When building a country house, you want to get the maximum sensations from living outside the city. The aroma of a summer morning, the lightness of a homely atmosphere. This is how interest in building a house from straw often arises.

The attractiveness of such houses lies in the environmental friendliness and naturalness of the materials themselves. But that's not all. The ability to build a house with your own hands from straw and even finish it with clay plaster makes such materials increasingly popular for country construction. The appeal is that you can contribute to building your own home with your family. And upon completion, say: “I built this house with my own hands,” receiving incredible satisfaction.

The main advantages of straw as a building material and clay plaster as a finish are:

• cheapness
• local origin - easy to obtain
• low environmental impact
• contributes to the formation of a healthy room atmosphere, unlike many other materials

Important! Check the origin of the straw. Remember that anything that has been treated with the straw can end up in your lungs. The fields from which it was collected should not be treated with pesticides.

Straw that is suitable for construction can be collected from a range of crops, making it available in many geographical locations. Different types of straw have different properties. For example, rice straw is said to be more durable than wheat straw because it has a higher silica content.

The tightness of the wall structure is of paramount importance. Gaps in the building envelope can allow warm, moist air to enter the walls, which can cause rot. But it’s not just straw houses that are susceptible to this – condensation and mold are a common problem in many standard houses.

Depending on the design features of the house, the bales themselves can be used as a supporting structure for the walls. Either a timber or steel frame is used and straw fills the walls. The thickness of the wall is usually determined by the format of the blocks that are formed on the baler machine used to collect straw from the fields. Most often, rectangular bales (circular ones will not be suitable for standard construction purposes) are about 45 centimeters thick. Thus, the width of the straw walls will be quite acceptable for building a highly energy efficient house.

While straw is a relatively good insulating material, it must be taken into account that the heat-saving properties of this technology are sometimes overestimated. First of all, efficiency depends on the quality of the individual bale. Each of them must be checked for integrity, and must be well dried.

In addition, do not forget about fire safety. Particular attention must be paid to storage and access during the construction phase.

After the walls are covered with finishing on the outside and inside (plasterboard with a fire-retardant layer or clay plaster), the danger is reduced and will be comparable to the fire safety level of any wooden house.

The type of finishing you choose for the walls of your home is of great aesthetic and practical importance. Many people prefer to use clay plaster for interiors, which retains the organic and tactile properties of straw.

One of the aesthetic advantages of straw walls with clay plaster is their sculptural component.

You can be creative with the shapes of the contours and openings

... and niches in the walls of your house.

With clay plaster, you can round off the edges and create a very soft look while maintaining simple, clean, modern lines.

Once construction is complete, it can be difficult to tell that the house was built from straw, so many people leave a small window in one of the walls.

It's a good way to remind yourself of the work you've put into your home and, of course, it's a conversation piece to have with your guests.

Most people who embark on this construction adventure agree that it is fun and incredibly rewarding. It's a passion that the whole family can share, which truly makes building a home a dream come true.

Clay, straw and wood are the best natural products - they are easily available and cheap. And there are more and more enthusiasts who sculpt clay walls or build houses from clay blocks. They do not at all resemble old-fashioned mud huts. These are modern energy-saving and even passive houses. This article will talk about different technologies for constructing buildings made of clay.

The trend towards a return to natural materials in construction is based on the use of solutions that do not require energy consumption for production. These are old methods, tested for suitability in today's world and adapted to current needs. The properties of natural materials and modern technology for their processing make it possible to erect buildings that meet current technical requirements. Proponents of building with clay, straw and wood argue that these materials do not contain toxic or harmful substances. By using material from a nearby suburb, this will reduce transport costs and reduce CO2 emissions into the environment. Materials are almost not transformed, very little energy is spent on their production, and construction waste is returned to nature without polluting the natural environment. After the end of use of the house, the building material can be recycled or decompose in the ground in a short time.

The main advantages of clay houses

Advantages of houses made of clay and straw:
Microclimate regulation – clay walls naturally absorb and evaporate moisture. This feature assumes that inside the clay house a constant air humidity is maintained at an appropriate level.
Thermal and sound insulation – walls made of clay and straw have a low coefficient
heat transfer while simultaneously accumulating heat. This reduces the demand for energy for heating. In addition, such walls provide very good sound insulation of the building.
Fire resistance – walls made of clay and straw or wood are resistant to fire. You just need to make a sufficiently thick and durable protective layer of clay or lime plaster.

Clay in two versions

Clay can hold straw (and other fillers) together or bind it like plaster. If clay is mixed with a large amount of straw or other fillers (for example, sawdust, wood chips or expanded clay granules) you will get so-called light clay. The weight of such a mass is 100 kg/m3. If the building material has good insulating components (straw or expanded clay), then it can be very warm. Heavy clay is a mixture of clay with sand and a small amount of straw or sawdust, or simply compacted clay. Its weight is more than 1t/m3. Clay has a high coefficient of thermal conductivity, so a wall in a year-round house needs constant thermal insulation.

Clay blocks

Clay blocks, called clay bricks, are made in manual or hydraulic presses. The clay is mixed with plenty of straw, shaped and left to dry (without firing). From such blocks, using clay or lime-clay mortar, you can construct external and internal load-bearing walls, as well as half-timbered structures (the so-called Prussian wall). They provide a good base (with high adhesion) for natural plaster. Blocks can be made directly at the construction site or purchased ready-made.

Monolithic walls made of light clay

The mixture of clay and straw is made as for blocks, but the mass is compacted into open formwork and thickened. This technique is usually used for the construction of external rough walls, but can also be used for the construction of internal thin walls. To build monolithic walls, you can also resort to a mixture of clay not only with straw, but also with other fillers, such as expanded clay, reeds, sawdust or wood scraps that remain after felling or woodworking at a sawmill.

Straw blocks plastered with clay or lime

The supporting structure (traditionally wooden, post-transom) is filled with compressed blocks of straw measuring 45x49x80 cm and density 80 kg/m3. Straw contains air, which is a good insulator. The thermal conductivity coefficient U of compressed straw is 0.09 W/(m2K), which with the most commonly used wall thickness of 45 cm gives a heat transfer coefficient U = 0.12 – 0.13 W/(m2K) (comparable to 20 cm of expanded polystyrene). This makes it possible to use this technique in the construction of a passive house. It is also possible to build without a structure - the load-bearing wall is made of straw blocks covered with several layers of natural plaster.

Such blocks are able to carry the load without the help of wooden poles. For self-supporting structures, either standard-sized blocks are used (their volumetric weight must be at least 90 kg/m3), or wider ones - 70-120 cm thick.

Clay laid in layers by hand

This technique uses a lot of clay and little aggregate. Using hands and feet, blocks of earth are mixed with straw and sand and placed on the foundation. The walls are about 60 cm thick and do not require a supporting structure. They are covered with lime plaster. This technique makes it possible to independently create arbitrary shapes. It can accommodate internal storage walls (sometimes called thermal mass). Clay has good heat capacity and high inertness. In winter, such a wall can act as a heat accumulator from the sun or stove and additionally heat the room. In summer, cooled by water or air, it will act like a radiator - lowering the temperature in the room.

The hand laid clay technique can be combined with others such as the straw bale technique. Then the structure turns out to be very durable.

Clay compacted into formwork

Walls are raised by constructing wooden or steel formwork on the foundation. Clay is placed in batches into formwork and compacted, most often with hand pneumatic hammers. After appropriate thickening, the next layer is laid and compacted. And so on until walls of the required height are formed. A wall made of compacted clay (usually 30-60 cm thick) has thermal parameters similar to those of solid brick, so such an external wall requires additional heating. But it can also serve as internal thermal mass. Earth compacted into formwork produces unusual aesthetic effects, which can be emphasized by adding pigments to individual layers. For this reason, such walls are rarely plastered, although sometimes it is necessary.

Clay with wood

Load-bearing walls, which are raised from logs or stumps, installed across the wall and coated with a mass of clay and sawdust as an insulating layer. The walls can be impregnated or covered with natural plasters. Pine or spruce wood makes up about half the volume of the wall. The unplastered façade shows the characteristic round sections of tree stumps.

In the past, this type of straw and mud construction, usually avant-garde and unconventional, was resorted to through poverty, economy and the need to use inexpensive local materials. In the future, the latter criterion may become a priority for modern house building. The rapidly depleting natural resources of our planet, the constant increase in their prices, as well as the need to save energy during the construction and operation of a house are gradually forcing us to reconsider traditional approaches to construction and change our views.

The use of straw as one of the building materials in the construction of a house has been known for quite some time. For example, in southern countries and regions (Ukraine), straw was successfully used to cover roofs. Straw was also added to adobe, a mixture that was used to fill the space between blocks in houses in Germany back in the 15th century. Today there is a technology in which straw is used as the main building material.

Laying straw blocks

The construction of load-bearing walls made of straw is carried out according to the principle of brickwork. Straw blocks are stacked on top of each other, and strict care must be taken to ensure that the seams of the blocks do not coincide.

The blocks are laid so that the vertical seams do not coincide

Fastening and tightening blocks

For a tight and strong adhesion, the blocks are secured to each other using metal rods of different lengths. The lower blocks of the first and second rows are placed on pegs fixed to the foundation at a distance of about 1 meter.

The next rows are secured with additional rods. As the rows are laid out, the rods are built up and secured to each other. The result is a long pin extending across the entire height of the wall. Its lower part is mounted in the base, and the upper part is threaded. For a tighter tie, a nut is screwed onto the top of the rod.

Fire safety at home

Well-compressed straw bales have good fire resistance because they leave virtually no room for the oxygen that any material needs to burn. In addition, at the final stage, the straw walls are covered with a thick layer of plaster, which also increases the fire safety of the structure.

You can see the fire safety of a straw house in this video:

Is it worth building a thatched house?

conclusions

A house made of straw is one of the most energy-efficient and safe houses made from natural materials. You can also build such a house very cheaply because thatch does not require a large investment. Clay is also in abundance. If you want to make a house with your own hands and are not afraid to get your hands dirty in dirt, or rather in clay, this house is for you. An excellent option for budget construction, excellent price-quality!

Since ancient times, straw has been used as the main building material for the construction of houses and huts. Initially, African aborigines built a straw house with their own hands. Then mentions of thatched buildings were found in the scrolls of ancient Rus', and for quite a long time - more than half a millennium.

The history of thatched houses

The first settlers of North America also used this cheap and readily available building material to build temporary and permanent homes. To do this, the straw was packed into bales. In the 19th century in France, straw began to be laid in dense straw blocks, and the construction of thatched houses received its next revival. The blocks consisted of straw stalks cleared of grains and then laid on a clay foundation.

Also, the use of this material was widespread in Australia, and in the Soviet Union less than 50 years ago, thatched houses could be found quite often. The foundation was based on a mixture of clay and straw, which was also used to insulate and cover the roof. Currently, the direction of building environmentally friendly houses has gained popularity. Once again, the use of this material has become widespread and in demand.

Straw blocks, their advantages and disadvantages

Straw refers to the remaining stems after the harvest of grain crops. In addition to construction, it is used for feeding cattle, after additional processing. Therefore, it does not have any particular economic value and often after harvesting, unnecessary straw is simply burned. Considering the scale of our country and the widespread use of land for planting cereals and grain crops, straw reserves can be said to be practically inexhaustible. Indeed, to build one private house with a total area of ​​60 to 70 square meters, it is enough to use the remaining waste after harvesting from 3 or 4 hectares.

The construction of a house from straw is carried out according to the principle of laying bales, which have dimensions of 500 * 400 * 500-1200 millimeters. Many potential developers are somewhat frightened by the high fire hazard of this building material. However, in blocks the stems are pressed so tightly together that due to lack of oxygen, the ability to ignite is noticeably reduced. The principle is similar to a sheet of paper and a thick thick bundle of papers, where the sheet suddenly ignites and burns out completely without a trace, and the bundle of paper only becomes charred at the edges. For additional safety, straw blocks are plastered, and therefore the fire hazard of such material is an order of magnitude lower than that of wood.

For your information. In addition, the advantages of a straw house definitely include the low cost of the raw material. A set of building blocks is made from a variety of cereals: wheat, rice, rye. The cost of such a block will be approximately 1/10 of the cost of a similar amount of brick. In addition, a house built from straw provides its owner with excellent thermal insulation.

Building a house from straw means living in a warm place, because such a house is several times warmer than a wooden house and retains heat almost ten times better than a brick house. Therefore, the use of straw as a main component for building your own home should be considered seriously, because building materials, as well as prices for the provision of heating services and electrical energy consumption, are in continuous growth.

A significant factor in the preference of straw over other materials is the speed of construction of a residential building. It is quite simple to build a house from clay and straw with your own hands; you only need to understand the process and technology of constructing such buildings. A fully finished straw bale house can be erected without special equipment or complex machinery. The main condition is the installation of a light foundation and, if possible, edging with a wooden frame, but frameless construction is also acceptable. Therefore, it will take only a few weeks (depending on the number of people and intensity of work) from the creation of the project to the delivery of a completely finished residential building.

Important! The disadvantages of using such material, of course, include the susceptibility to rotting and the presence of small rodents.

Although this problem has now been solved, it is enough just to create a pressure in the blocks of 300 kilograms per cubic meter with a press, then the walls are plastered, and such a structure is not subject to the destructive effects of water or the activity of small rodents. But the high pressure created in the blocks is a result of the large weight of the blocks and the consumption of more materials, so rodent control requires the use of slaked lime as a powder between layers and an additive to the plaster.

Main stages of construction and choice of material

A house made of straw is built with your own hands in stages:

• Determination and selection of building materials;
• Creating a support;
• Selection of design type;
• The process of laying blocks.

Material selection

Before purchasing straw bales, you should carefully inspect them for quality, because they will form the basis for your home! For tying bales, the most reasonable solution would be to use polypropylene, because, unlike metal wire, it does not corrode, and rope made from natural materials is susceptible to rotting. In rare cases, straw is sold in rolls, which is undesirable for construction, because most of the stems will be broken, and this will negatively affect the thermal insulation properties of the home. It is preferable to use rice and rye stalks.

The quality of the bale production and the straw itself can be indirectly determined by weight. A bale in which the stems reach a meter in length and a density of 100 to 140 kilograms per cubic meter reaches an average weight of 20 kilograms. In order to avoid buying low-quality goods and defects in the form of dampness, it is worth touching the entire bale from the outside and as far as possible from the inside; also, wet or rotten straw emits a special smell that is quite easy to detect. It is necessary to check the stems for flexibility; with slight bends they should not break, otherwise the straw is old and should not be purchased under any circumstances!

For your information. A thatched house, like any other, needs support. To do this, you need to make a foundation, the type of which is determined taking into account the analysis of the soil at the construction site. It is necessary to lay the foundation in such a way that the lower straw blocks are slightly higher than the floor. This will ensure the safety of the walls from contact with water in the event of a possible pipe break.

Building a house

After erecting the foundation, you must decide on the structural type of the house: frame or frameless. A frameless thatched house can only have one floor, the length of the wall is no more than 8 meters and the area of ​​all windows and doors should not exceed half of the total area of ​​the walls. This is due to the fact that the entire load-bearing load falls directly on the straw blocks, so in this case it is recommended to use blocks with a higher density. In addition, in a frameless thatched house, it is advisable to build a light roof without wide eaves, since this structure is fixed to the straw blocks using wooden mauerlats.

How to build a frame house that has its own metal or wooden frame? The frame of the house takes on all the loads, so in such houses it is possible to build two or even three floors. The frame also allows for faster construction without wasting time building perfectly straight walls.

The subsequent stages of construction for the two types of houses are identical to each other. Metal rods are driven into the straw blocks, usually laid in four rows. The distance between them should not exceed 50-60 centimeters. And the blocks themselves are usually laid in a checkerboard pattern, so as not to get the rods into the seams between the blocks.

The frame type of construction of a residential building, coupled with high-quality fixation of the blocks with metal rods and brackets, ensures the strength of the building. In addition, it is worth considering that the foundation also contributes to the additional strength of the structure. To do this, during the construction process, metal pins are fixed in the foundation, at intervals of 1 meter, and the first layer of straw blocks is actually fixed on them.

Laying blocks, however, as in the construction of houses from other building materials, starts from the corners, door and window openings. For additional protection against rodents, it is recommended to wrap the first row of blocks in a polymer mesh. If low-density blocks are used in the construction of a house, then the nails simply will not be able to withstand fixing the materials. Therefore, in this case, it is recommended to use a reinforcing mesh, which is fixed with a nylon thread.

Reference. Trimming unnecessary fragments of blocks is usually done with a chainsaw. Then the walls are plastered, while blocks with a density higher than 200 kilograms per cubic meter can be plastered immediately, while blocks with a lower density must stand for some time and become compacted.

A house made from straw blocks is a new fashionable trend in the construction of environmentally friendly housing. But, in addition to this, such buildings are characterized by low cost, increased thermal conductivity, and record-breaking short construction times. Therefore, you should not be afraid of prejudices and before choosing an expensive building material, you should seriously think about its cost-effectiveness.

The high cost of modern thermal insulation materials often pushes developers to look for an alternative. Not many people know that such an alternative exists. For many years, a fairly large number of private houses have been using wall insulation with straw, clay and sawdust.

The use of natural materials is not only a cheaper, but also a much more environmentally friendly option for organizing home insulation. In addition, traditional natural insulation materials are not inferior to synthetic ones in key parameters, including.

However, natural insulation materials must be properly prepared and applied, so insulating a house with straw should be done strictly following the technology. We will talk about this below in our article.

Today in the modern building materials market we have a wide selection of thermal insulation. Each of the materials has certain features and individual properties, as well as certain requirements for installation technology. But since we are looking for a more environmentally friendly and at the same time effective method of insulation, we will focus on the old, but not forgotten method and consider insulating a wooden house with straw.

The popularity and relevance of insulating houses with clay is explained by the following advantages of this method of thermal insulation:

1. The insulating clay mixture is easy to prepare and apply. To insulate a frame house with straw and clay, you do not need special construction skills; you can organize the entire process and bring it to its logical conclusion yourself. This insulation can be done with your own hands without any problems.
2. Low cost clay insulation. The comparative cost of clay insulation is significantly lower compared to synthetic materials.
3. High performance. This is a fairly reliable way to insulate rooms. Can be used to insulate floors, ceilings, roofs, etc.
4. Prepared in accordance with the technology, this composition is not attractive to rodents and insects.
5. The environmental friendliness of this insulation is beyond doubt. All residues are of natural origin, which means they are not toxic.

The disadvantages of this method include certain labor costs and duration of work.

Composition of clay insulation

Red clay is considered optimal for the preparation of insulating composition. Red clay is quite hygroscopic and plastic. You can also use white clay, which is slightly inferior in these characteristics.

The maximum insulation effect can be achieved if insulation is carried out with clay with the addition of sawdust or chopped straw.

It is better to choose sawdust from coniferous or oak wood. When preparing this component for production, the sawdust should be dried and soaked in an antiseptic. To protect against rodents, lime should be added to the solution.

Clay-straw insulation is also actively used, when instead of sawdust, chopped straw is introduced into the clay solution. Most often, the roof or ceiling is insulated with straw, but it is also possible.

Preparing a mixture from the named components is one of the main points in the process. The result of insulation will depend on the quality of the composition. If the proportions were violated during the preparation of the clay mass, the insulation will not perform its functions fully; most likely, after drying, it will crack and crumble.

The process of applying the clay mixture is not that long. It will take more time for the clay layer to dry out, which at above-zero temperatures will take at least a month.

Clay insulation technology consists of only three stages:

1. Preparation of insulating composition.
2. Application of insulation.
3. Drying and strengthening.

There are several ways to insulate a ceiling using clay.

Clay-sand mortar: insulate the ceiling

The traditional method is when the ceiling is insulated with a solution of a mixture of clay and sand in a ratio of 6:2. Water is added in such an amount that the resulting mixture has a consistency similar to thick sour cream.

The algorithm for insulation with clay-sand paste is as follows:

1. The ceiling of the room is covered with dry boards of the required thickness.
2. The gaps between the boards are covered with clay and left to dry.
3. The plank ceiling is covered with a vapor barrier membrane film. It's better to use a whole piece. If the vapor barrier is made of several pieces, the film is laid overlapping.
4. The joints of the film are fixed with tape.
5. Clay, sand and water are mixed in the specified proportions and the mass is brought to a homogeneous consistency.
6. The boards and film are covered with a layer of mortar to a thickness of 5-8 cm. The poured surface is leveled with a wooden plank. A horizontal level is established along the top layer of fill.
7. When the clay mass hardens, a layer of dry sand 10-15 cm high is poured on top of it.
8. Logs and a finishing floor are mounted on top.

When laying joists, attention should be paid to organizing the ventilation gap.

Ceiling insulation with clay and sawdust

The insulation composition may consist of clay and sawdust (or chopped straw). This insulating mass should have a thicker consistency. Clay and sawdust are taken in a ratio of 2:3. Insulation clay and straw is also mixed in this ratio of elements.

The algorithm for insulation with this composition will look like this:

1. covered with waterproofing material.
2. Ten-centimeter wide slats are laid and fastened on top in increments of 30-40 cm.
3. We prepare the composition; for this, clay and wood (straw) filler are mixed in the specified proportion and brought to the desired consistency.
4. Spread the solution into the spaces between the slats and let dry.

Do not be afraid that after drying, cracks or crevices will appear on the surface of the putty. This is a natural addition of material. These defects are eliminated using a thin layer of liquid clay, which can be covered on top with a layer of sawdust or earth 5-6 cm thick. After eliminating the cracks, installation can begin.

Layered insulation with alternating clay and sawdust

In this case, we are talking about layer-by-layer laying out insulating layers of clay and sawdust alternately.

The layer-by-layer insulation algorithm is as follows:

1. We arrange it.
2. We make a mixture of clay and straw (sawdust) in a ratio of 2:3.
3. Add water until the mixture becomes homogeneous and thick like sour cream.
4. We spread the resulting mass on boards covered with a vapor barrier in a layer of 2-3 cm. Let it dry completely.
5. If cracks appear after drying, fill them with liquid clay, as mentioned above.
6. After complete drying, cover the clay insulation with a layer of dry granular substance. You can use shavings and straw as a dry layer.
7. Lay the topmost dry layer 5 cm thick.

You can make a wooden flooring on top of the insulation. If you do not plan to use the attic space, then the puff can be left uncovered.

Insulation of walls outside

Despite the fact that clay-based mixtures are most often used to insulate ceilings, this insulation can also be used to improve the energy-saving properties of the walls of a house.

An important point is that the insulation of walls with a clay mixture is carried out only from the outside. The use of this type of insulation indoors is not effective and does not last long. Under the influence of moist air, clay insulation gets wet, and with a temporary increase in temperature it dries out again. Thus, the clay coating applied to the inner surface of the walls very quickly loses strength, cracks and crumbles.

The algorithm for insulating the walls of a frame house is as follows:

1. A shingle grid made of a centimeter strip 2-3 cm wide is fixed to the insulated wall. This creates a reinforcing layer on which the mixture will be applied.
2. A clay solution is prepared, into which sawdust, chopped straw or reeds are added to reduce thermal conductivity.
3. The solution is applied to the shingles and leveled; the evenness of the layer is checked with a level.
4. After the mixture has completely dried, the sheathing is attached to the walls and the façade is sheathed. If exterior finishing with siding, block house or other materials is not provided, the clay layer can be covered with whitewash with the addition of lime.

There is another method of insulating walls with clay, when vertical surfaces are insulated using pre-prepared clay slabs. Such plates are made very simply:

1. The prepared mixture is poured into a form made from boards, laid on a sheet of plywood.
2. The mixture is leveled and left to gain strength.
3. After complete drying, the finished slabs are removed and attached to the walls using wooden lathing.

As we can see, the technology of thermal insulation using clay insulation with the addition of sawdust or straw is quite simple. At the same time, if all requirements are met, this one is quite effective. Its use will help you not only increase the thermal insulation performance of the structure, but also save significant money.