It's sort of like what came first, the chicken or the egg?

I have a potential project that would include using an existing 26ft x 48ft, 3 bay TF, bank barn in Southern Wisconsin, and convert it to a residence. The client wants to use staw bales for the insulation and the base material for the exterior walls.

The barn sits on a 24in thick granite fieldstone foundation that is banked on the north side and west end, and is exposed on the bottom side facing the south side and the east end.

So without having to buy 10 different books on straw bale home construction, does anyone have a trick for carrying the load of the exterior straw bale wall?

The best idea that I have is build a wrap-around deck system that is attached to the sill beam and is supported away from the building with concrete support collumns in the bank sides, and posts on columns on the exposed sides. Making the deck system wide enough would also give added exterior space for a lean-to attached wrap-around porch.

I know I have to read up on this "straw bale" thing...but I figured that the uniqueness of this project would make it hard to find exactly what I am looking for.

Thanks to all who contribute to this forum.

Rooster
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saveabarn@yahoo.com
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