Straw house: modern straw technologies. Know-how from the past: why move to a house made of straw Straw dome house

The usual materials for building a house are brick, various blocks or wood. There is no less practical and reliable material from which you can build a house - straw. straw house, despite the first impression of this variety of materials, they are very durable in operation. The straw house is very comfortable and. Before you start building a house, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with all the nuances of such a design.

Description, types, technologies

The main and main material involved in the construction of the house is straw. It is used in various forms. The form of the structure and the technologies used for its construction depend on this.

straw blocks

For the construction of the walls of the building, blocks with dimensions of 35x45x90 cm are mainly used. Each individual block previously undergoes a process of pressing and drying. After that, it is pulled over with a nylon cord.

Straw block house requires the use of quality materials. The raw materials used for bales are flax, rye and wheat. The most high-quality and suitable for building a house from pressed straw is rye raw materials.

Straw panels

Straw panels are a good way to build thatched houses. New technologies in green building involve the use of straw panels. The products themselves are manufactured in a production environment and delivered to the construction site. The materials are used in frame technologies and are self-supporting.

A house made of straw panels, which reach a thickness of 48 cm, is characterized by a high level of thermal insulation, exceeding that of aerated concrete by 5 times. The bearing capacity of the panels is also very high, and in the event of a fire, the products do not light up for 2 or more hours.

Straw with clay

Clay is added to straw raw materials to impart reinforcing properties to the entire structure. The clay material adds thermal insulation to the building by giving the surfaces of the house heat accumulator properties. Houses made of clay and straw are good because in the daytime the walls and ceiling absorb heat energy, and when night falls, they prevent the flow of cold air masses into the room.

To build such a house, use the following clay mortar recipe:

  • you need to mix clay, coarse sand and straw in a ratio of 1: 2: 0.6, respectively;
  • can be mixed both manually and with a concrete mixer;
  • if mixed by hand, then a deep pit is required, which is previously covered with a tarpaulin. It is convenient to make a mixture in it by lifting a piece of tarpaulin around the corners;
  • if a concrete mixer is involved in the process, it is recommended to put several large stones inside it, they will help the mixture become homogeneous by breaking the clay component.

dome house

From straw, you can build not only a house of the usual form, but also a sphere. In such a design, it is important to correctly assemble the frame, otherwise it is allowed to use straw raw materials in any form. Both straw bales and panels will do. The only thing to remember when deciding to build with straw is that the straw panels must match the frame cells. They will have to be ordered individually if you want to do the construction yourself.

The foundation for the house is suitable pile type. If you build a domed straw house from blocks, then they must be broken into several layers for high-quality laying in places of rounding. After stacking the bales, they are pulled together and plastered on the inside and outside of the house.

How to build a straw house

Using straw blocks to build your house, you get a very light but durable structure. The essence of the construction technology of such a house is as follows:

  • Initially, before proceeding with the laying of the material, it is necessary to build a frame, on which it is supposed to carry out the fastening of straw elements in the future. Wooden beams are used for the frame.
  • After the frame is made, proceed to the laying of blocks of straw.
  • To give the whole structure reliability during assembly, metal stakes are used and placed in the central part of the straw blocks.
  • The location of the blocks relative to the frame is allowed both from its inside and from the outside.
  • Another point when laying blocks is the observance of a certain sequence of their location. The blocks must not be allowed to match at the seams.
  • In the process of stacking the bales, the rods passing through them also grow. Each rod is fastened to the previous one. The first row of metal rods is installed on the foundation in 1 m increments.
  • After the height of the wall reaches the desired limit, a nut is screwed on the upper end of each of the rods and tightens the entire row of bales.

There is a technology for building a straw house, called frameless. The following features are characteristic:

  • straw bales are fastened only with metal, wooden or plastic rods in the same way as the previous method;
  • after laying all layers of straw, covering with a metal mesh or a mesh of polymeric material is required;
  • over the mesh, the surface must be plastered. The thickness of the plaster layer must be at least 7.5 cm.

Construction of a straw house in combination with clay, it takes place according to the frame technology. If you want to build a house of clay and straw with your own hands, then it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the following nuances:

  • before laying the straw blocks, they must be dipped in a clay solution. Mono use the recipe above;
  • the drying time of the walls is long, therefore it is necessary to carry out all activities in dry and warm weather. Due to the clay mortar, the walls are prone to the formation of mold fungi during drying;
  • a house built with the addition of clay is distinguished by increased fire safety and strength properties;
  • with clay mortar, it is first necessary to fill the gap between the racks of the frame;
  • as for the roof made of a mixture of straw and clay, it should be borne in mind that the slope angle parameter should be in the range from 40 to 50 degrees;
  • the roof truss system for the house should be more massive and durable, the roof sheathing is made of poles, the thickness of which is 7 cm. You also need to build dowels that are connected to the rafters with holes, 7 cm deep.
  • during the laying of the roofing material, supports are installed under the rafters, which will prevent the elements from deflecting under the weight of a mixture of sand, straw and clay. After the roof is dry, the supports are removed;
  • start laying the roof from its lower part towards the ridge. Sheaves of straw are laid out very tightly on a hard board, after which they are untied and evenly distributed over the surface;
  • when laying the next sheaf, you need to overlap the edge of the previous one;
  • the thickness of the layer of straw material should be 15 cm;
  • after the straw is laid in 4 rows (it is recommended to do this alternately, one or two rows changing the slopes of the roof), they start pouring clay mortar over the raw straw;
  • to achieve a flat roof surface, use a shovel and tap the clay mortar.

Reference: Before proceeding with the laying of blocks, it is important to tighten the frame using a metal mesh. This technique allows further plastering of the walls.

Advantages and disadvantages

You can characterize a straw house by describing its positive aspects:

  • you don’t have to spend large sums of money to build a house out of straw. It is possible to build a full-fledged house for 5 thousand rubles per 1 m 2;
  • high rates of heat and sound insulation. The values ​​of indicators are 4 times higher than those of a conventional wooden structure;
  • the duration of the service life reaches 1 century;
  • if rye straw was used for construction, then this design is not afraid of damage by rodents, rotting, even in the case of conditions with high humidity;
  • construction time is not long, materials are always available for purchase;
  • the possibility of erecting both a simple building structure, and the most unusual and complex;
  • in the finished house at any time there is an opportunity to carry out repairs and redevelopment and even rebuild the entire structure. This applies in particular to the construction of straw blocks;
  • materials for construction have negligible weight relative to the pressure on the soil. This is especially important when it comes to building a residential building on a slope;
  • Based on the previous paragraph, it follows that the foundation will not require large expenditures, both monetary and physical. It is enough to erect a pile type of foundation for the construction;
  • the structure does not shrink;
  • straw houses are classified as fireproof, since straw material does not tend to ignite. Straw, after being pressed, smolders, which makes it possible to understand in time about the emergency and eliminate its cause. If the building was plastered, then it does not ignite at all;
  • due to the fact that the walls are thick enough, the feeling of a cozy home is provided;
  • are seismically resistant structures;
  • during the construction process it is very easy to organize and carry out all the necessary communication systems;
  • due to the cheapness of materials, it is possible to improve and modernize your home at any time. The price of a turnkey straw house is equal to 30% of the total cost required to build a house of wood using frame technology.

As for the shortcomings, the finished design does not have them. The only thing you need to pay attention to when deciding to build a straw house is the construction technology and the quality of materials. It is impossible to make mistakes in the process of erecting a structure and neglect the state of the straw raw materials intended for the walls of the house.

Manufacturers

The following list of companies is engaged in the construction of ohms from straw and eco-houses:

  • The sphere of life. A company that builds houses using straw as the main material. Specializes in domed (spherical) structures. The price depends on the individual requirements and characteristics of the structure.
  • pleased. Green Building Center. He builds houses on a turnkey basis, using the German technology of construction from straw panels.
  • life house building. In addition to the fact that the company has the opportunity to order the construction of your eco-house, you can place an order for the manufacture of straw panels.
  • Building on advanced technology straw houses. He builds both ordinary straw houses and geodesic houses. for 1 m 2 the price is 15 thousand rubles.

Which is better

Choosing the technology of building an eco-house from straw, it is impossible to say unequivocally which is better. Each of the above technologies allows you to get a solid, reliable design. It is better to build on this issue from your own desires and capabilities.

In any case, the costs required for will be significantly lower than those required, for example, for a conventional frame of timber. Those who like to use only natural raw materials - a technology where, in addition to straw, clay is used. Who does not want to spend a lot of time on the construction of their homes - it is better to give preference to straw panels and frame. For those who want to further move away from the stereotypical cubic houses, the straw sphere is the best option.

For those who decide to start building a house out of straw, the following points will be useful. In particular, they will be useful to those who want to build a straw structure with their own hands:

  • it is important to adhere to all fire safety rules during the construction of the walls of the house. It is worth remembering that straw stalks can fall out of the block and singly ignite well;
  • before proceeding with the construction of the building, you need to make sure that the blocks are well pressed and well dried. If you build a house from insufficiently high-quality material, then a reliable, durable and strong construction will not work;
  • it is recommended that after the completion of the wall construction stage, they are plastered. Such an event will provide protection from moisture and fire;
  • during interior finishing work, it is not recommended to use materials that prevent the free movement of air and steam. A good option for finishing is clay or cement-based plaster;
  • if the walls of the house are too thick, then the transfer of converter heat will occur in them. To avoid such a process, lay the surface of straw blocks with cardboard or kraft paper (in a horizontal plane).

Useful video

thatched house- the perfect solution for those who want to surround themselves and their loved ones with only high-quality and natural materials. The raw materials used for construction are not only environmentally friendly, but also inexpensive. Given the variety of technologies used to build straw houses, it is possible to choose the one that will satisfy the future owners of a straw eco-house according to all criteria.

The first domed straw house beyond the Urals withstood frost and heat, and became a place of strength for the owner, and for the manufacturer - a model on which other eco-friendly buildings can be built in the Novosibirsk Region. Why will they move from panels and bricks to straw housing, and how "round" house changes energy?

Once Nikita Baranov was tired of working in the advertising business, living with his family in a stuffy "cage" of an apartment made of non-natural materials. He realized that life goes on, and the dream of an eco-friendly home is not getting closer.

Then he began to look for information about what natural materials housing can be built from. So I learned about straw - dry stalks of cereals remaining after threshing grain. It is rarely added to animal feed, more often used as bedding. But most of the raw materials are not needed by anyone.

Baranov traveled around the Novosibirsk region and found about ten buildings made of this material. On the trip, he met one of his future business partners, Vladimir Shutikov, who himself built a house out of straw, and already knew from experience what needs to be improved. Then he met Alexei Chikunov, who dreams of an eco-friendly home and studied European experience. Together they created the Golden Section company and began to work on construction technology.

Know-how from the past

Similar houses were built seven thousand years ago, mixing straw and clay (raw brick adobe) or coating thatched walls with clay. Nowadays, eco-friendly houses are built with or without a frame, simply by stacking bales. Novosibirsk improved the design: they came up with the ideal frame geometry and began to press rye straw more strongly. They patent the technology for the production of such panels in Russia.


In one shift, the company makes four panels 380 millimeters thick, or about 12 square meters, or twice the thin ones that go to the partitions. The plastered panels weigh about half a ton. The cost per square meter ranges from 2.5 to 5 thousand rubles, depending on the thickness.

“First, we completely assemble the wooden frame with glue, screws and dowels. We make it from a dry planed board 42 mm thick. After that, we press the straw inside, glue it with tar. Then the mesh is sewn on the front and back sides and plastered. In this form, the panels are sent to the construction site,” says Baranov.

According to him, straw panels in terms of heat transfer resistance (heat transfer through the enclosing structure from the environment interacting with it) of enclosing structures exceed twice the required level specified in the SNIP for Siberia and approach 8 ° C / W.

Why is straw better than wood?

The most energy-efficient material is foam, but it does not breathe, burns well and emits harmful gases. Therefore, it makes no sense to compare ecological materials for housing with it. Wood will be closest in properties to straw.

“But the bar of natural moisture is cold, it will lead over time, it will crack. You will have to heat a wooden house quite often. It is insulated, each material reacts in its own way to moisture, they begin to walk against each other, which leads to destruction. The second option is profiled glued laminated timber. They say that the glue is environmentally friendly. But if the beam is impregnated, then you breathe this glue, ”says the interlocutor.

Photo: © provided by Nikita Baranov

Straw creates space for air in the panel, reflects heat, and therefore is a very good insulation. The thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.057 W / (m * K), which, with a thickness of 27 centimeters, is equivalent to 90 centimeters of a wall made of timber or 260 centimeters of brick. And due to the fact that clay plaster draws moisture from the straw, the material also does not rot. In addition, experiments with rodents have shown that they do not try to gnaw through a layer of clay.

To dispel the myth that straw is a fire hazard, the team invited people to set fire to the panel with a burner and see the result for themselves. The entrepreneurs promised that if the panel caught fire, a house would be built for the test participant for free. But none of the critics even tried. And the panels passed fire safety tests - they hold an open flame for 30 minutes. This effect is achieved thanks to the clay with which the frame is smeared; when heated, it turns into stone.


“We have returned to the experience of our ancestors. Grandparents, who saw our show house, came in and called it a mud hut. One grandmother said that her mother's straw house stood for the whole war, the shells hit, he had nothing, that the houses were reliable and warm. In Europe, there is a school made of straw, which is almost 200 years old ... ”, continues Baranov.

For construction, rye straw is used, which is not suitable for animal feed and bedding. Rye is grown only in two farms of the Novosibirsk region in the Iskitimsky and Mochishchensky districts, but so far there is enough raw material.

To date, the company has built three straw houses. One for Vladimir Shutikov, the second is an exhibition house that has already been bought, and the first domed house in Siberia in Academgorodok. In the near future, two two-story houses with an area of ​​115 square meters are to be built in the village of Mira (the village of Oktyabrsky in the Moshkovsky district), the cost of such buildings will be 3 million rubles without finishing.

Why is a round house better than a regular one?

The cottage village "Gorki Academpark" is not fully populated, most of the houses are under construction. Among the standard form of houses, a domed structure, similar to a small mushroom, stands out. It was assembled and plastered in two months.

When you go inside, you are surprised by the spaciousness. What looked small from the outside is 170 square meters inside. This is a two-story house. On the first floor there is a hall, a bathroom and a toilet, a future living room and an office for the owner, on the second floor there are two bedrooms.

Guests are greeted not only by an unusual interior, but also by the aroma of cedar, which decorates the walls of the room. So the owner of the house, the general director of the Golden Mean company, Sergey Borodin, combined two dreams: a house made of cedar and straw.

“I wanted to build a healthy house, as environmentally friendly as possible. The form matters too. Yogis love to meditate in houses of this shape. It is believed that all energies are amplified in it. It is better to spy on nature, and everything in the world is round: planets, molecules, the mother's womb, an egg, ”the owner explains.

He was looking for a house that "breathes" and found that clayed straw is five times more vapor permeable than wood. Clay allows you to maintain the most healthy humidity inside in the region of 50-60%, even in severe frost, it gives moisture inside in winter and takes it in summer, when there is more of it. Last winter, when the February frosts reached 45 degrees, it was warm in the round house, and the humidity did not fall below 50%.

Until the gas is connected in the room, it is heated by a warm floor from electricity, there are no batteries. But the owner claims that electricity bills do not exceed 2.5 thousand rubles a month. And with gas they will be below a thousand.

“...People do what they are told they are used to. They forget how to think, they don’t show creativity, it turns out a society of stagnation, and it becomes easy to manage people like a herd ... ”, Baranov says, adding that he really wants people to live in beautiful houses, to think about it, and not do it like received.

He is even ready to give advice to those who wish - how to save money during construction. His house, including decoration, cost about 7 million rubles. This amount is mainly due to the powerful foundation that can withstand a five-story building, and the thick cedar wall decoration. But, according to him, if desired, you can meet the 3-5 million.


In front of the exterior of the house. A ventilated facade is planned for it, which protects the building from moisture and allows it to “breathe”. Siding is not a natural material, and wood paint will fade every 3-5 years. Therefore, Borodin wants to plaster the house with a composition of natural vermiculite (mica material) and a beige color scheme. “This is my boletus,” the owner of the house smiles.

Straw and clay houses are becoming more and more popular. We present you a selection of the best articles about thatched houses that we have published this year.

This cozy family house was built in just 6 months by Serbian architect Vuk Kristic from wood, straw, clay and reeds. In record time, Vuk and his wife Marina sold an apartment in Belgrade and bought a plot in the southern province of Vojvodina for a permaculture farm.

Slovak studio Createrra has built the first domed house out of straw bales. The house is illuminated through 7 large round windows and is covered with a green roof from above, and in winter you can freely leave it on sleds and kiteboards.

Canadian architect Nicholas Koff decided to demonstrate to the whole world that a straw house is not only healthy and sustainable, but also stylish. His customers were a family of doctors who want to meet old age in a healthy home.

In the Danish eco-village Fri & Fro (free and happy) there is an unusual thatched house with a spiral roof. His owner Paula Lin was inspired to build the house after finding a large shell on a beach in Malaysia.

This thatched house for two was built by Cobworks on the Isle of Main back in 1999 and was the first house in Canada to receive local approval. It is not only made of environmentally friendly materials, but also has a beautiful history.

Straw houses will no longer be a curiosity, the architectural company Modcell has proven that their houses allow you to save up to 90% on heating costs. Today in Bristol, there are already 7 straw bale houses for sale and they are much cheaper than ordinary brick houses. The creators of straw houses call them their contribution to cleansing the planet of dangerous carbon dioxide emissions.

What should be sustainable housing? Affordable, compact, energy efficient and prefabricated. We decided to develop our own version of a compact eco-friendly house made of straw blocks. So, meet the project of a modular eco-house for 2 people...

In Spain, they proposed a new method of building houses from straw, using pressed straw bricks. They are significantly lighter than straw panels and are ideal for those building their own home.

The selection of these houses is especially close to my heart, as it was collected in Podolia, my small homeland. In one of these huts I spent my early childhood and I have very fond memories of them. Vinnitsa artist Vladimir Kozyuk has been collecting this photo selection for 13 years, for which he is very grateful.

Consumption ecology. Manor: One of the main advantages of a thatched domed house is the ability of building envelopes to accumulate and release thermal energy.

Thermal inertia is the ability of materials to accumulate and release thermal energy.

In construction, the thermal inertia of enclosing structures is determined by the formula:

D = R1 s1 + R2 s2 + … + Rn sn,
where R1, R2, ..., Rn - thermal resistance of individual layers of the building envelope;
s1, s2, ..., sn - calculated coefficients of heat absorption of the material of individual layers of the building envelope.

Everyone knows that stones heat up perfectly and give off heat for a long time, so they are readily used to create microclimatic zones in construction, gardening, pond farming, etc. The stones have a large volumetric weight, which is what allows them to be accumulators of thermal energy.

The ability of materials to accumulate heat, according to the above formula, is determined by the coefficient of heat absorption.

Granite has the largest heat absorption coefficient s, polyurethane foam and expanded polystyrene have the smallest parameter.

From here we see a direct dependence of the heat absorption of the material on its weight. The heavier the material, the better it accumulates heat. Polyurethane foam is an effective insulation, it consists of air, therefore, it does not actually have the ability to heat up.

Now let's look at how different materials from which people build houses behave in building envelopes.

1. If the walls of the house consist of heavy materials - brick, concrete, adobe, etc., then they perfectly accumulate heat and give it away for a long time. But due to the high thermal conductivity, they give off heat for the most part to the street. Therefore, such walls in cold climates are cold and damp due to condensation at the dew point. The situation changes radically when such massive walls are well insulated from the outside, for example, with the same polystyrene foam. The heat accumulated by the walls does not go outside and works for the owners, allowing them to spend less money on heating the house.

2. If the walls of the house consist only of effective insulation - frame houses with mineral wool, houses made of sip panels, etc., then in fact such walls are deprived of the ability to accumulate heat. Warm air is quickly blown out during airing or ventilation and it has to be heated again, in fact, wasting money. To create comfortable living conditions and a favorable climate in such houses, it is necessary to use massive elements, such as a brick oven, brick partitions, concrete or adobe floors, etc. These elements will accumulate heat and release it when needed.

And finally, about the straw domed house. What do we have here?

We have a thick layer of effective insulation - pressed straw 45cm thick and a layer of internal plaster 5-10cm thick. For example, a dome 10m in diameter with a riser 1m has an internal surface area of ​​about 200m2, with a plaster layer thickness of 5cm, the mass of this layer will be about 20 tons, which corresponds to the weight of the straw walls themselves, and with a thickness of 10cm - 2 times higher than it. This is a good thermal mass that creates comfort and coziness in the house, saving time and money for the owners.

What else to read