> Interesting but I hope they're putting in a sprinkler system.
Hmm. I'm thinking that as those bails decompose that it would generate
some heat too.
The problem with these alternative building materials is resale value
of the house. Another issue that has been cropping up (sorry for the
pun) is settling. But to address that I see where people are making
sure that the bales themselves are not load-bearing walls.I would
definitely be putting up stick construction of some form to handle the
vertical loads. Another mistake that people have been making is not
having a proper foundation under the walls.
As to sprinkler systems, I wouldn't build a new house without one now.
In many locales, any structure, whether business or residential, over
a certain size is required to have them. If given the choice, I'd have
it in a house of any size.
During the week, I stay in the "servant's quarters" of a house that is
a total of 8000 square feet (including the garage which is in the
lower level). No sprinkler system and unfortunately, no legitimate
fire barriers. I'm helping the owner with a few things to zone it up a
little better, but it's a given that a fire in the lower level will
destroy the whole place in record time. This place is big enough (and
has a very open floor plan) that a fire is pretty much unstoppable.
It's a classic example of a place that NEEDS a fire suppression
system. When it was built about 20 years ago, it was just outside the
city limits so the 4000 square foot fire suppression requirement
didn't apply.
The drywall on our ceilings in our solar house has some issues. It was
constructed with the thin stuff and it ended up with the big seam
cracks. We may have to have some of that redone, but are hoping that
scraping, taping and painting will do the trick. If we have to replace
the ceilings, I'm inclined to have a sprinkler system installed. The
new houses in the neighborhood have them, but the size of them puts
them over the limits for the local construction codes.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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