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<TITLE>Re: [GSBN] Use of and protection - steel columns in bale walls</TITLE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>Thanks John.<BR>
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Joyce<BR>
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Steel will be the stiffest element in a building, and when combined with wood...say a steel braced section next to a wood framed section, there can be differential shrinking and expansion that can lead to cracks in the plaster. These areas need to be thought through and carefully detailed.<BR>
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We wrap steel with foam--the stuff plumbers use to wrap pipes coming out of a slab. The steel in a bale wall can get extremely hot when the sun beats against the wall--it's backed by good insulation, so it's unable to throw off the heat. This can result in a surprising amount of expansion, so we try to leave room between the steel and the plaster to accommodate this. You can also cover the foam with paper, to allow a slip joint, but this alone isn't sufficient.<BR>
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All the best,<BR>
John (Slip Joint) Swearingen.<BR>
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On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 6:09 AM, Joyce Coppinger <jc10508@windstream.net> wrote:<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>TLS received a request for information about how to deal with steel columns<BR>
within a bale wall. The bales will be notched around the steel columns in a<BR>
sb infill post-and-beam structure. The question was do they need to wrap the<BR>
seel columns prior to stacking the bales - and, if so, what is the best<BR>
material to use (foam, felt, or other)?<BR>
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That's the basic question. Could you also comment about the use of steel<BR>
framing with bales - pros and cons, any special treatment or considerations,<BR>
moisture issues (condensation), other.<BR>
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Joyce<BR>
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Joyce Coppinger<BR>
Managing Editor/Publisher<BR>
The Last Straw, the international journal<BR>
of strawbale and natural building<BR>
PO Box 22706, Lincoln NE 68542-2706<BR>
402.483.5135, fax 402.483.5161<BR>
<thelaststraw@thelaststraw.org><BR>
www.thelaststraw.org <a href="http://www.thelaststraw.org"><http://www.thelaststraw.org></a> <BR>
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