Straw Bale What They Don't Tell You!!

Mice tend not to like the smell of peppermint. You can even get rodent-repellent sachets that are essentially potpourri made with peppermint and other scents they don't like.


There's a guy on Youtube who tests different mouse repellents. When he tested peppermint oil, the mouse stayed as far from the scent as possible, in spite of the sunflower seeds sprinkled everywhere.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Mice tend not to like the smell of peppermint. You can even get rodent-repellent sachets that are essentially potpourri made with peppermint and other scents they don't like.


There's a guy on Youtube who tests different mouse repellents. When he tested peppermint oil, the mouse stayed as far from the scent as possible, in spite of the sunflower seeds sprinkled everywhere.

I put some of those little sachets under the seat of my motorcycle to keep mice out.  They ate holes in them and made a delicious smelling nest from them

Trace Oswald wrote:

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Mice tend not to like the smell of peppermint. You can even get rodent-repellent sachets that are essentially potpourri made with peppermint and other scents they don't like.


There's a guy on Youtube who tests different mouse repellents. When he tested peppermint oil, the mouse stayed as far from the scent as possible, in spite of the sunflower seeds sprinkled everywhere.

I put some of those little sachets under the seat of my motorcycle to keep mice out.  They ate holes in them and made a delicious smelling nest from them

Good to know! Do you remember the brand? I'm guessing some work better than others.

Perhaps peppermint plants grown around the perimeter of the house?

And, for motorcycles, grow a big peppermint patch and park the motorcycle there?

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:

Trace Oswald wrote:

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Mice tend not to like the smell of peppermint. You can even get rodent-repellent sachets that are essentially potpourri made with peppermint and other scents they don't like.


There's a guy on Youtube who tests different mouse repellents. When he tested peppermint oil, the mouse stayed as far from the scent as possible, in spite of the sunflower seeds sprinkled everywhere.

I put some of those little sachets under the seat of my motorcycle to keep mice out.  They ate holes in them and made a delicious smelling nest from them

Good to know! Do you remember the brand? I'm guessing some work better than others.

I can't remember now.  It was a few years ago and I ordered them online somewhere.

You said you used earthen plaster on the exterior. Did you seal with 4-6 coats of limewash? Also, have you maintained your earthen plaster? Earthen plaster needs regular maintenance unlike other plaster options. Limewash does as well, and acts as a deterrent for insects as well as rodents. Aside from those issues, what kind of "tight seal" are you talking? Insulated windows, and such are great but their purpose is defeated if there are unaccounted for weaknesses in the areas where the windows, doors, vents, and such meet the walls. Leakage is way more common than most people realize, particularly when it comes to strawbales.

Hi Emily,

Welcome to Permies.

I mean, it kind of looks like you just smeared the outer finish on. I can see the straw. I don’t know about the insulation issues you’re describing, but for sure you need more stucco or plaster than that for waterproofing and mice. Like I think 1.25 inches thickness is what’s recommended. That’s 0 inches.

I could be wrong, but I think that visible straw is the fiber in the plaster, not the bale beneath.  To me, it looks too finely chopped to be the actual bale. I hope David, the original poster, will clarify.

I'm considering a straw bale addition and/or strawbale insulation, because straw is abandant in the area my "shack" is located. It's good to be aware of all possible issues with a building method before starting out.

Could you please tell me what was used on the outside of this straw bale house?  Was it parked with cement/concrete?  The bees and bugs worked their way through concrete? If so I think your post was a hugely necessary motivator for me to rethink my off grid plans immensely.  THANK YOU!!!

Just discovered this thread today, some 3 years after the OP...

I'm sitting in a 12-year-old straw bale home in northern Vermont (serious winters), and my experience has been NOTHING like that of the OP.   While I'm hoping the originator of this thread has resolved these issues, I agree with Dustin that something is wrong here.

Our home is a straw bale wrap, with the bale walls around a recycled 1850 timber frame from about 30 miles away.  Great attention to detail went into the interfaces between walls and wood frame, so the different expansion and contraction wouldn't open up gaps and cracks.  The lime plaster is about 1.5" thick on both inside and out, applied in 3 layers -- Steen coat, scratch coat, and finish coat, with increasing levels of lime to the outside, and increasing proportion of clay to the inside.  Lime wash on the exterior, and milk paint on the interior.  Bales are supported by a 20" wide R-22 ICF (concrete) beam over 4' x 4' rubble filled trench for drainage, and an insulated concrete block toe-up to keep the bales 24" off the ground.

We have a 5" thick black stained concrete slab with radiant tubing in place, but we've never used that to heat the home.  (The original design/hope was for a pounded earth floor, but we needed to get into the house, and the added labor would have been more costly, so we took a big hit on embodied energy footprint for getting the house finished on time and within a reasonable budget.)  We have heated exclusively with a small wood stove, and only need 2 to 2-1/2 cords of wood for 1450 square feet and 8,000+ heating degree days.  A boiler could be hooked up at any time, but we've never done that.

We had one mouse get in -- it scrambled in through the door while we were shuttling a laundry basket -- and caught it in a mouse trap within about 10 days.  Besides that, no pest or vermin issues.  This year, for the first time, we have either Mason- or Miner bees forming little tubes around the 6" square vent for the HRV unit we never installed, and they appear to have tunneled under the flashing above one window.   The lime paint may be thinner in these places.  I found this thread while looking for others with similar experiences.  I'm trying to decide what action to take regarding the bees, which so many people actively cultivate.

I do wonder if many of the critter issues are from staged construction, and animals finding there way into a partially finished structure, before the plaster and lime are complete, etc.  I've seen some straw bale houses that were built by well meaning first-time builders who were learning on the fly, and left quite a few gaps in the wall structure.  That's probably what would have happened to me, too, but I got the bright idea to start a small solar company the year before deciding to build a straw bale house, so I was far too busy to put in all the labor, so we hired a very experience alternative builder in the area.

Its really disheartening to read how many have struggled with straw bale homes, since we have had a wonderful experience with ours.  I'm very keenly interested in the resale and bank financing issues, since we're about to put this house on the market (very reluctantly) so we can be closer to our family, especially our two grandsons.

I'm struggling with how to attach photos, especially if they're cloud based and not on my hard drive...

Figured out how to log in with my phone, so I can now access a few photos (I hope) 😜

has anyone added peppermint oils, cinnamon, citronella, or other natural deterrents to their bales while building? It wouldn't keep them out completely of course, but maybe it would make the walls a little less appealing for a cozy nest.
For paper wasps I've heard you can leave an old nest up. The other wasps looking for new territory will not disturb you because it's already been "claimed" not sure what to do in the case of bumble bees but at least they're good for the garden! :')

Brad Vietje wrote:Just discovered this thread today, some 3 years after the OP...

I'm sitting in a 12-year-old straw bale home in northern Vermont (serious winters), and my experience has been NOTHING like that of the OP.   While I'm hoping the originator of this thread has resolved these issues, I agree with Dustin that something is wrong here.

Our home is a straw bale wrap, with the bale walls around a recycled 1850 timber frame from about 30 miles away.  Great attention to detail went into the interfaces between walls and wood frame, so the different expansion and contraction wouldn't open up gaps and cracks.  The lime plaster is about 1.5" thick on both inside and out, applied in 3 layers -- Steen coat, scratch coat, and finish coat, with increasing levels of lime to the outside, and increasing proportion of clay to the inside.  Lime wash on the exterior, and milk paint on the interior.  Bales are supported by a 20" wide R-22 ICF (concrete) beam over 4' x 4' rubble filled trench for drainage, and an insulated concrete block toe-up to keep the bales 24" off the ground.

We have a 5" thick black stained concrete slab with radiant tubing in place, but we've never used that to heat the home.  (The original design/hope was for a pounded earth floor, but we needed to get into the house, and the added labor would have been more costly, so we took a big hit on embodied energy footprint for getting the house finished on time and within a reasonable budget.)  We have heated exclusively with a small wood stove, and only need 2 to 2-1/2 cords of wood for 1450 square feet and 8,000+ heating degree days.  A boiler could be hooked up at any time, but we've never done that.

We had one mouse get in -- it scrambled in through the door while we were shuttling a laundry basket -- and caught it in a mouse trap within about 10 days.  Besides that, no pest or vermin issues.  This year, for the first time, we have either Mason- or Miner bees forming little tubes around the 6" square vent for the HRV unit we never installed, and they appear to have tunneled under the flashing above one window.   The lime paint may be thinner in these places.  I found this thread while looking for others with similar experiences.  I'm trying to decide what action to take regarding the bees, which so many people actively cultivate.

I do wonder if many of the critter issues are from staged construction, and animals finding there way into a partially finished structure, before the plaster and lime are complete, etc.  I've seen some straw bale houses that were built by well meaning first-time builders who were learning on the fly, and left quite a few gaps in the wall structure.  That's probably what would have happened to me, too, but I got the bright idea to start a small solar company the year before deciding to build a straw bale house, so I was far too busy to put in all the labor, so we hired a very experience alternative builder in the area.

Its really disheartening to read how many have struggled with straw bale homes, since we have had a wonderful experience with ours.  I'm very keenly interested in the resale and bank financing issues, since we're about to put this house on the market (very reluctantly) so we can be closer to our family, especially our two grandsons.

Thank you for this post. It's encouraging to know this.

Brad Vietje wrote: we're about to put this house on the market (very reluctantly) so we can be closer to our family, especially our two grandsons.

Did you sell it and move?

I would love to buy a well-made straw bale house, but not in Vermont. Wyoming is too cold for me; not interested in going farther north. 😁