[GSBN] Low-cost Strawbale

[John Glassford]

Morning

Going to be hot here today 42C in the shade too hot for this old bloke!

I am with you Eco Bruce and my twin brother John.  I would love to come to
the USA to have chat about the SITUPS as we call them.

I would also have loved to have been in the Land of the Long White Cloud in
Methven.

It is just that I have to keep My Little Wolverine in the manner that she
has got accustomed to.  That is I have to work for my daily bread and work
is good for the body and soul.  We are very busy which is good but I need a
holiday!

Regarding the SITUPS MLW is responsible for getting them to market and we
now have 6 SITUPS out there and the clients are very happy with the results
so far.  We also have 3 SITUPS homes being manufactured here and ready for
delivery.

The criteria that we look for are as follows:

1.  Easy to handle with two strong men or 4 average men maybe a bobcat to
move them to save wear and tear on the back.

2.  Size does matter so we try to keep them at 900 mm wide or 3 feet and
sometimes we go to 1000 mm.  Height 2.450 or 8 ' 2" upwards to 2.7 m.  We
have also built 3 m high SITUPS in situ.

3.  For load bearing which they are we also like to pre-compress them at
the time of manufacture and to do this we  use a hydraulic press.  This
avoids any problems with render creep and cracking.

4.  Render on site not at the factory.  OR clad in other materials.

5.  Working on a portable SITUPS factory so that we can manufacture on site
especially for small low cost housing which is where I want to be making
these homes in Africa.

6.  There is also a market for the high end of the building industry and it
is here that the professional builders are now starting to take an interest.

These walls go up very very quickly and we can get a large size home up in
2 days and then start the preparation for roofing and installation of
window and door frames.  Then the normal stuff happens such as cladding and
finishing.

Apart from the speed of erection all the other wonderful benefits of straw
bales are evident in this method.

We have come a long way since we made the first panel on the banks of the
Murrumbidgee River near Hay. All we had was a 4'6" chain saw, a tractor and
an 8' x' 4'x 4' jumbo bale.

You can see what we have done here and one day soon I will get the latest
photos of the *SITUPS in action.*
<http://glassford.com.au/main/sit-up-example/into-mainstream/>

Getting very busy with my Rotary work as well and will soon be the other
side of 72, however I can still wheel a barrow of mud as good as any of you
young ones.  Then again I expect that you have all grown older with me

Wishing you all a very enjoyable ISBBC in NZ.  It is now 13 years since we
held the one in Ganmain.

BTW SITUPS are Super Insulated Tilt-Up Panel System.

Eco Bruce divert your plane via Ganmain mate and come and say G ' day!  We
will be in Victoria building at the time of Methven and in Western
Australia at the time of the CASBA shindig.

All the best

The Straw Wolf

Huff 'n' Puff Constructions
61 2 6927 6027
In Australia (02) 6927 6027
Mobile 0412 11 61 57

Coolamon Rotary Club <http://club.coolamonrotary.com/>

RAG Endangered Species <http://www.endangeredrag.org/>

Huff n Puff <http://glassford.com.au/main/>
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