160 More Square Feet to Live In
Once there were three little pigs. One little pig was fond of wood, so he built himself a stick-built house. The other pig was fond of bricks, so he built a beautiful brick home. But the third pig was a bit of a radical, so he built his house of straw. But not just any straw! These were two string straw bales, which gave him a cozy r-value of between 23 and 33, give or take.
The little pig wanted this structure to last, so he put down a concrete foundation and set his bales in the wet concrete. Since he was building on a slope, he left access for a small daylight basement. Just like building with legos, putting up the straw bales went pretty quick. In a book the little pig had read, it said to drive stakes through the bales every so often to help them stay together. So, here and there, the little pig pounded in 2” x 2” pine stakes.
The little pig laid 8 courses of bales, making sure to leave spaces for the door and two big beautiful windows. When it was done, he built wooden channels, like floor joists, across the top and jammed straw bales into them. After about three days of work, it was done! He pulled a huge tarp over the whole affair and went down for dinner.
In the morning, he went out to start the inside. But what had happened? His beautiful straw house was now a sad straw pile on the ground. But this little pig was not easily defeated! It took almost as much time to clean up the mess, but in time the area was cleared and what could be salvaged was laid into neat piles ready to go back up. Because go back up they would…and did!
This time, though, the little pig decided to hedge his bets and overbuild. He put wooden supports in the 4 corners, along the bottom, and diagonally across the walls. He drove stakes into every other bale and alternated the direction of the bales at the corners.
At last, the walls were finished. The roof and the tarp were in place. Again the little pig went down for dinner. And in the morning, it still stood!
Clicking his heels with joy, the little pig began work on the floor system. The self supporting joist system was covered with sheeting and then with black and white checkered vinyl. He plumbed a bathroom and moved in a wood stove and some of his furniture, then sat back and relaxed in the warm glow of a winter afternoon.
This story is based on true events. The author has taken some liberties to make it less dull than dishwater. At only 160 sq ft, the studio will not be used as a dwelling, but does make a delightful addition to our living situation. I have it on good authority that in the summer, this little pig will plaster both inside and out and put on an improved roof.
