Eric Weavet

Great detail thanks again Jim, currently seeing if I can track down weep screed but it’s not something stocked in my area.  Gonna call the local roofing supply tomorrow to see if I can get it custom bent.

Sorry I dont have the top of wall detail drawn in, quite busy lately between a timber framing job and trying to get power run to our site…
There are box beams essentially built out in every rafter bay above the bales but they are slightly narrower than the bales due to the geometry.  The bales do contsct the 2x6 roof decking on the exterior edge for about 2-3 inches before the roof pitch hits those box beams.  So I’ve been treating those box beams as my fireblocking.  Not sure if that’s correct or not.  

The roof currently is still just 2x6 t&g with 1/2” ply sheathing over that for diaphragm and then a 9 month synthetic felt.  Once we finish plaster and get power run I plan to “wrap and strap” basically an unvented built up rigid insulation over the decking with a metal roof on that.  The metal may end up “vented” if I have two perpendicular layers of strapping over the foam.  Still working that out.  

Awesome I’m leaning towards getting a new sill plate screwed back to the original exterior one.  I think that should work out for us!  Trimming the whole wall back would be a simple solution except we do have 1 stud wall and windows that would be out of plane.  

The simplest choice would be to have the new sill plate as a 2x6 coming in on top of the old one.  That will leave about 1” at places between the bottom of the new sill plate and the stone/mortar.  I’ll drop the weep screed down over that larger gap, but any suggestions on filling/sealing that area?

As far as seismic goes without looking back I believe we are 1 step up from the lowest risk.  Wind is probably the bigger factor: last year I think we clocked 60-70 mph gusts and not nearly the tornadoes that middle Tennessee gets but looking at historical data small ones can happen here.

For sure, its a bit rough and ready but it at least gives the concept.

-The overall structure is a timber frame wrapped with the bales so not load bearing.  The bales are tied to the frame with lath ells stapled and staked.
-From foundation up, you have:
-rubble trench
-8"x24" grade beam poured rebar reinforced + footers and pads under posts
-double stud pony wall: two 2x4 walls anchored to grade beam plywood gussets spanning studs every 4' with rockwool insulation infill
-photo gives the best detail on the stone veneer, but its sitting on a -1" ledge let in to the beam
-bales on pony wall on nails
-It's not shown but the bales are notched around the rafters and sqeezed in under a plywood "box beam" we nailed in level between rafters and the plate.

so yes, the bales do indeed overhang the stone, extending past the sill plate about 3".  I was planning filling the gap with plaster but obviously thats a terrible idea for moisture wicking.
So seems like my biggest issues to solve are thus:
-forming a capillary break between top of stone and bottom of bales?
-forming a break between stone and plaster and creating a stop/support for exterior plaster to land on.

Figured it out.  Not as many photos as I thought but It’s something.  I can sketch a wall detail too if that helps.  

Jim thanks for your response this is extremely helpful!

We are in the states, in TN to be exact, zone 4…last year we saw the full range from 90+F to single digits lows.  A good amount of rain but never more than a couple inches of snow.  

I’m embarrassed to say I have the straw bale appendix.  I’ve mostly worked off of it but also made some (wrong) assumptions learning as I go and this is the stage where I’m trying to get it right while I still can.  

I cant seem to attach another photo in the reply but this is what the wall detail involves.

Bales are up on a 14” pony wall.  
We’re looking at the exterior wall as you guessed and the exterior pony wall, I set in 3” and used stone from around our property with a lime mortar.  

-The wall has 30# felt, going up and over it underneath the bales
-battens, then fabric for a air gap
-battens, then lath
-stone mortared to the lath + wall ties.  

-while my main focus was getting the bales above grade with the pony wall I got too creative when I realized I had plenty of stone. In hindsight I should have kept the exterior pony wall in plane with the outside of the bales.  Instead I set it in, and while I kept the stone mostly below the top of the pony wall, due to compression the bales to contact the stone/mortar in many places with no break.  

-it sounds like moisture wicking is my biggest concern here.  All of your weep screed recommendations make sense to me.  Clay plaster is already up on the interior so let in 2x4s may have to be wooden pegged into the bales?

-the big unknown is between the top of the stone and where the bales are overhanging that portion.  Would it make sense to slide some galvanized roll flashing on flat back to the pony wall between those two and hang the screed in front of that?

If there’s a way to add more pictures I’ll gladly do that

Sorry I should simplify.  The question I’ve had for the last couple weeks is “How do I flash this and make the transition look halfway decent?”

I think I fan probably find a stucco j channel to use but there’s not really anything solid for it to land on to support it.  I can pin it to the bales, but that still seems suspect to support the weight plaster will place on the channel.  
I’ve thought about doing the channel and filling any space underneath with mortar.  

Another option would be to just run steel roll flashing over the seam as low as I possibly can, since I can get it about 1” below the level of the bales, but there would be no kick out and I’m wondering if I’m asking for moisture to wick back and into the bottom of the bales?

Apologies if this is unclear.  Happy to try to clarify more.

Alright, anyone out there with Strawbale plaster experience, we have our bales on this 16” stone pony wall.   The stone is wall tied to a stud pony wall and sits an inch lower than the stud plate with mortar making up the last inch to the bales.  

Here’s the main question.  Should I/how would I flash this transition from bales to the stone/mortar?  I’ve seen many people suggest a plaster j channel or something similar where plaster meets foundation but that would obviously be much straighter than our stone wall.  

Any ideas or thoughts welcome!

Just to follow up ended up using the Lhost hydrated lime for mortar on our stone wall a couple months ago and it’s set up great.  Did 1 lime to 2.5 “masons” sand and a sprinkle of wood ash.  It was extremely workable and set up within a few days with what seems like good hardness at this stage.  

Just wanted to follow up on this. Definitely passed on the “rye straw”.  Found a wheat farmer 2 hours from us that sold us bales out of the field for $4 a bale and loaded a uhaul using hydraulic bundler.  They used and old school combine that keeps the straw quite long.  It was a great solution.  

Bales were nice and dry and consistent size except for length which was fine.  

Also in hindsight rye straw seems much less substantial and maybe less tensile strength than wheat?  


Just wanted to follow up.  

I’m curious to see if we could get a list going of what types of hydrated lime folks are finding and using in different areas of N. America.  

I’m just starting to do some sampling, and was planning on Type S (Natural hydraulic being cost prohibitive esp with shipping) but I havent been able to find it locally.  

I just picked up a bag of “water treatment” high calcium lime from our feed store.  It is still calcium hydroxide, and with my very limited knowledge the main difference is that type s may have much higher levels of magnesium.  Can anyone speak to this being right, wrong, or otherwise? I’ll attach a photo

Context:
- I’m considering mixing a lime mortar for a very short stone veneer wall instead of the standard Portland cement.  
-I mixed up/slaked? Half of the bag with water to let sit and see what it does
-we are planning on doing some lime plastering this fall as well so this is also R&D for that.

If you have any insight on non “type s” or whether this Ag hydrated lime is the same feel free to chime in.  Also if you’ve used a specific form of hydrated lime and seen good or bad results I’d love to hear it!