfree6009]

Amazing video, thank you Jon Jandai! Approximately what would be the cost per bale, and how many bales are needed for that size house? Thank you!

[@JonJandaiLifeisEasy]

The bale cost in Thailand depend on the area and time start from half a dollar up to 2 dollars that house we used 70 bales.

[@homesteadingwithesikrumpua3046]

❤️❤️❤️🥰👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@carljensen5730]

Great video. It would be much easier to have shorter bamboo spikes. They don't have to be that long.

[@MrLuv109]

May I request you Sir Jon to give details how to bind the straw n what type of string is best to make straw bale.

có lẽ những ai xem và bình luận video này đều rất yêu thiên nhiên và muốn sống hòa thuận cùng thiên nhiên

[@Periskop1]

Nice.Let's hope the floods don't come.

[@anavillalobos2578]

@16:23 😜💥 LOVE ThaiLand > !!! 🤣😂

[@lifeonafarmannapurna1336]

Please show columns of top rooftop. Thanks

[@warrenhargreaves1148]

Watching the videos is Almost as good as being there.

[@kayceegreer4418]

I am charmed by The Rock House.

[@kuroibuta]

I am interested in your life style. What are the negatives of living in this way?

[@hasanchakravathi2322]

Only Negative is Peoples Would labell u as Mad, Natural Lifestyle is very Natural and only Correct Way of Life.

[@maryhornbostel6959]

In America I see a post frame set up first, even where we don't have earthquakes. In an earthquake the stacked bails could shake apart and the roof would come crashing down.

[@willm5814]

Love this - sturdy, healthy, sustainable and inexpensive!!

[@DarkGhostHacker]

How sound proof are these homes? When compared to typical homes in USA and Canada which are made of wood and pink insulation? How do they compare to homes made of concrete for blocking outside noise?

[@raynonabohrer5624]

Do you know there's a straw bale house here in Oklahoma that is 100 years old. !

[@msjessicafarrigrogan]

I'm from Pittsburg county and I'm always watching for near old stuff to learn from

[@raynonabohrer5624]

German Russian heritage home

[@ohwhatelse]

There are old homes in the USA that were built as "tempirary" housing but, which still stand more than 100 years later. The LEAST rain or snow the longer they can last. BUT, they MUST be straw, NOT HAY! There are usually county requirements for straw houses now days. One requirement would be a foundation as deep as with a wood built house. So be careful, the instructions here are NOT good for colder wetter areas of the US. You must ASK first or be sorry later. PLUS, straw was cheap years ago. Now it's quite expenssive in the USA.

[@fishfire_2999]

Saying 2 days was a long time is kinda blowing my mind a little bit

[@pamelacharles4935]

Where is this thank for sharing

[@michaelosteen4556]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. For a home, how would you install the electrical and plumbing lines? Thanks for your response in advance, Jon. Keep up the great work!

[@tbates7064]

Weave them through the straw bale. Or create a chase. Not rocket surgery don't over think it.

[@george.carlin]

In US and Canada, when it comes to building, bales are made of wheat straw or even better of rye straw. What type of bales do you use in your building, rice straw bales? I think Thailand is a big rice-growing country. Do rice bales as good as rye and wheat? Thank you.🌾🌾🌾

[@JonJandaiLifeisEasy]

We use rice bale ,corn bale and grass bale. All of them are good.

[@farmEdu]

If i have more clay and want to used it instead of mud, how is it? Mud and clay which one good than?

[@PeterAdlard]

What sort of straw do you use..?

[@Queen-jc8fd]

Greetings Mr. Jandai, Will this foundation support an adobe building?

[@thomfont8594]

added!

[@larpos6149]

how can i come to a workshop and learn like this?

[@alwayslearning7672]

Are there any disadvantage over a strawbale house with timber frame?

[@johnnierichardson3289]

I want to build a round one.

[@MrLuv109]

Can we plaster by cement and sand at the last coat?

[@samyoungblood3740]

Is it better to use sand with rubber tires as foundation or sand an block like you have

[@JonJandaiLifeisEasy]

It is good to use sand and tires too. Use what you have is the best. Tires may be a little big if you don't worry about that it is good.

[@keralee]

I built a tiny straw bale home with no foundation. It was on slightly high point in desert area. Still there 20+ years later. Next time I will use building felt paper and/or packed tires.

[@larsantiago9440]

This house is good only in the place without earthquake & strong typhoon.good idea economically but if hit by strong typhoon & earthquake its totally collapse.

[@friendlylocal3731]

This works great in an earthquake! If the wall collapses you only get hit by straw instead of concrete, brick, or wood.

[@kamalgill3256]

Typhoon maybe but earthquake doesnt seem like threat. I think bales are lightweight and have structural integrity to not collapse.

[@BeepBeepAndVanillaBean]

Strawbale actually performs great in earthquakes. Im not sure if testing has been done with typhoons though!

[@uwandaily7492]

Sangat menarik

[@zelloking]

23:26 lizard on the wall,cool.

[@jjryan1352]

Common in SE Asia. Every house has them. Little house lizards.

[@letiendung7543]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@kyrie26]

Do we depend on the paint to protect the mud from the rain?

[@kyrie26]

@Jochi Kennedy thanks *overhanging (one word).

[@AbdulHameed-kn4qs]

Do u have any video how did you build roof by cement boart