A House of Straw
(Page 3 of 4)
April/May 2003
By Carolyn Roberts
STRAW BALE WALLS
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After days of toiling with dirt and concrete. a lovely moment arrived when golden hales of straw were piled by the foundation and 20 people showed up to help raise my walls. I'd found these volunteers through friends, from notices I'd put in health-food stores and an announcement I'd sent out on the straw-bale listserv. With an experienced straw-hale builder, Matts Myhrman, as our leader, we divided into teams to handle cacti wall and corner of the house. Some people tied custom hales to fit against the window and door bucks, while others raked the loose straw into hags for later use in our earthen plasters. I was the host, answering questions, providing food and making sure everyone had the supplies they needed.
On this day, I discovered the cheep joy of building by community. Many of the volunteers were complete strangers who have now become friends, and they all worked hard to make sure my walls were straight and strong. Now, I eagerly attend every wall raising I can. Work and play don't have to be separate experiences.
RAISING THE ROOF
After enduring a post-wall-raising depression, I faced the challenge of putting a very steep roof over the hale walls. The scary part began as we had to fasten large sheets of oriented-strand board (OSB) and metal roofing on top of the trusses. To get through this phase, I had to overcome my fear of heights. I could feel the freedom of working high in the blue sky, with the birds and the tops of the saguaro cactus at eye level.
As we moved into a construction trailer on the land, the boys caught my enthusiasm and volunteered more often. I also found a consultant to help me with the difficult jobs, answer questions and tell me how to survive all the building inspections. I finally had the help and support I needed.
WINDOWS AND DOORS
Once the roof was on, the basic structure of the house was completed, but there were many, many hours of carpentry to go as I filled in the gable ends and installed windows and doors. This took patience and more learning, along with hard work while I was balanced on ladders and scaffolds. But this was the spiritual part of the construction for me, as I began to relax with the work and enjoy my craft in the open desert on the long summer evenings. I almost regretted enclosing the house and shutting off the soothing, Melodic .sounds of nature.
