Strawbale house

Please continue to follow my story at this site:

http://ecostrawhouse.com/

Thanks for the reader who suggested I put a twitter and Face book 'follow' button - see above!

I have all kinds of offers, tips, tools, reviews etc on this new site!

Thanks to all who have followed me on this blog - I am moving on to greener pastures to speak!
See you on the other side.......
http://www.EcoStrawHouse.com

Thanks for all the wonderful comments on this Blog. I would like to respond to them but unfortunately, I am unable to unless you leave your email address in your message.

For the people who asked the question on the paint: I used Eco House, out of New Brunswick and the dilution was from their paint pallet.

Do not use regular paint on this kind of plaster. Also, I used a top coat of sealant from Eco House, which in effect gives the house a 'gortex' effect.

Digging the foundation...

So we did down at centre front of the house, thru the landscaping, to the stone.

We reach the insulation.

Cut thru the insulation, expect to see gushing water draining from under the house. Nothing. Not even any dampness?!?!?!

The stone is bone dry - no sign of any wet. Absolutely baffling!

We filled it all back in and continued to scratch our heads!

Wet Patches On The Concrete

Very strange, this past fall, these patches started appearing on the floor (stained concrete), a week or two after the heating system was turned on.
Initially, the obvious was feared, a leak in the radiant floor heating system

. After much investigation which included pressure testing the entire floor heating system (everything was fine, and no leaks found) over a period of time.
This problem became baffling (and still is) as we looked into drainage around the house, for the possibility of build up of ground source water etc. We even dug up some of the grading down to the foundation, to see if drainage was the problem. It was bone dry....

Anyway, over the past couple of months these patches are slowly dissppearing and drying out. We still have not figured out what caused them tho.

If anyone has had a similar problem, please comment as this has everyone baffled.

Summer 2008

Well, haven't added anything for some time, so thought it was time to update this blog.

Finally, in July, I got my full occupancy permit! After a long road of compliance etc, I am now legally able to live in my strawbale house!

Just a few notes on the heating system through the winter:
The radiant floor heating was amazing - kept the house at a constant temperature, whatever I set it at. I was able to supplement with the woodstove but that was mainly for 'cozy' effect.
Here is the big news: I estimate my hydro usage for the heating to be a little under $500 for the winter season!! Amazing! This was to run the geothermal system (pump). Because of the insulation factor of straw bales, the house remained at the constant temperature. It was a very 'comfortable' heat too - never dry, or fluctuating, which I experienced in previous homes, when the furnace would come on.
As far as this summer has gone, the temp inside has not gone over 23 degrees C and was more often around 18 - 20 degrees C - I occasionally run a dehumidifier on the really humid days and that is sufficient to keep it very comfortable in here.

My main projects this year have been to work on getting compliance for the occupancy inspection and on the landscaping, which will be a work in progress for many years to come.

Stay tuned, as there will be an extension going in, hopefully next year, or in 2010.

Don't forget this years Straw Bale tour is on October 4th. Check out the OSBBC site at :

http://www.strawbalebuilding.ca

Final Exterior colour Applied

This month we completed the exterior protection: it involved sealing any cracks, applying the Eco House primer sealer, then two coats of the Eco House