693
psyop (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 weeks ago by [M] to c/okmatewanker@feddit.uk
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A Twitter post from BBC World saying "Should more British homes be built using straw?" Below is a speech bubble coming out of a wolf.
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[–] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (18 children)

What if the f30 material is damaged or air gaps left by installer?

How resilient and sensitive to flaws in construction?

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  • [–] 16 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    I watched a strawbale building demonstration 20 years ago where they torched a stuccoed strawbale structure that had no treatments: the fire reached over 2000°f and when it was cooled, they cut open the stawbales and showed the fire didn't burn the bale more than an inch deep. They really do not burn due to the lack of oxygen.

    Water on the other hand can rot out a whole wall if it's not sealed.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    I watched a strawbale building demonstration 20 years ago where they torched a stuccoed strawbale structure that had no treatments:

    Are you a firefighter or family because those are the only folk I can think of who get to go to those and they sound fun as hell

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  • [–] 10 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

    Then you violated the building code. Regarding fire and arguably more importantly air tightness to prevent condensation and resulting water damage.

    In attics its mandatory to do a blow out test where you create overpressure and search for air movement and leaks with a smoke machine.

    Rule of thumb is outer walls wind tight, inside perimeter walls air tight. (Diffusion open)

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  • [–] -2 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

    and what if the owner added a hole because they felt like it?

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  • [–] 10 points 3 weeks ago* (2 children)

    That wouldn't be good for a bunch of reasons. Mainly because the owner is obviously stupid.

    That being said, I'd argue that Cars aren't safe because if you light a fire under it and wait for a few minutes it goes up in flames.

    Same reasoning.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Farmers have known for thousands of years that wet straw can spontaneously combust and you're saying people can't put a nail in their wall or install a new outdoor light?

    What happens if you have a pinhole leak in a pipe?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago*

    First: don't drill into walls from the outside if you don't know what's going on. True for all kinds of insulation. Wet polystyrene is also a disaster, albeit being not as fiery.

    Second: don't drill into pipes. For that there are regulations to. Where are conduits supposed to be located and therefore you know where (not) to drill. If it still happens it's another human error and in my opinion as dangerous as nicking a powerline and creating a small glow (unlikely today thanks to gfci and such).

    but to the larger point you made: i am sure that if you put a lot of straw in a pile and add water and wait and settle that it will generate heat. Composts come to mind. That takes a lot of thickness for the heat to overcome thermodynamic equilibrium and start to burn. Thr straw in the wall is sealed. But not for heat but air transit. As you can see in the picture of the article that wall has a thickness of about 50?cm, which is not enough to create that heat pile effect when wet. The heat would be dissipated, I am sure.

    And what I am even more certain of is German regulations being overly thorough to the point of being anal. There is no way that this hasn't been tested to death especially with the strong chemical company's lobby here.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    That's what the permitting process is (theoretically) for: to ensure specific, potentially dangerous repairs and construction are done according to safety code.

    Hypothetical situation: If you have to get a permit to do general contractor work, and the hole you find violates code, I would assume you would be expected to repair the hole. depending on the size of the hole (are we talking pinholes? Nails? How do you mount shit to a stud on a wall built out of haybales? Is the stud buried in the bale or extra thick to accommodate the thicker wall? I've never worked with one of these hay walls, the idea of them is so neat) I'd talk to the owner specifically about how I was repairing it so they could repair any other holes themselves, as that would likely not be the job I was hired to do. I haven't worked construction since high school tho so ymmv.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

    People in construction know what they're doing and in general know what they're talking about.

    Unfortunately, that excellently constructed home they spent so much effort on will still be sitting there in 5, 15, maybe 50 years from now. And all that time it's definitely not getting all it's proper maintenance, and will slowly be dropping in quality.

    I doubt these buildings would go up hindenburg style, but after a decade or two of being lived in, fires will not be as easy to put out in a home like this.

    Source: not a construction worker, but have worked in construction for a few years here and there and have been working with fire for several decades (and working to make fire safe to handle and trying to fireproof a couple garages)

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  • [–] 6 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

    And all that time it's definitely not getting all it's proper maintenance

    That’s a human problem, not a problem with the material and would affect any home built with any material. Also, what kind of maintenance requires you to open up the walls?

    I doubt these buildings would go up hindenburg style, but after a decade or two of being lived in, fires will not be as easy to put out in a home like this.

    Anything to support this besides your assumptions? Straw has been in use for a very long time and, generally speaking, this statement doesn’t hold up.

    https://www.nachi.org/straw-bale-home-basics-history.htm

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  • [–] -2 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    a good material for a house will survive neglect.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Uh, I don't think so. But maybe you can teach me something. Do you have an example of a structure that is exposed to the elements and doesn't need Amy maintenance? while providing good living xonditions of course.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago*

    For certain definitions of good, they make these things called quonset huts. The metal ones aren't half bad if you insulate the fuck out of them (reno winters aren't that bad, but reno winters in a poorly insulated quonset hut? We had open jam sessions just to keep the building warm)

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago

    not getting all it's proper maintenance

    So when my wife and I started dating, she had been given a car by a sister. That car had 150k miles on it and it got oil changes every 20k miles. In the 90s. Pre-synthetic oil.

    Her family (aside from her oldest sister, who has been telling them all the same shit for decades) wonders why my/our cars have always been so nice, and I keep telling them "just keep it clean and do the recommended maintenance". I don't know if they think I'm keeping a secret or lying to them, but it's that easy.

    As I've primarily rented (nothing much beyond standard rental contracts except a couple double nets, but I knew the owners and they preferred me to their usual maintenance guy) I'm suddenly wondering if I have been forgetting to rotate my foundation or something.

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