Introduction

The 57 acres that comprise Cedar Ridge Farm are located in the beautiful rolling hills of South Central Kentucky. My wife, our four children, and I are on a homesteading adventure as we work toward increased self-sufficiency. We grow much of our own food and enjoy being in touch with the agrarian roots of our lives.

One of the major projects we have undertaken is the building of our own home. The house we're building has three major distinguishing features: 1. we're building it without incurring any debt; 2. it is a timber frame structure; and 3. the exterior walls will be plastered straw bales. We live debt and mortgage free, and building our house with that approach makes perfect sense. Large timbers in a home possess a beauty and project a sense of strength, stability, and warmth that we want in our home. Straw bale walls provide insulation and make ecological sense. This blog is a record of our home-building project.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Slip straw in more interior walls

We had some friends over on the first day of the week for a straw stuffing party. The previous week I bought two sheets of 3/4” plywood for another two sets of forms. I also mixed up about 60 gallons of clay slip in preparation.

We started on the wall between the living room and master bedroom next to the two sections the boys and I did earlier. We also worked on the wall beneath the stairway, the other interior wall in the master bedroom, and a couple of bathroom walls. By the end of the day, we’d completed most of the walls that we’d started.

On the next day, the boys and I were able to finish all of the walls that we’d started during the work party. Then on Tuesday afternoon, our whole family worked on one wall upstairs. Then, yesterday afternoon, we worked on another wall upstairs. We ought to be able to complete the rest of the walls in that bedroom and storage area (on the east end of the house) in another afternoon’s worth of work. I’ll share photos of our progress upstairs later.

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5 comments:

Scott or Pam said...

Looks good.

chili369 said...

I have been following the BLOG, Keep it up and you guys will be in there soon. Jed from NKY

Anonymous said...

How much of a sound barrier does the slip straw provide? Jennifer

dp said...

Thanks for the comments.

Jennifer, it does provide a nice amount of sound barrier, more than a drywall wall, for sure.

Bovee Family said...

I was checking back in to see if there were any new pictures. My wife and I have recently started homesteading. We are also learning the importance of Yahweh's Feasts and HIS Sabbath. We would love to visit your "little" homestead sometime!