Step 1 - Layout and Foundations
Establish corner locations, erect batter boards and string lines, install "rough" plumbing and electrical and create the foundation for walls.
Step 2 - Window and Door Frames
Fabricate all frames and attach door frames to foundation.
Step 3 - Raising the Walls
Waterproof the foundation, stack the bales, install window frames and install lintels, where necessary.
Step 4 - Roof-Bearing Assembly
Straighten walls, install roof bearing assembly (ladder) and fasten ladder to the foundation.
Step 5 - Adding the Roof
Build roof framework, surface roof framework, install electrical boxes and wiring for ceiling fixtures and install ceiling and insulate.
Step 6 - While the Walls Compress
Finish flooring, create interior partitions, install electrical boxes and wiring in bales, install finish plumbing, secure frames, install windows and doors and trim bales at corners and openings.
Step 7 - Surfacing the Walls
Install expanded metal lath inside and out, install stucco netting on outside, plaster the outside wall surfaces and cover the interior bale walls
with plaster.
Step 8 - The Finishing Touches
Finish electrical and pluming details, finish carpentry details, finish painting, staining, tiling, etc. and make the house a home.

Straw Bale Construction Resources

Nathaniel Corum, Building One House: A Handbook for Straw Bale Construction (Red Feather Development Group, 2004).

Bruce King, Buildings of Earth and Straw: Structural Design for Rammed Earth and Straw Bale Architecture (Sausalito: Ecological Design Press, 1996).

Paul Lacinski and Michel Bergeron, Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates (White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishers, 2000).

Matts Myhrman and S.O. MacDonald, Build It with Bales: A Step-by-Step Guide to Straw Bale Construction (Tucson: Out on Bale Publishers, 1999).

Athena and Bill Steen, and David Bainbridge with David Eisenberg, The Straw Bale House (White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishers, 1994).

CASBA--California Straw Building Association
www.strawbuilding.org

DCAT--The Development Center for Appropriate Technology
www.dcat.net

EBNet--Ecological Building Network
www.ecobuildnetwork.org

The Last Straw Journal
www.thelaststraw.org

Why Straw Bale
Construction?
At the foundation of the American Indian Sustainable Housing Initiative is a belief that affordability and sustainability do not have to exist independently. Thus, we chose straw-bale construction as a logical fit for several reasons.
 
• Straw—an agricultural waste product of wheat production—is an environmentally sustainable and readily available option for Southwest and Northern Plains reservations where wheat grows on thousands of acres.
 
• Straw bale construction is builder-friendly: Indian families, volunteers and community members can quickly become skilled participants in the construction of their own homes.
 
• Our approach results in a relative cost savings of up to 60% in light of volunteer labor and donated materials as compared with a traditionally contracted starter home.
 
• Structures built with straw have an extremely high insulation value, which, when coupled with lower energy consumption, results in savings that can then strengthen the tribal economic base.
 
•Many educational resources exist on straw bale construction methods, and all states have implemented straw bale building codes.
 
• Straw bale construction qualifies for HUD, USDA, and conventional home mortgages.