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Straw House Construction

For many years, straw house construction has been limited to poorer regions of the world, like Africa and South America, as people search for any building material plentiful enough to build a house with. But recently, straw house construction has actually started to make its way into the United States as a niche building concept.

Supporters of straw house construction say it is a "green," or environmentally friendly, building material. Straw bales are highly insulative and a natural material, made from an agricultural waste product. Backers of straw house construction also point to its availability and affordability, and say straw is easy to work with.

Straw house construction is also simple because, due to straw's inability to hold weight, the structures must be small. Straw houses can be either load-bearing or non-load-bearing. A load bearing straw house construction can hold the weight of a roof on its own, while a non-load-bearing house will require additional support from a wood frame. The non-load-bearing straw house construction uses the straw as wall filler and insulation. Non-load-bearing straw houses, since they use wood for the frame of the house, can be much larger than load-bearing houses.

Straw house construction has a number of problems that make it unlikely to catch on in any great amount in the United States. The weakness of the straw prevents the installation of many windows and doors, as they will be too heavy for the straw to support. Straw houses frequently have holes or gaps in the walls, that allow cold air to come in and hot air to escape. Burlap must be used to tie the straw to the wood frame (when one is used) and plaster is needed to plug the gaps. These gaps can occur anywhere, but appear to be particularly common around corners. Straw houses are also very easily damaged by bad weather, and significant amounts of rain can cause the straw to weaken and allow water to drop through into the house.

While straw house construction might be popular elsewhere in the world because of its ease and availability, it seems highly unlikely it will find much of a receptive audience in the United States or Canada.

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