Hay bale cob?

Is it possible to use haybales instead of strawbales? Then put a layer of cob on the inside and out. I live in zone 7b we have very wet springs and wet winters also. Also it is humid year round. Would a bale house or cob either or standup to our weather?

Sorry the reason I was asking about haybales instead of straw is because availability in our area. Haybales can be had for 4-11 dollars per bale where as straw you have to buy at tractor supply or the equivalent for $8 per bale.

I would not build with staw (or hay for that matter) on the outside in a wet climate again. Learned that the hard way.
Both will rot when they get moist.

Can you add a (edit: ventilated) layer to keep the wall dry from the outside?

Yes sir I could... just not sure what to add? Without building a "conventional" house. I am looking for qays to build a good but affordable house using some sort of natural materials. I have looked into cordwood and since cedar are prolific around here it would definetly be within budget. However I bale my own hay so that would almost be free.

After sleeping over the problem, my conclusions so far are:
Hay is probably used best similar to help insulation. (Added to the dried wall.)

That would require to build the inner and the outer wall first, with a hollow space to put the hay in.

So the next question is what kind of inner and outer wall fits best?

I can think of:
- Wattle and Daub (requires a lot of cob, and a bunch of sticks)
- battens covered with cob (requires a lot of wood, less cob)
- compressed earth (probably only on the inner wall)

Sebastian Köln wrote:
I can think of:
- Wattle and Daub (requires a lot of cob, and a bunch of sticks)
- battens covered with cob (requires a lot of wood, less cob)
- compressed earth (probably only on the inner wall)

Thank you Sebastian I appreciate the ideas. I have the plans to build a cinva ram for CEB's. My problem is not only with the hay and/or straw. I am curious if cob or CEB's would stand up to the humidity and rain of our region. Since it is basically jist mud and straw. My idea would be to make a wattle wall with possible a dob made from lime and shredded paper of straw. Do you think this would work? Or os my thinking way off the mark

I don't know. But using paper on the outside layer might make me nervous. Then again, this house here is being painted with linseed oil (mixed with loam and titanium dioxide)…

To me this would require an experiment.

Another approach, I am currently trying to figure out for a house in the Greater Caucasus, that separates the weather-shielding part from the (main) insulation:

The main benefit (for me) is the ability to reach all areas of the insulation without damage to anything else. (And a lot of storage space that doesn't need to be heated).
thread: https://permies.com/t/72471/Layered-house

Edit nr. infinite: Windows will need some thoughts… But they should be less fragile than in a monolithic house.

Tommie,

while haybales are not generally recommended I know of one mention of a balecob home being built with hay rather than straw from the cobweb books put out by cob cottage company in oregon. I believe it was built in Finland. Balecob is successfully implemented in wet conditions such as oregon, washington, and vancouver. check out my balecob house mid  construction from my signature below if you want. Also, more recent updates of my house are found on permies if you want to check out other posts i've made. The consensus is that the cob/earthen coat over the bales actually helps pull moisture that may enter the bale.

My greatest advice is to call cob cottage and ask them specifically about the haybale/cob build in finland. They will have heard results of this experiment years after it was finished which is what you want.

Thanks yall. Sebastien I enjoy the conversation and the house plan looks awesome. As for the windows you could make all of them very deep and put either plants or reading nooks in all of them.

Daniel Thank you for the information I will most definetly follow up on it.

Sorry for the delay I have basically been working non stop since monday night. But hey it shoukd be a good payday haha. I will keep yall posted as I come up with ideas/solutions

You would want to use straw (just the stalks) instead of hay (which includes the grain heads) so that it doesn't rot over time. The walls breath to adjust humidity, and they do just fine in wet climates. I was at the Cob Cottage Company last month, near Coquille Oregon, and there they get about 70 inches of rain each year, in a rain forest, and the "dino" dining hall/kitchen is straw bale cob construction and doing great over the last 15 years.

Anywhere you build, you want a well-drained foundation, a stem wall made from material that doesn't wick up any ground moisture, then your bales/cob, and finally a roof with a decent overhang to help protect the outside surface. You'll also want to cover the surface with a finish plaster that still breathes. I wouldn't use hay because it will likely get moldy over time.

Thanks for the input Mark! good to know that bales and cob will stand up to rain. Sucks about the no haybales though lol.

Tommie Im no expert, but I’m under the immpression that its important to bale hay at a precise time when the grains are full yet haven't started falling from the stalks. If this is true then couldn’t you bale later in the season so that most of the grains have fallen or been eaten by birds? Making you bales more like straw than hay.

You would probably know better than me if that would work? It just a thought.

I would never even consider hay in a building under any circumstances. It’s food therefore will attract ants ,termites and god knows what. Straw is basically silica it’s typically from the second cutting and has no grain. If you’re doing bale cob and using cob to sandwich bales you may want to build a mock wall and use a moisture meter. Clay is water greedy and you will see how it can wick untold amounts of moisture into the center of your walls where it is sequestered and cannot easily dry out. Mold and rot may occur