A ROUND HOUSE OF STRAW BALES
(Page 3 of 4)
Then we laid a covering of hog wire over the roof supports
and attached its ends to the barbed wire with which we had
circled the tops of the wall poles. Over the hog wire, we
spread an inch of loose straw (EDITOR'S NOTE: Hey, Bob,
why not a thicker layer of roofing straw for more
insulation?) . . . and over the straw we nailed a
corrugated tin roof that overhung the building's wall. As a
final touch, we spotted the nail holes in the corrugated
metal with tar.
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Even with all the climbing and hammering and heavy
material, the roof poles held up well. The metal sheets,
however, were hard to work with, hard to cut and hard to
clamber around on as we guessed where to nail in order to
hit a pole. Next time I'll use three-foot-wide strips of
plastic, overlapped like long shingles to make the water
run off. The plastic is lighter and (if you have to buy the
tin) cheaper.
Just for fun as we began to top our new home, it began to
snow. By that time, my hands were also beginning to show my
inexperience (each day added a new scratch or cut, mainly
from the barbed wire and tin). The excitement of
construction, however, had made us stronger than any mere
cold weather or small wounds. Our city selves no longer
shrank from such challenges. We felt quite able to
meet—and beat—the worst we encountered.
Once the roof was on, it was time to set the windows into
the pre-fitted openings we had left for them. We supported
each frame on little one-inch-thick poles set into the
ground inside the house at the appropriate locations. Then
we attached wires to a screw in each corner of every window
frame, pulled the strands out between the bales around the
openings, drew the frames snug against the wall and cinched
the wires to sticks on the outside.
For the door frame, we set two more poles about two feet
into the dirt, just like the original eight uprights
(working right on the ground is so simple and
straightforward). We nailed a short 2 X 4 across the top of
the two vertical members to complete the frame and a strip
of cardboard (like a long hinge) over the real hinges to
weatherproof one side of the door. After a little shaving,
the door neatly closed into the other framing pole and a
nail—beheaded, bent info a "U" and hammered into the
upright—was all the latch-catch we needed.
