6/1/1 In the beginning, there were trees...
The Bale Barn
Homer, Alaska
In Progress
(Updated November, 2002)
This building is not finished, but I'm working on it. It was begun in the spring of 2001 in Homer, Alaska. The idea was to build a workshop out of local and recycled materials that was well insulated, low cost, and architecturally pleasing. What I came up with is essentially a nine sided (nonagon) pole barn, with baled shredded paper as infill in the walls, and a 3 sided cupola offset to the north side. The poles came from trees that I cut on our property. The trees have been dead for 4 to 6 years as a result of a spruce bark beetle infestation here. The lumber mostly came from these trees as well. I cut, limbed, loaded, and hauled the trees to a local saw mill to be turned into lumber for this project. This was a significant amount of labor, but I feel very good about using the trees from the site to build with. Several of the trees cut were trees that could have fallen on the building site. The local saw mill does very fine work, and the rough cut 4x12 beams supporting the cupola will remain exposed on the inside of the workshop area. This will hopefully add a nice contrast to the plastered walls. The poles will be buried in the walls, each wall section containing 9 bales. The bales are 32" long x 24" wide x 18" high, and weigh about 125 pounds. They are stacked on edge in the wall sections, on the stringers secured to each pole, creating an 8 foot wide by 6 foot high by 18" thick bale panel between each pole. The stringer solution came about in an effort to reduce the foundation work, and to keep the bales up off of the ground. An insulated skirting will extend from the bale walls down to the finished grade. The floor will be of wood chips, possibly insulated beneath with blue board, and the ceiling will be insulated with blown-in shredded newsprint. This nonagon is a prototype for the paper bale building technique, a possible parallel to straw bale construction in regions where there is abundant waste paper but little straw. The paper bales' biggest drawback is their weight, other than that they generally seem to work well. Thanks to my partner Sharon for her help and support, and to our friends who have helped along the way.
I welcome your comments.
Dale Banks
6/1/1 In the beginning, there were trees...
6/1/1 And open space...
7/2/1 Then some trees were cut, limbed, and loaded up for milling.
7/28/1 Smaller trees and ends were used for poles. The poles were
de-barked and charred.
7/28/1 Holes were dug 3 feet plus, and footers were made of concrete.
7/28/1 The shoveling was tough work.
7/29/1 Poles were wrapped with bitch-a-thane (ice and water shield) from 1 foot below to 1 foot
above ground level.
7/29/1 More digging and leaning.
7/29/1 Some poles in the ground.
8/1/1 Pole raising - almost there.
8/1/1 Got it.
8/12/1 Some stringers are up.
8/12/1 Bales of paper will rest on the stringers between poles.
8/13/1 The first beam for the cupola.
8/13/1 Finally, some rest.
8/15/1 3 beams up.
9/4/1 The beginnings of a roof.
9/4/1 Roof framing detail.
9/8/1 Cupola walls are framed.
9/9/1 A good helper.
9/10/1 Cupola walls and East roofs.
9/25/1 Roof Framing.
9/25/1 Lower roof deck finished.
9/30/1 Roof with roofing felt. Arched Garage door entry.
10/7/1 Rolled asphalt roofing application. Hip rafters up.
10/8/1 View from the house porch.
11/16/1 House wrap, cupola roof framed and mostly decked.
11/16/1 From West side.
11/16/1 Wall section before bales.
11/23/1 Sharon inspects the bales.
11/23/1 The first bale wall section is up.
11/24/1 The pile of bales in the morning.
11/24/1 The pile gets smaller.
11/24/1 Putting the bales in place.
11/25/1 A new look.
11/25/1 Mostly baled walls.
6/7/2002 Let the plastering begin.
6/7/2 The first 10 square feet applied.
6/16/2 Sophie mixes the earthen plaster
6/16/2 Hailey likes this stuff.
7/5/2 The first wall finished!
7/6/2002 Friends help apply the mud.
7/7/2002 More happy helpers.
7/8/2002 From the West.
7/16/2002 The mortar mixer, sawdust pile, clay/sand pile.
7/16/2002 Interior walls can be the artist's canvas.
7/30/2002 The Truth Window
8/15/2002 All walls have been plastered. Some mixed width spruce
siding begun on the cupola. Still needs a door built for the large car
sized opening.
11/16/2002 Finally the cupola is sided, a temporary garage door is tacked on,
and the snows have started.
As of September, 2002, all exterior and interior walls have been plastered, and the plaster has dried. There were some small cracks and we went back with a clay/sand mix to fill them in. We bought a mortar mixer which seems to be the perfect tool for mixing the batches of plaster. We used local clay, sand, lawnmower chopped straw, sawmill shavings, and wheat paste in the batches for the exterior. In October, 2002, the wall between the two doors got hit pretty hard with driving rain. The plaster held up well, with little erosion. Some areas were still wet when the temperature dropped below freezing, so there are some frozen spots in the plaster. No cracking, flaking, or other damage is noticeable yet.