We've been working hard for weeks, and now it's time to have some fun with beautiful finishes and elegant flourishes. Having built a beautiful structure out of steel and straw, it's now time to apply plasters, paints, stains and washes that will make the inside of the house glow with warmth and elegance.
Modern buildings these days have become more and more waterproof, creating, basically, plastic boxes that we live in. And imagine wearing a plastic bag on your body. There's no air circulation, and all the moisture stays in. That's why, in our modern buildings, mold is such a problem. Our straw bale walls, in particular, need to breathe to allow moisture to be absorbed and released naturally. And earthen plasters are perfect for that.
Straw bale walls are breathable.Water vapor can move in and out of the walls, so we really reduce our chances of having mold in the house. Water doesn't condense on interior surfaces, because it has a chance to dry out, and so we don't create a mold breeding ground within these walls.
Earthen plasters are the perfect green finish for straw bale construction. Created by combining clay, aggregates, and pigments, the advantages to using earthen plasters are: no off-gassing, minimal waste materials on-site, and they are easy to repair. Earthen plaster is nonflammable, offers additional masonry mass in rooms, and resists mold growth. We can achieve strong, durable finishes with earthen plaster while being responsible for our personal impact on the planet.
Kevin,
I am a sculptor who has worked with concrete and ferrocement. I would think it great if I could use clay, lime, and straw instead. But would it hold up where there is frost? I have attached a .jpg as an example of what I do.
“Old Scruffy”
Scruffy,
I am also a sculptor. I have designed several big pieces that I want to build for a garden but haven’t due to not wanting to use cement. But I can tell you this: Bale walls left exposed to the elements work best when topped with a couple of inches of earthen plaster, then a piece of plastic and then more finished lime or cement plaster. The layers keep rain from soaking into the bales and let condensation soak into the plaster rather than the bales. I have also thought that a modified adobe mixture could work. Do some research and let me know what you come up with, and maybe we’ll build something together on camera.
Kevin
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