Back to Life Choices. I’m sure you have figured out that I am suggesting you build a house rather than pursue a college degree.

Shocking? Probably. But let’s compare the two choices and their impact on your future. While comparing, do not think of this as a possibility only for 20 year olds. At about any point in your life you could decide it’s time for a change and go for it.

Let’s start with money. College will cost money. Building a house costs money. The amounts in each case vary so much that specific amounts don’t mean much at this stage of planning, but it is a lot.

Just to get a good start on a basic, average college degree takes at least two years. For my house building discourse I’ll be using a time frame of two years for reasons that will soon be evident. So for either of these choices you will need two years’ time and a commitment of a substantial amount of money and not need to work for a living.

Study is necessary for college. Studying will take much of your time while house building too. Studying plans and following directions for assembling things correctly is an expected part of the house building life just like studying and taking tests is part of college life.

House building and college are both taught through “courses.” The first year at college gives you basic courses to help you progress to the next level. The first year of house building, the way I am giving it to you, uses something similar to courses to prepare you for the next level.

If you convince yourself that you are going after a degree in House Building just as you would pursue a degree in, say Liberal Arts, and give it the same level of dedication and commitment as college, you will accomplish a valuable goal. The college degree gets you ready for a better job. House building gets you a home and much more.

Think over the various benefits each of these choices gives you for later in life. You may think of ones I missed. Feel free to add your thoughts to this discussion. I confess that I am prejudiced in favor of house building but I would like to hear your views on either choice.

Next time I will start giving you the curriculum for the freshman year at House Building University.

Reader Terri Anderson has asked my opinion of hay bale construction. I have several and most are favorable.

My first opinion is that hay is for horses. Straw is for houses. There is an important difference between hay and straw. Straw is left over after the nutritional parts of the plant are sent off to become Wheaties. Hay still has all the food value contained in it. Hay remains interesting to food seeking wild life, molds and possibly horses for some time. Straw is not so attractive as food, thereby making it a better building material and it has a slightly better R-value on average.

Hay has been used for building and if rigorous care is taken to keep it encapsulated and very dry, it will work. Straw must be kept dry too but it has the advantage of being less vulnerable to deterioration during the life of the structure.

In areas of the country where grains are grown, straw is low priced and available. Where grain growing is not a big business and animal grazing is, hay usually has a price and availability advantage.

Speaking of money, advocates of straw bale construction often mention its low cost. I have never built one but I have read extensively about them and drawn up some plans and cost estimates just for fun. When straw bale cost is compared to fiberglass insulation in R-value versus wall thickness then straw bale wins hands down. However when the costs of enclosing the straw structurally, covering the outer surface with something to weatherproof it and finishing the interior surfaces to keep the family goat out of it are taken into account, the cost advantage over regular construction starts to diminish.

The structural design (by you or a profe$$ional) must accommodate window and door casings, be strong enough to hold up the roof and take into account the settling of the bales over time. Building 18″ wide straw bale walls on conventional 8″ concrete basement walls requires special attention too. There are the challenges of how to install the plumbing, wiring, heating and cooling systems. Then you have the building code enforcer working overtime writing up all the violations you have to commit when building such a home. You also have bankers to charm and your insurance agent is not going to be happy with you. Your neighbors may shun you because your remarkably unusual home gets so much more attention than theirs. Those are some of the trials and tribulations of the technologically adventurous home builder. Believe me, I know.

But I want to give you hope. So many pioneers in straw bale construction have persevered in their quest for their idea of the perfect home that many of the obstacles have been breached, if not quite overcome. Jurisdictions do exist where builders of straw bale homes are given building permits by the powers that be. Bankers, insurance companies and real estate dealers are realizing there is money to be made here and they are taking advantage of the trend. House plans are available as well as some very good books on the subject, and there are 650,000 Google sites waiting to be studied.

My own experimental alternative design is a straw bale house that is round. This avoids many of the structural technicalities of square designs plus gives more floor area in relation to wall length. (It’s a geometry thing; you can look it up.) The roof is cone shaped, putting an equal load on all parts of the walls. Picture a Yurt shape with bale walls.

You, Terri, are lucky to have a brother who is a mason. I designed my straw bale Yurt with a masonry heat mass around a center chimney that would radiantly heat the home and hold up the roof. An extra safety (and efficiency) factor is the placement of the heat source as far from the (potentially) flammable walls and furniture as you can get in such a structure.

Keep reading here because on my list of stuff to write about is an idea for a wall that equals bales in insulation value and has considerable inherent structural qualities. The main ingredient is easy to find and FREE. Stay tuned.

Next post I will get back to the Life Choices story.

There comes a point in each of our lives when we have to decide how to make a living. Most often that choice comes around high school graduation time. The motivational speakers at graduation events always say “Live your dreams” or “Reach for the stars” or some such drivel. I felt hesitant about taking advice from people, especially men, wearing gowns.

The truth is, everyone except trust fund kids have to develop a plan for their future. It boils down to “Get a job” which equals “Live your dreams,” or “Go to college” which equals “Reach for the stars.”

A job provides you with an income, allows you to get your own apartment, buy that hot Camero and enjoy freedom from curfews. If you work diligently through the years, grading grommets at United Blivits Inc., support the union, get regular raises and earn promotions you can raise a family, buy a home and retire with a watch and a nice pension. You’ll have a pretty good life, maybe even dreamy.

Then there is the college route, available to more people in this country today than ever before. In fact having a degree is almost as necessary as a high school education was when I was young (well…younger) if you want to make it today.

Problem is, college costs big bucks. If your family can’t pay for it you need to get loans and work your way through, stopping occasionally for a cold beer, maybe a bit of partying, perhaps a little…. Point is, you will have to survive without much disposable income and few possessions during your period of educational enrichment.

After two, four, six or more years of hard work you graduate with that precious piece of paper. You are in huge debt but you are now qualified to get – A Job! Sorry, I mean – A Position!

Remember the last post when I talked about the true cost of a home? A college education has similar costs of money, work and time. Paying off a mortgage gets you a Home. Paying for college gets you – Potential. Now what if…?

Think this over. I’ll be back.