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As you may know, we are building a small straw bale guest cabin as a trial run before building our straw bale house. The original plan was to get our house weathered in before winter. Between the weather, other jobs requiring attention on the homestead and life in general, we’re still working on the guest cabin and haven’t started on the house. We have done enough remodeling and other building projects to know that this is par for the course. The new goal is to complete the house in 2016!
The guest cabin is coming along nicely. Fall is a rainy time here in the Ozarks, so we stapled plastic all the way around the framing of the straw bale cabin before we started stacking bales. The plastic has been a life saver on numerous occasions! We have had strong winds and a lot of rain, but the bales are nice and dry. Yes!
The bales are now all stacked and the walls are trimmed, inside and out. Stacking, retying bales and trimming is a dusty, messy job no matter how you go about it. It was difficult to get good pictures of the stacking and the cabin in general. The cabin is small and the tools, ladders and extra bales took up most of the space. Even so, the cabin has taken shape and is looking like a little house.
A view of the ceiling and window. The wood scaffolding will be removed once the construction is completed.
Now it’s time to start preparing for the natural plaster. I’m so excited to get started on the plaster! But first, we need to put in the electrical wires and windows. Welded wire needs to be put up on the walls, from floor to ceiling as well. The welded wire is what gives the curved look around the windows and gives the bales more support. If the weather cooperates, we should be able to start plastering the outside walls within the next couple of weeks. The temperature needs to be above freezing for 72 hours to allow the plaster to dry properly. Thankfully it has been a mild fall and although we’ve had some chilly nights, the cold hasn’t lasted long. The plastic around the cabin and the stacked bales are working to our advantage as well. There is plenty of insulation to keep the little cabin toasty warm.
There have been plenty of other projects on the homestead that have kept us from completely focusing on the guest cabin. Putting up fence for winter pastures, getting the solar panels in place and burying electrical and water lines have been just a few of the jobs on the to-do list. Even so, steady progress keeps us optimistic that this cabin will be completed soon.
Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more
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