[GSBN] prefab strawbale

[cmagwood at kos.net]

John,

Most of the cost and time savings with the prefab panels we're doing come
from eliminating the site plastering. The poured walls are done in a
single coat, poured "sidewalk style", both sides of the panel at one time.
There is no way even our best practiced spray crew could do two coats to
two sides to a perfect finish in under an hour for an 8ftx8ft panel. Plus,
the plaster can be applied in any weather and can cure away from sun, wind
and gravity pulling things down the wall.

After lots of experiments, we decided not to cast door and windows into
the panels. Instead, we panelize the sections of the building between
openings, and then frame in the openings once the panels are installed. In
the case of the building we just did, those sections don't have any bale
in them. Instead, we framed out storage bins/benches at the same width as
the bale walls.

We include a single stud at the edge of each panel, and the framed
sections are attached to these studs. I can send you the plan details if
you want. We typically don't meet shaky California criteria here in
Ontario, but I'm sure the system can be adapted to suit.

Chris

> That's interesting info, Chris, particularly your construction costs.
> Maybe
> we should try something like that!
>
> I'm not clear how, with a module that's pre-plastered, you tie modules
> together and make them weather-tight as well as structurally sound (don't
> forget, our ground shakes violently now and then).
>
> It seems that your 'poured' walls are simple and easy for unskilled
> builders.   What would be the difference if you installed pre-fab walls
> w/o
> plaster, and a professional crew did the plastering as normally done?
>
> John "Beyond Fab" Swearingen
>