National Register of Warranted Builders - House of straw
David Hill - Director of NRWB
One is actual and one is metaphoric, but neither of them can be considered to be insubstantial, which is what you think of when you hear the phrase: House of straw.
THE ACTUAL HOUSE OF STRAW
The first involved an invitation from our housing warranty partners BLP to visit a site in North Kesteven District Council’s area (Lincolnshire) to see a straw bale house. Yep, you heard right, a straw bale house. Forget the huffing and puffing of the three little pigs and think instead of arriving on site to see a fairly ordinary looking pair of semis set on the side of some open space fronting a council housing estate. The new dwellings are actually part of the Council’s housing stock and are the first to be built for a number of years. Not only are they unusual in that respect, they are also unusual in that they are constructed of straw.
Just an ordinary pair of semis.
Just to prove it, the Council has thoughtfully let into one of the inside walls a pane of glass through which the straw is easily visible. That apart, the houses are just houses. The outside walls are of lime render as is the internal lining. The suspended timber ground floor, TJi joists under a sterling board deck, the intermediate floor is of the same construction. The roof is clay pantile over trusses so no change there either. In an effort to be a green as possible the Council dictated that there should be no concrete in the construction. Foundations are vibrated stone fill with a limecrete topping. The services and drainage are standard items.
Not a straight line in the place
BRILLIANT CONSTRUCTION
All in all, a brilliant piece of construction. If you, like me, want to know how the thing stands up I can tell you that the straw bales are self supporting. Wallplates are the width of the bale and timber posts connect the foundation to the wallplate to either side of all of the openings into the house. That’s it!
The one thing that I loved about the whole exercise was the corners of the building. Not a straight line to be seen. Reveals are formed without corner beads and the whole development was so tactile it was unbelievable. The cost? Well, for these units, since they were a trial, they cost the same as traditional construction. The Council is planning other units in the area and they expect these to prove to be more cost effective in the construction. I will watch with interest.
Oh, and well done BLP who put a ten year warranty on the dwellings where others were seen to be running a mile...
Just in case you don't believe me!
THE METAPHORIC HOUSE OF STRAW
The more metaphoric are the new brochures recently launched by NRWB giving details of all of our insurances available to both FMB and NRWB members (although the latter get substantial discounts). At the beginning of this year I promised you material that you would be proud to place in front of your clients and I hope that you will agree that this promise has now been fulfilled. The brochures are free (of course) and the order form is enclosed with this magazine. Please do not throw it away. Use it to ensure that you have a supply of our new material. It really doesn’t get any easier than this to make your company look good and to ensure that if the worst happens and business fails, your customers are not disadvantaged but are looked after by an independent insurance company.
Help us to help you succeed in 2010. See you next time.
