Re: Moisture Testing & my thoughts on the nature of this list

[Strawnet@aol.com]

>Maybe I'm missing something obvious, and if so pardon the question, but what
>exactly does one do if the moisture content of the bales is 70% or above?
 I'm
>considering building with strawbale in North Carolina and it is very hot and
>humid here in the summer and the outside humidity is certainly often over
70%.
> 
>Mimi

To try to give a brief response to this post, the relative humidity of the
air is not necessarily related to the moisture content of straw inside a
finished wall, or even, in the short term, to the moisture content of straw
in an unfinished wall.  As I understand it, moisture in the air, for it to be
a problem for straw, needs to condense into liquid water.  This can happen
when it is cold enough (the dew point) that the air can no longer hold the
amount of water that it contains.  A surface that is at or below the dew
point temperature can condense moisture out of the air also.  In general
though, it takes moisture a long time to migrate through materials such as
the finishes on buildings.

There are various examples of straw used for buildings in wet climates that
lasts for long periods of time, such as straw thatch roofs in the UK,
straw-clay walls hundreds of years old in Germany, cob construction which is
clay and straw, of which construction hundreds of buildings exist in England
that are several hundred years old.  And of course there is the Burritt
Museum, a straw bale infilled post and beam mansion in Huntsville, Alabama
built in 1938, owned by the City of Huntsville and open to the public.
 Huntsville has an annual rainfall of around 40-50 inches a year and an
average annual relative humidity over 50%.  

The chemical make-up of straw and wood are very similar, with wood being much
more dense and straw generally having a higher silica content.  They are both
mostly cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin.  The same situations that result
in rot - both wet and dry rot in wood, will create rot in straw.  Are there
old wood buildings in North Carolina?  It is a good idea to look at how they
are built from a moisture standpoint.  Similar strategies as those used to
keep wood dry enough to last should be effective for straw bale structures.

If you find that the moisture content of your straw is over 70%, I would try
to find out why first and then try to figure out what to do about it.  The
why's can be many, but mostly they will be either physical leaks from the
exterior (rarer actually) or moisture coming from sources within the house
which find an easy path (air leakage is the biggest culprit) into the walls
but is trapped there.  Moisture will surely get into your walls, almost no
matter what you do to prevent it.  Making sure that you minimize its entry
and hasten its exit is what will ensure the longevity of your structure.
 There are many many postings on this subject in the archives of this list
and it is a subject which will be debated in its details for a long time to
come, I suspect, since there is still much debate on the subject in
conventional construction.

>On Sat, 30 Dec 1995, Ron Ravenscroft wrote:
>
>> I am amazed that, with all the traffic on this chat room, after three days
I 
>> havn't received and answer. Maybee we have to many self-indulged people.
>
>I agree, I just joined this list and the volume of traffic exceeds the 
>THREE other lists I am on. I think it would be better for all if the chit- 
>chat was by private e-mail. I joined this list for technical information 
>on SB construction, not to read three page stories.
>
>Joe


I'm not sure what the rest of the people on this list think about this nor do
I know how they feel about it.  I know my first response was an emotional
one, and strongly negative towards the sentiment expressed.  On some
reflection, I wondered if this is true.  Perhaps some of us are
self-indulgent.  I have posted many things to this list which are not
technical information related directly to straw bale construction.  I'm quite
sure that I have posted more things in this category than anyone else on this
list.  I also know that I have only received one comment of a negative nature
regarding this in the 10 or 11 months this list has existed.  There may be
people who object to my DEtours and rants and digressions.  I hope they will
let me know or that they do what I do about posts that do not interest me,
look at what they are, who they're from, and don't bother to read them.  I
delete more and more things having only skimmed the contents, if that.  I
don't think anyone is being forced to read every word or page of what is
posted to the list.  

Still, I appreciate the desire to be able to get answers to questions and
that some people aren't interested in any of the humorous, personal,
political, social stuff that is part of many of the postings to this list.  I
especially apprecitate the recent efforts and initiative of some people on
the list to start organizing the info and archives and perhaps start an FAQ
for straw bale.

I personally, would not spend nearly as much time here as I do, if I didn't
find wisdom, humor, warmth, brilliance, divergence, diversity, humanity,
generosity, patience, tolerance, and joy here.  It is unlike any other mail
list I'm aware of and I cringed (to be perfectly honest) when I saw it
referred to as a "chat room".  

If some questions are slow to draw a response, it may have something to do
with what other things people may be engaged in, the way the question was
asked, the phase of the moon, one of those situations that develops at an
unmarked intersection, where each person is waiting for someone else to go
first, who knows?
I know I posted some things about a potential crisis in Mongolia and wanted
to see if people on the list would respond with some of the creative
intensity I've sometimes seen here in response to the need for some emergency
strawbale shelter design solutions.  There was very little response to this
question.  I was disappointed but I didn't feel it was appropriate to take
the list to task for it.  It just wasn't what was up for people right then.
 Maybe it was my fault for not presenting it in a more inviting way.  

I guess this current issue makes me feel a little like I did when new
neighbors moved in next door to where I had been living for ten years and
they had a dog that barked his head off everytime I went out in my yard.
 Irrational perhaps, but that's how it feels.  

I guess this probably qualifies as half factual down to business post and
half three page story.  Sorry.

Happy New Year
David Eisenberg