Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The cost of bales
the price of 350 bales up to £875 (plus VAT).
These bales generally have about a third
more straw in them than ordinary bales.
The cheapest way to buy bales is straight off
the field after they've been made, and to buy
locally so as not to pay large transport costs.
This has the added benefit of minimising the
environmental impact of transportation. If
you collect them yourself, they can cost as
little as 80p per bale plus your fuel costs.
Although the walls represent only about
16 per cent of the total costs of a finished
building, using straw instead of masonry is
a significant saving and becomes more so
for construction firms building more than
one house. Together with this, the labour
time involved in strawbale building is vastly
reduced once the labour force is familiar
with the material. Plus, you can run training
courses to install your straw, learn how to
do it, build your walls, have no labour costs
and have a lot of fun!
When you consider that the average 100m
2
three-bedroomed house will use about 350
bales, this represents a material cost of only
£280! However, most of us will have to buy
bales and have them stored for us and then
delivered to site, which will increase the price.
Can you afford
not
to build with straw?
Construction-grade bales bought in bulk
from a wholesaler, delivered to the site, can
cost about £2.50 each, which would bring
Know your bales - a training workshop in Todmorden.
Photograph © Roger Livesey
