Justin & Linda Tyers bought a plot in the Exmoor National Park for £50k, which left them a budget of £67k to build a beautiful, off-grid, timber-frame, straw bale home. A truly inspirational self build.
You didn't build a house for £67k never in this world no way What you did do is build a Beautiful Home, that will be in it's grounds for many century's to come. It is an absolute credit to the pair of you. It's always been an ambition of mine to build my own home from wood. Maybe to old now at 66 but I will never say never, but what a wonderful thing to leave behind when you have gone.
Thanks very much for those words Nic. That's a kind thought. Sixty-six isn't too old to build yourself a house ...but the sooner you start the fewer aches and pains you'll have when you start each morning ;-)
Love the tradition; and none of the smugness one often sees or hears from people who have built alternative homes. The love of environment and house comes through so clearly!
Phenomenal and very well done. I am in the process od building a very chunky conservatory out of Douglas Fir. I have purchased the timber from the mill and saving £7000.00 by cutting the traditional pegged joints myself. I have a book on how to do the joints and I am now ready. You just have to have faith in your own abilities.
You've hit the nail on the head there. What stops a lot of people from trying is that they think they need 'experience'. Not true. You can't get experience without 'doing'. All we need ...all of us, is the confidence to begin. Experience follows. Determination completes the job. Let me know how you get on. Have fun.
Beautiful home!! I'm an Irish Civil Engineer Student doing research paper and trying to find case studies with regards to Low carbon and cost effective builds. Would love to find out more of this and other builds you guys have covered if possible.
Absolutely beautiful! There are not a lot of straw bale homes with wood siding. Can you tell me how you accomplished this? Is there plaster underneath or some sort of other vapour barrier and sheathing?
Hi Robyn, The wood cladding is attached to timber studs. The studs are attached to a cill (floor) beam and a wall plate. There is an air gap between the straw bale was and the timber cladding - but no membrane or vapour barrier. Yes the straw bales are lime plastered in the normal way.
I've just started looking into building a straw bale home and your home is inspirational. With some hard work and a bit of luck, I'll be in touch when I have found that piece of land.
Lovely home! Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. My husband and I are planning something like this on our land in Missouri. We've got timber but mostly oak.
@@justintyers I have the same interest. I hope you see this after all this time. I have been looking into straw bale and cob for a long time, but I have always wanted the timber framing. I would like to know where or how you found your design for that.
Thanks a million for the incredible inspiration! This is exactly what I have been looking for as a model project. I would love to get any more details and sources of information I could understand more from. Congrats, Oliver
Hey Oliver. Thanks for commenting. I've had a lot of requests for more info - so wrote a book called 'How to build your dream home for £99,000 - or less.' It covers everything from finding land to slating. I hope you find it useful.
@@justintyers Justin, the fact that you wrote a book about your building process is an absolute dream come true. Ever since I saw this video of your beautiful home a few years ago, I was and still am inspired to build my own house and have been searching for more information. So, thank you so much! The book is an instant buy. Cheers, Merlin.
Hi Bruce. Working alone the slate roof took me about three weeks to lay, and a couple of weeks to set up the 'felt' and batten. I had slated a roof before - but that was as a complete novice. A couple of roofers gave me some invaluable advice though ...about setting out and how to judge when the slate nails had been driven just-far-enough. It's amazing how quickly you pick it up though. You'll break a few ...but everybody does, even the professionals.
This is stunning! Just the exact type of home I would love to build. I have my own land but nondevelopment area not greenbelt and I am struggling to find a way to get permission. So far have been told the eco code is the only way to do it but the fees alone for permission are 30K and i am not in a position to pay anything like that. I didn't even realise that you could apply yourself so that is interesting info, thanks for a look inside your beautiful house! The floorboards are amazing!
@@justintyers I'm so sorry, I didn't know you had replied to me doh! I didn't go on you tube for quite a while after I commented. In short, I gave up on my dream and had to get on with the many issues of life and put it on the back burner...as of today, my house is sold and I'm just waiting for it to close in a couple of weeks now. I've had to sell it because of the costs of family court and am going to rent it back for six months, I started looking into self builds again, eco homes, container homes, earthbag homes lol anything and everything but I realised today that my dream is still a wood framed home whether it's straw bale or something else with the wood beams. So, I started researching again and ended up on your video once more! It's still my ideal home and someone told me the other day that there may be hope in a change in planning laws coming up soon. I've been looking at how much reclaimed oak is to buy, I think it might be doable if I'm really careful and only go for a modest size and single story but I'm certainly going to ask the forestry commission about getting it from them. I'm not going to have a fitted kitchen or fancy bathroom, I'm probs going to be scavenging round salvage yards, learning DIY very fast etc. I'm near to electric and water but not connected and will need a septic tank and maybe a compost toilet if I can manage with an alternative for the grey water. It was so nice to see your gorgeous house again!
The bales are coated in Lime Plaster - that seems to do the job. Bugs and critters do seem to appreciate the outside accommodation, though, and overwinter in all the nooks and crannies.
We have a design for a post and beam house, most homes here are covering the wood frame with the straw bail. We just love the walls and framing of your house, something I hope we can do here in the states.
Hi CKPill. Yes, exposing the frames really works! We've been living in the house for five years now, and it's still a pleasure to see the frame every time we come home. I wish you all the luck in the world with your own home.
@@justintyers 5 years that is great. I have to ask, the walls are also incredibly beautiful, how and what did you tint the lime with? The rough features are stricking. My wife and i are very inspired by your video.
How did you get planning for this in the UK??? I want to do this because houses are ridiculously prices and everyone is within 10 ft of each other? I can do the build no problem, but the planning?
Have you put your name on your local Self Build and custom housebuilding register? The register is held by your local authority (or the authority local to where you want to build) with the result that they must offer you a serviced plot within 3 years. That's ONE place to start. I'm just writing a book about others...
The house sits on a concrete slab which is reinforced under the frame posts. The slab didn't have to be too deep in our case - the plot is on a steep (1:4) hill, and in order to get levels the ground was excavated to solid stone.
This is an amazing build, we're planning on doing something similar but just starting out in the research phase. this video and the responses have really helped. Is there anywhere else good we should look for information/advice?
The first place would be Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine, or Homebuilding.co.uk - there will be plenty of advice and inspiration for timber frame, oak frame, straw bale and self building. Good luck!
Your house is beautiful. You must be so proud. We are thinking of building a net zero straw bale house in France but although we have done standard house renovations before we have never used this method nor used straw. Did you go on a course to learn how to build with bales beforehand and did you use specific plans for straw bale construction? If so where did you go and where did you get the plans? Also, you mention that you did everything yourselves. Looking back is there any part of the build that you found particularly difficult and if you did it again, would contract out? Thanks
All these things can be learned. I recommend you read a couple of books on Straw Bale building - but only half believe them. Keep asking yourself 'does this make sense'. The point is that it is a young technology, and in a way you'll be adding to it when you build your own home. So get informed ...and then be your own expert. Barbara Jones has some useful information in her book - but don't be a slave to it. As for contracting out any part of the build - I can only say that the more you do ...the more you can do. You will be surprised by how much you learn as you build your house. By the time you finish, a house will be the least of what you have gained. Take on everything you dare ...and dare more than you think you should.
Is there any way to get in touch with the Mr and Mrs Tyers for some advice? We are currently buying a land back at home and we would love to get some more information about straw bale self build house.
Amazing build, supremely inspiring. I'm figuring out CAD right now and slowly coming up with plans for my own build. My father is a tree surgeon and we know many others around/have contacts with a few local mills and other craftsmen so we will employ a similar approach to yours. Few Q's if you will: Is there a reason why douglas was used for the cladding? My understanding larch is better and similarly priced. Is the whole frame done with douglas? Did you consider artificial insulation? Do you perhaps use some in the roof (easier to secure etc)? What is the total span of your hammer-beam frames?
Hi samthepoor - A few A's : The cladding was Douglas Fir simply because that is the timber the sawmill deals in - and yes, the whole frame is DF. Yes - we've got foam board in the roof - we'd like to have used sheeps wool, but treating it/cleaning it was a lot more work than we had time for ...and buying wool ready to lay was more money than we had available. The span of the frame is 7 metres. Hope that helps!
Hi SGH. I hope my reply isn't too late to help. The wood cladding ensures that no rain passes onto the wall. Even if it did the bales have a thick coat of Lime render. The bales should last decades. The bales provide the walls with 500mm of insulation - and yes the house is really warm in practise. The only difficulty we encountered was when the lime plaster on the inside of the house dries over time, it shrinks. It only shrinks a tiny bit - a couple of millimetres away from the frame - but we notice a little draught in places during a winter storm. The gap can be filled of course - and the problem solved.
Hi. I'm really interested in this designs as I'm researching for my masters degree. Please could I organise an interview / questionnaire to find our further information?
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. It would certainly help to 'kiln' dry the floorboards. Though, laying them - and then nailing them down a year later would do the same job. As for the frame - all frames are built with 'green' (unseasoned) timber. The fact that timber frames last for hundreds of years is testament to the soundness of that method. Also, it would be difficult to kiln dry a really large-section timber.
Hi Shane K - sorry for the delay. No the frame doesn't need to be kiln dried ...actually it would take years to dry - so frames are built with Green timber. The flooring can be kiln dried, and it would help if it was. We stored our floorboards in the dry for 6 or 7 years, and they still shrunk a lot. So yes, - lin drying would help there - but it would have been beyond our resources.
I've got the certificated drawings and cutting list right here, Kenny. If you'd like to build your own house from them I can 'license' them to you for a one-time use - probably for a few hundred pounds. Or if you'd like me to change the design to suit your needs, I can do that for a bit more. Let me know if you want more info: justin@justintyers.plus.com
justintyers ....would you consider gifting them Justin, I’m just getting tools together to build something and eventually will build my kids something. Thanks in advance
Straw bale houses are actually virtually fire proof if done right. Since the straw is so densely packed (and contained within several inches of fire-resistant clay, cob or lime), fire can't penetrate it because there isn't enough oxygen to sustain a flame. It's even superior to traditional building structures. The timber frame is obviously flammable though, but as would a timber frame in any house be.
Hi Diddy Doodat - you might be surprised to hear that we heat the whole house with wood burning appliances. Vote of confidence in straw bale construction...!
The footprint for this house is small, and the space within allows for an uncluttered space that connects with it's environment. Would you rather it was cluttered with cupboards, built-in storage and shelves?
If you don't consider the value you receive from looking every day at the beautifully grained and colored timber structure raised high above you and the flooring stretched out beneath your feet, then sure, there is a lot wasted space. Like walking into a museum and saying the same thing.. Or walking into nature and saying the same thing.