What are your thoughts on using large flax straw bales (4x4) to build in Saskatchewan?

There can be more risk of insects and rodent infestations with straw homes, but any house is only as defendable against rodents and insects as the attention to detail taken by the builder to plug holes an fill cracks. So this page may come in handy if you do go for straw bale :

How to get rid of Insects & Rodents Safely & Humanely

The thing about building with straw is that it’s a ton of labour, so you’ll spend a lot on labour or on food and drinks if you plan to tap into your friends as free labour. That seems to be a theme with straw homes, or our least favourite ‘designed’ home, the Earthship. Moving from the small bales to large ones will mean it can go much quicker, but you’ll need machinery as you won’t be able to lift them into place by hand. 

The larger bale homes will also mean a much higher R value wall, that is well…good…but sometimes a bit of overkill. Due to the laws of diminishing returns there comes a point where you’re just not getting any value from that last few inches (or in this case maybe even ‘feet’) of insulation. And walls that thick will make for some unusually large window wells, which will also block a lot of light. You may want some high gloss white paint around windows to reflect more light in. 

Straw can be well-built, and if you plan to do it, the one very important design feature we would recommend would be a REALLY big overhang. The less it gets wet from rain, the less chance you will have rot and mold. 
The most promising thing we’ve seen in terms of strawbale homes were the prefabricated straw bale walls, also known as straw bale SIPS. There was a Canadian supplier we knew of that has gone belly up we have heard, but they are still being built in the UK and apparently have a pretty good track record despite the humid climate. So, like many things, you can do it but you need to do it right. 

As for footings, you will of course need to get a permit for this house, so it would need to be signed off on by a professional engineer or designer and that is going to mean footings made of concrete. One downside on that front is the bales are 3 times as wide, so you will be using a lot more concrete for the footing than you would with the standard 18” bales. 
 

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