Essential Light Straw Clay Construction

Light straw clay is a code compliant high-performance, low-impact building material with insulation and moisture handling qualities. This illustrated guide to light straw clay for stud, timber, pole and other framing styles covers material specifications, best use, mixing, installation, retrofits, code compliance, finishing and maintenance.

The first highly illustrated, comprehensive guide to light straw clay – a high performance, low-impact, durable building material

Light straw clay – straw mixed with clay slip – is a versatile, easy-to-use wall building material. Also called “slip-straw”, its durability has been proven in beautiful, centuries-old buildings across Northern Europe and in modern high-performance buildings in North America.

Building code compliant in the US and using “waste” materials with high insulation value and excellent moisture handling qualities, it’s both high-performance and low-impact. Yet until now, there has been no practical guide to using the material in a wide variety of construction and renovation projects.

Distilling decades of experience, Essential Light Straw Clay Construction is a fully illustrated step-by-step guide, ideal for both the DIYer and professional designer and builder alike. It covers:

• Material specifications, performance, and when and where to use it
• Estimating quantities, costs, and sourcing
• Illustrated, step-by-step guidance for mixing and installation, including “slip-chip” variations
• Detail drawings for various wall systems including stud, timber, and pole framing, Larsen trusses, I-joists, plus retrofits
• Code references, compliance, and best practice
• Finishing and maintenance techniques
• Additional resources.

Lydia Doleman , a licenced contractor, taught carpentry and natural building at Solar Energy International in Colorado and was lead ecological builder for Portland’s City Repair project. She’s created beautiful, high-performance, low-impact buildings across the Northwest, from Portland’s first permitted straw bale home and The Rebuilding Center’s cob entryway, to a 3,300-sq. f light clay straw brewery. She’s written for The Last Straw Journal and Permaculture Activist and appeared on NBC News and HGTV’s Off Beat America . Lydia lives in southern Oregon.