stacking the bales depending on what you read, straw bales have up to R55 insulating value. now, being constructionally challenged and illiterate, I have no clue what that means really, other than a bigger number is better, and most home insulation isnt nearly that good! since Im worried about the straw getting wet, I covered it with plastic. now, two potential problems here, and only time will tell- one, will regular plastic sheeting hold up in the greenhouse, or will it become brittle and fall apart like it does exposed to sun outside... and two, since the plastic cannot breathe, will condensation be a problem, causing rot. only time is going to answer those questions. anyway... onto stacking bales. I layered the bales on the plastic, putting down the first row with the plastic past it by 16, so it could be folded up to keep moisture out. after I finished stacking the bales, I realized I should have off set each bale like brickwork, rather than stacking in rows. ah well, live and learn. its only 3 bales tall, so its fairly stable. once the stack was finished, the plastic was brought down the front, the bottom flap brought up and under it, and then landscape fabric pins were pushed in to hold the plastic (I actually cheated, and made my own pins from heavy gauge wire that had been laying around since before we bought the property!) so, with this step completed, the east wall, and both sides of the door on the north side were completed. the west facing side got only two bales in height, and.the south wall got just one. the door on the north side is actually just a full sheet of plywood, hinged. to solve the insulation dilemma there, I bought a sheet of R13 rigid foam board, and screwed it to the door. for gaskets around the doors (one on each end for cross draft) I stapled pipe insulation to the door frame. no drafts! if I were going to do this part over, I would: build a wood framework and stack the bales inside, between the studs, or offset the bales like brickwork, to increase stability.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 05:58:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015