A Straw Bale Home: Small, Secondhand & Spectacular

(Page 3 of 3)

November/December 2008
By Molly Loomis 
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Tips for Reclaiming Building Materials

■ Start close to home. Let family, friends and neighbors know what you’re looking for. Some may have things you need languishing in basements and garages.

RELATED CONTENT

■ Contact local contractors, builders, architects, lumberyards and even realtors about any future teardowns in your area.

■ Check with your local landfill about scavenging regulations. Some dumps allow it; others don’t.

■ Make sure to emphasize that you understand you are fully responsible for yourself while scavenging and won’t hold anyone liable.

■ Check out salvage stores such as Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores. If you find useful materials elsewhere that you can’t use, ReStores may trade you for something you need.

■ Often stores are stuck with misordered doors and windows. Check in with suppliers for potential large savings.

■ Visit personally with contractors to assure them you won’t become a liability.

■ Come prepared with a truck and/or trailer for hauling and appropriate work clothing, including work gloves and thick-soled shoes.

 

The Good Stuff

■ Approximately 90 percent of the house is constructed from reclaimed materials including appliances, doors, windows, floor tiles, garage doors, chimney pipe, granite countertops, corrugated steel ceiling and roofing, and lumber.

■ Passive solar design

■ Post-and-beam construction with straw bale infill; straw from local farmer

■ Interior wall plaster is a handmade earthen mix of straw, sand, local clay and natural Loma plaster from American Clay.

■ Exterior plaster is lime- and sand-based.

■ Blown-in recycled-content cellulose insulation and Bonded Logic recycled denim insulation

■ Homemade casein milk paint

■ Wheatboard cabinets and shelving

■ Windowsills of beetle-killed pine scavenged from the dump

■ Adobe floor made with local clay, sand and straw, finished with BioShield oil and wax

■ Redwood shower is built from scavenged boards from a pool room in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

■ A silo bought secondhand from a local farmer functions as a studio, workshop and garage.

Architect: Meghan Hanson Powers, Natural Dwellings Design, (307) 690-6618

Builder: Aaron Powers, Natural Dwellings, (208) 709-5377

www.naturaldwellings.com

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Comments

  • Allison Capps 3/20/2009 9:50:06 PM

    I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it! What is so hard about writing the possessive of the name Powers? It's Powers'! Come on, am I the only one who is irritated by errors like that? I could use an online job. Feel like hiring me to edit?

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