Cob: Utah strawbale summary(was: cob and SB in Utah...,longish)

[Bill Hunt]

Hi Lovisa and Lars-  While I don't know of any alternative structures in
the Salt Lake-Provo area, I know of a couple within a 2 to 4 hour drive.
This is a big state; you're still in Utah after driving  4 hours in any
direction from Provo :-).  

To the south, in Mt. Pleasant, there is a small (400 square foot) strawbale
structure associated with the Wasatch Academy, a prep school located there.
 Ann King was the inspiration and driving force for this building, which
serves as a small humanities center for the school, with poetry readings,
musical performances, yoga and meditation classes taking place there. 
Arrangements to see the building could be made through Ann and her husband,
Creighton King (435-462-9508). This little structure went through the
permit process, was referred by the local county (San Pete) up to Salt Lake
City, and was the first strawbale permit Salt Lake City approved. Permit
approved features include adobe plaster, no stucco wire, no rebar pinning
(saplings were used), and an earthen floor.  Salvaged Douglas fir timbers
from an old Great Salt Lake  trestlebridge were donated by a salvage
company for a post and beam structure, visible (and beautifully finished
:-) on the interior. An old-fashioned handmade door was donated by a local
woodworking company.  

There is another strawbale down in Helper, owner built with the help of
Dennis 
Caulfield (435-649-4568). He would know about contact information for that.
 Dennis and I collaborated on a strawbale in Kamas, which is east of Park
City. This would be about 1.5 hours from Provo (same with Mt. Pleasant).  
A visit could probably be arranged.   I'll make some calls; give me a
reminder e-mail in a week or so :-).  

I don't know of any cob buildings in Utah.  There is a "super-adobe"
(longbag) structure in Moab, which is  4 to 5 hours southeast of  Provo. 
There are a number of strawbale houses down there too.  A trip down there
would be well worth it.  Helper would be on the way to Moab. The famous
redrock formations alone are worth going down there for a couple of days. 
Arches National Park and Fischer Towers National Monument would be at the
top of my recommendations.  Castle Valley is in the vicinity of Fischer
Towers, and has a  nice little strawbale house, with a simple Matts-style
shed roof ;-). This is about 40 minutes from Moab, upstream along the
Colorado River. It may have been the first SB in Utah, and remains one of
the most appropriate examples. Other Moab strawbales include the Clark's
wonderful place, the large, upscale Pack Creek Ranch home (with indoor lap
pool), and the Moab cohousing commons building, 20 miles south of Moab
(there is also a strawbale yurt there). A round strawbale is also in Castle
Valley, though I couldn't find it.  

To the north 3 or 4 hours, there is a strawbale under construction in
Tremonton that sounds very good.  I want to go up and see that one.  If you
want to go up there on a weekend, perhaps we could meet up in Salt Lake.  

I've also seen strawbale structures in Avon (pole frame house), and
Hurricane (horse stable).  I've heard of one in Boulder (Garfield County),
and  one being planned in Duchesne.  I also worked on the first Faswall
block home in the state,  west of Ogden (this proved to use lots of
concrete and rebar, with the engineer requiring #5 bar horizontally every
foot, #4 bar vertically every foot). 

This reply is on-list to encourage any potential Utah natural builders who
may read this.  While innovative structures have been few, I feel that
strawbale (in logical combination with cob) can make sense here.   Our
bales in Mt. Pleasant were 1.00 each delivered, from a half mile away. 
While we occasionally have severe rainstorms and snowstorms, Utah is fairly
arid, with very low humidity summers. Winters are cold.  A significant
amount of  initial code resistance has been overcome, with Salt Lake City,
and Summit County (which includes Park City, home of the 2002 Winter
Olympics) having approved strawbale.  

I would like to hear about any other strawbale or cob structures in Utah,
as well as plans in progress.  It is worth noting that most of the
strawbale structures I've seen are substantially overbuilt.  The first set
of plans for the little one room Mt. Pleasant strawbale had 10x10" posts,
8x16" beams, an 8x16" ridge beam, *loadbearing* style window and door
bucks, and separate foundations for the bales and the posts!! (400sf,
remember!) While this was an extreme example of an architect fresh out of
school with no building experience, the overbuilding tendency is encouraged
by liability-wary architects, engineers, plan checkers, inspectors, and
builders.  Overbuilding can drastically increase the cost and the
environmental impact of the structure.  This tendency is greatest when
strawbale is new to a given jurisdiction.  I would like to see some really
practical, cost-effective structures get built here.  These could be very
appropriate in rural areas where bales are basically free. 

Cheers- Bill Hunt
(801)539-1357

 


----------
> From: Nilsson, Lovisa <lovisa at tanum.mail.telia.com>
> To: strawbale at crest.org
> Cc: coblist at deatech.com
> Subject: COB and SB-houses in Utah and surrounding states
> Date: Sunday, April 16, 2000 11:22 AM
> 
> A friend of mine is going to Utah in May.  He would very much like to see
some COB and/or Straw Bale-houses - completed buildings or buildings under
construction.
> He will arrive in Salt Lake City, May 11th and return to Europe May 22nd.
 He is going to stay outside Provo most of the time.  It is two hours drive
south of SLC.  He will be able to go for day trips in either direction.
> Can anyone give him some advice, please?
> 
> His email-address until May 9th lars.karlsson at tanum.mail.telia.com
> Email-address while in the US.   outsiders2 at webtv.net
> 
> Lovisa in Sweden
> 
>