Coker's Straw Bale Build

FRAMING BEGINS

The beginning of November brought the sound of nail guns and circular saws to the build site as framing begun in earnest. First up was the casita. Since it is pretty much a square, Tom figured it would be easier to start on it, work out all the kinks and then move on to the house. After being away from the site for a few days it was exciting to drive up and see the rake walls (the angled walls on the east and west side of the buildings) erected and the joists being lifted into place on the casita.

Once the rake walls were up the roof joists went up pretty quickly. The joists are engineered wood I-beams. They have what looks like plywood on the top and bottom and then an oriented stranded board webbing. They are stood on their sides and are nailed to the framing through the "plywood" bottoms. The plywood roof decking, that will be added later, will be nailed to the "plywood" tops. The cool thing about these joists is that they are significantly stronger than 2x12's and are thus able to span a greater distance. Also they are much lighter than the 2x12's so they can be lifted into place much easier.

Jacob lets go as Luis pushes a joist up to Spencer and Will

Spencer and Will work on their balance as they move a joist into place on the casita

Will is the balance master!

You might be wondering how we are going to get the straw bales into the raked walls. The answer is that we won't be. We decided that it would be too much work to get the straw packed in there to an acceptable level for the insulation factor we need. So we will be blowing in the same dense packed cellulose insulation that we will be using in the ceilings.

Once the joists were in place and the exterior framing was complete on the casita, it was time to begin hanging the facia boards. The 2x12's used for this were pretty heavy which made the job all that more challenging. This became very evident to Jeff when Tom had him 20 ft up in the air and about 6 ft out at the end of the joists helping to hang the facia on the north side of the casita. It was a great view (as you can see in the picture below) but definitely not a job for someone with acrophobia.)

Jeff delivers a 2x12 board to be used on the casita facia

Tom and Luis hang the casita facia while Jeff "supervises"

Panoramic view from atop the casita while hanging the facia on the north side. That's Tom way out at the end!

The raked walls on the casita were rather steep when compared to the house, but this allowed for us to include a large window above the sliding glass door on the north side of the casita. This window will let in a ton of light and also allow views of the Palo Verde tree we decided to keep on the northwest corner of the build site.

The view from the big window in the casita

Taking a break from the casita, they moved over to the house. The first order of business was to get the large gluelam beam (2x4 or 2x6 Douglas Fir lumber layered and laminated together with durable, moisture-resistant structural adhesives) in place on the southern wall of the house. It is supported by rough cut beams that will frame our big wall of windows.

Gluelam beam in place

While all the framing was going on, there were still some small details that needed to be completed. One of which was to finish sealing the box beams that sit on top of the straw bale walls. This is critical to have completed before we plaster the walls, as the lime in the plaster will negatively affect the wood.

Spencer sealing the box beams

After the gluelam beam was in place they could begin construction on the short wall that will run the length of the southern side of the house and will support the roof joists. It is easier to build the wall on the ground and then lift it into place. Because our walls are so thick, two walls were built so that the space between can be filled with the blown in insulation. Due to the slope of the roof the top of the northern wall had to be shaved down to allow the joists to sit level.