Project no more looking at my Ghetto neighbors

[B7510HSD]

Fence looks great:thumbsup: I may have to put one up next year when I get a pool,so the neighbors aint trying to LOOK at my 24yr old wife in her Bikini top

As always we want pictures!!!!! Oh and you can post a few of the new fence too!!

 

[foreman Etexas]

As always we want pictures!!!!! Oh and you can post a few of the new fence too!!

:thumbsup::laughing:

 

[schmism]

Total fence length will be about 1400 feet, its alot of fence. however its alot more private!!

at $10 a foot... i could do a lot of ignoring for $14,000

 

[clemsonfor]

NICE wife!

But that fence was $14k!! you have way more money than i did at 28. And that was only 2 years ago!!

 

[jokergerm]

Yes i do very very well for being 28. And no the fence was not 14k.

i have about 6k into it total, thats concrete, 4x4's, 2x8's and 1x6's and some labor from a friend
and thats spread out over 2 years, i did the horse fence like 2 year ago and then added all the cedar 1x6's just now

 

[EddieWalker]

"As for the pros of a straw house, all you can say is that they are more energy efficient. That's great for the part of the wall without a window, but the R rating of the windoe negates all energy ratings of the walls. Doesnt matter if you have a R 60 wall, putting a R 4 double pain, super energy efficient window in the wall means that's all your walls are good for. Air movement and sealing is much more important then how thick the walls are. The straw is just a false feel good justification"


If this is so, then why waste money insulating any house? I'm asking from ignorance, not being a smart *****.

Deezler makes a few good points in his insult towards me, but also fails to refute my points.

He is correct in that the entire house has to be calculated to determine the R value. What he fails to mention is that the windows lower the R value of the house based on their size, placement and orientation. This is where the super smart go to extremes to show us how smart they are without actually proving a point that reflects real world expectations. On paper, thicker walls mean a greater R value. True.

Straw gives you thicker walls and a greater R value then a standard 2x4 stud fram wall with R13 fiberglass insulation. If you have the same windows in the same places, then the straw house will have a higher R value. But if you want a house with a high R value, making the walls thicker is only going to give you a small return by going thicker. There are other much better and efficient means to do this other then straw. You will aslo spend thousands to tens of thousands more to gain a higher rating, and never feel or notice the difference.

Straw isn't a great building material.

Sticking with 2x4 walls and going to tripple pane windows, taping them when installing them and using a quality vapor barrier that is sealed everywhere will outporform straw and give you a much better resale value.

Eddie

 

[Lava Rancher]

OP: Nice fence. Sometimes it is great to not have to see or hear your neighbors. We lived next door to a young lady who was a bit of a Monet, beatiful from afar but far from beautiful. If we'd only had to see her walking around 24/7 in a bikini, (even using the weedeater in one!), then it might have been fine but the things that came out of her mouth at a high volume, day and night made her a bit of an unwelcome neighbor. There are all types of ghetto....

Eddie,
Perhaps I've missed it but what is your experience with straw bale construction? You've made a lot of blanket statements but I'm not sure where these opinions are coming from. Most of us either live rurally or aspire to, resale is much more complicated than straw vs. 2x4 construction. Location, water, topography and acreage all play a role in resale that will completely trump the type and quality of the construction of a home. Just like a luxury community your rural dream home isn't anyone elses. The person with the money to buy it may remodel it or even replace it as soon as they take possession. My "straw bale" house has concrete stucco exterior walls, 3 layer gypsum plaster interior walls, a metal roof and few clues other than wall thickness that is was not conventionally constructed. Rural properties these days are pretty much luxury items and I believe will remain so until the overall real estate market recovers. I live in a beautiful place with nearly 25% unemployment and a shrinking population. Until people with meaningful equity in their homes can sell and move to rural areas the down payments required to finance homes on acreage will be rare among buyers.

In the mean time, we all have to live somewhere, I'm happy to live in a straw house. I'd love to build a guest house with straw and hope to do so when my son is older. I'd like to know where and how you formed these opinions about straw bale construction so I don't make the mistakes that you must have encountered.

The quality of a straw bale structure is down to the quality of the construction. To my knowledge there is nothing inherently bad about the medium but clearly results will vary as will the care and experience of the builder. Straw bale construction is promoted as something anyone can do. Clearly some structures which result from anyone's labor will be unsound. Even experienced builders create some pretty lousy stick built structures. The way that jobs are subbed out to frequently the absolutely lowest bidder has provided us with a stock of housing t hat isn't very impressive. I spent nearly two years looking at homes in my area before purchasing mine. The standard is pretty weak. R values are not the only reason to go straw and you are indeed correct that there are other ways to meet those values. I'd prefer a more permanent structure than 2x4 framed. Reinforced masonry is not common here and prohibitively expensive. I am not trying to be argumentative but would like more information about what you've encountered which caused you to form the opinions that you've shared with us.

OP: PM me if it bothers you that your thread has been hijacked. Eddie, feel free to do the same. Perhaps one of us should start a thread of our own to discuss it.