Lath-n-Stuff™

photo of straw/clay wall corner partially stuffed photo of straw/clay wall corner fully stuffed photo of straw/clay wall corner after finish plaster application

Lath-n-Stuff is our original straw/clay building system in which straw/clay is hand-stuffed into stud-frame wall cavities sheathed on both sides with wooden lath. The advantages of this straw/clay wall system compared to systems using slip forms with dense-packed straw/clay are the following:

  1. less straw — hand-stuffed straw/clay has a lower density than dense-packed straw/clay
  2. faster construction — because of the lower density, hand stuffing straw/clay is much faster than dense packing straw/clay; subsequent filling of resultant cracks and gaps is not required (see #'s 4 & 5 below)
  3. greater insulation value — because of the lower density, hand-stuffed straw/clay has a higher R-value than dense-packed straw/clay
  4. no shrinkage — hand-stuffed straw/clay does not shrink as it dries; dense-packed straw/clay develops cracks from shrinkage and gaps from settling as it dries
  5. less drying time — hand-stuffed straw/clay walls can be plastered immediately; dense-packed straw/clay walls require 1 week of drying time per inch thickness of material (3 months for a typical 12-inch dense-packed straw/clay wall) prior to plastering
  6. same ease of plastering — plaster adheres equally well to hand-stuffed straw/clay walls as to dense-packed straw/clay walls

Once the straw/clay walls are fully stuffed and all the voids filled, both the interior and exterior faces of the straw/clay walls are coated with a thick layer of earth plaster. This earth plaster is the key to success of the system — the desiccant properties of clay result in the earth plaster wicking moisture away from the straw/clay, evaporating it to the atmosphere. A thin coat of breathable finish plaster is then applied over the rough coat of earth plaster. Lime plasters are typically selected for exterior surfaces because of their weather resistance; the choice for interior finish plaster is usually based on aesthetics — lime, earth, and gypsum plasters are all appropriate. It should be noted that concrete stuccos are detrimental to straw/clay walls, and therefore are never recommended.

Because Lath-n-Stuff straw/clay walls can be adapted to any type of stud-frame wall system, construction details are similar to those for conventional stud framing. Please contact us for specifics regarding your natural building project.

Our Lath-Plus straw/clay building system is a variation of our Lath-n-Stuff system, designed to boost the insulation value of the entire wall assembly sufficiently to meet Passive House standards. This revolutionary new innovation thereby allows elimination of the conventional heating/cooling system. Why settle for just the benefits of straw/clay construction alone, when you can get these benefits "PLUS" those of Passive House energy performance — through Lath-Plus!