Putting a stove outlet into a straw bale wall????? Easy!

Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Inserting a temporary stove and outlet for a later rocket mass heater.

Inserting a stove wall exhaust outlet in a straw bale wall. First I am going to remove the lower bales so I need to strap up the upper bales.

I find I can also do it with the baling needle I made.

First strap up, but I will need more than this.

Two straps up and bales almost out!

I use a heavier strap to raise the bales because they did not fit perfectly all the way to the upper beam. I take this opportunity to make a better fit while I am doing the other job of inserting a rock wall below.

I start to find rocks outside and make a rough mock up so I can get an idea how it might look and see if I will have enough rocks of the correct type.

I have the stove working in the mean time. It will help the mortar set in the cold 30F weather.

Even after I took the straps off, the bales stayed put. One strap is still on here but I took it off and it was the same. That is how tight the bales are.

I manage to get the bales to squeeze up a little higher. It was difficult.

I will finish the rest of the mortar soon now that I have the bales corrected and set with a brace of 2 x 4 across the bottom. You cannot see it here.

Nice to be able to get warm in cold winter weather even though the house needs much work yet.

This stove is only temporary. A rocket mass heater pipe and stove and outlet for a larger wood stove will be built into the thermal mass cob bench. It will occupy the space where the small stove is now.

The rock displaces enough heat to protect the wood that contacts the stone. When the bench is built it will be even more dispersed. The top part is not mortared yet. I just stuck some rock in to plug the hole.

Straw Bales in The Snow and Sledding Fun

Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

December 5....."straw bales" rather than "sleigh bells" in the snow

Sure glad I built porches....

December 8...about a foot of snow on the roof and porches...glad I had just reinforced the porches a few weeks earlier anticipating this possibility.

Time for some free fun

Cables are a lot easier to put on in comparison to chains

Sledding on the road that meets our driveway

Wife transport to sledding spot

Emmi adding wool to cracks in door seams and window seams. This month we are filling in holes....hanging doors in addition to building up the earthen floor layers

Next week I will be inserting a rock wall to run the stove pipe through and an outlet for the future rocket mass heater.

Reducing the snow load on the roof with a rake.

We work all year round....winter or summer.... work hours are the same....hot or cold

A bobcat print I think

VIDEO...Sledding fun!

Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Vapor Barrier on for Earthen Floor build up

Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Recent Progress as of December 1st, 2013

More earthen Floor Layers

After adding the vapor barrier and taping seams we add a few more inches of crushed limestone

We leave a 2 foot gap for insulation around the edge on floor (it will also go on the foundation wall.)

This is the 16 mil vapor barrier before we added the second layer of limestone powder. This is agricultural lime, which we are using in place of sand because it is a lot cheaper. It acts as a cushion to protect the vapor barrier from puncture by the gravel layer that will come next.

Monica, my wife, is taping the seams.