Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
16
Mice
It is generally acknowledged that mice cannot live in rendered straw bale walls, however
there is always the exception to the rule, and so I feel this needs some clarification.
The mice that didn't know
The mice that didn't know they could not live in the walls of a straw bale house were
found at a property with a two-storey infill straw bale house. In the quietness of the
evening the owners could hear the mice in the ceiling of the ground floor. There are most
frequently mice in the straw bale walls prior to render, but in most cases they are encased
in the walls without a water supply and die.
When rendering the house in question there was little attention paid to the straw
exposed between the ends of the deep floor joists for the upstairs rooms that also formed
the ceiling frame for the ground floor. The straw was exposed while the first coat of
render was applied, but it was not worked into the straw as was the case for the walls. The
ceiling lining was installed prior to the second coat to enable a build up of the render at
the ceiling to overcome the need for a cornice. Obviously the third coat was also
restricted to the walls and not to the straw exposed between the floor joists.
The mice were able to get through this badly applied first coat of render between the
floor joists with considerable ease, and continued to do so. This meant they had access
to the complete ceiling cavity between the upper floor and the lower ceiling. After about
12 weeks there was no evidence that the mice were going to die out but more likely,
mice being the amorous creatures that they are, that the numbers would increase. I
am sure by now you ask the same question that we did; how are they surviving
without water?
