With over 16 years of building strawbale and earth homes, we’ve had a lot of questions. Check out THE most common ones below
How much do they cost?
Ahhh, the question on everyone’s mind.
1. For a Viva-designed home they start from:
$3,000 per square metre for a pre-designed, simple rectangle design on a flat block using our prefab straw panels
$3,500 per square metre for a non-rectangle design or it’s not on a flat block or it’s in a special building zone (eg bushfire)
2. For a custom designed straw bale home they start from $3,500-$3,800+ per square metre to build*
3. Viva to do your drawings with our in-house designer and architect, just contact us for our price to do this for you.
4. Contact us for a studio or granny flat
* These are estimates only for us to build you a natural home (a quote is required for a set price). Site costs are not included.
Please see inclusions for what is included below.
What's included and not included?
What’s Included?
External finishes:
Standard steel roofing, gutters and downpipes
Concrete slab finish
Timber frame and strawbale/straw panel walls
External lime render (colour as per materials)
UPVC double glazed windows
UPVC timber external doors
Internal Finishes:
Acid stain finish concrete floors
Internal clay render (colour as per materials)
Cob internal walls
Standard timber internal doors
Ceilings
Ceiling insulation (our standard 55mm R1.3 aircell roof blanket and R3.5 insulation batts)
Kitchen:
Allowance for a standard size custom made timber kitchen
Basic kitchen sink and taps
Bathroom:
Allowance for standard toilet, vanity, bath & shower screen
Allowance for standard bath, vanity & shower taps
Allowance for tiles and tiling
Services:
Internal electrics
Allowance for standard bayonet light fittings, light switches, power points and ceiling fans
Internal plumbing
Solar hot water back up to electricity
Workshop:
One workshop with volunteers, you cater for the participants (they may camp onsite)
What isn’t Included?
Site costs aren’t included
Connection to services – power, water, gas, septic systems
Phone
Water tanks
All weather accessible driveway
Development Application fee
Construction Certificate Fees
Other council fees (including S94 Contribution, Long Service Levy, septic and wood heater applications)
Engineers Fees
Survey
Geotech Reports
Other reports required by council or other authorities
Landscaping
Optional Extras or Finishes – these will increase the cost of the estimate:
Additional verandahs, decks or pergolas
Garages/Carports
Appliances
White goods (fridge, air con, TV, washing machine)
Wood heaters
Solar PV Systems
Hydronic Heating
Insulated slabs
CBUS Electrics
Alarm systems
Building Zones can add costs onto a build
Blocks on slopes
High Bushfire zones
Heritage zones
Remote areas
Inner city areas
Custom Designs
Features which include the following items will add costs onto our estimates:
Above our standard wall heights (anything over 2.4m high is considered non-standard and therefore costs more)
Skillion/curved roofs
Pavilion style (with lots of external walls)
Clerestory windows
Lots of window glazing
Curved or unusual features
Especially if you have numerous custom features such as those above, this will increase our estimate rates. It is difficult to know up front by just how much.
The finishes you choose for your home can really make your home. We understand why people choose expensive finishes such as baths, sinks, light fittings, floor finishes, tiles, bathroom fittings and fixtures. Anything above our standard fixtures and sittings or over the allowance will significantly increase the cost of your home so if you have a set budget like most people do, then watch these items as they will increase the final cost to you above and beyond our estimates.
What's included to lock up stage?
What’s Included to “Lock Up” Stage of building? If Viva only built to “Lock Up” So at Viva, we don’t usually build to ‘Lock up’. We love to build a home to completion. The reason: We love finishing beautiful homes. When we build to ‘lock up’ owner builders can take years and may not finish it as professionally as we’d love to see it. We take pride in what we do and love seeing homes finished and lived in. For those rare times where we build to ‘lock up’ it’s because we’ve designed the house and it’s close to one of our teams. That way we know for sure we can build it affordably and the best way possible. So what’s included to “Lock up” stage if Viva were to only build to that stage? In a nutshell, it’s the bones, structure and structural work that we do. Lock up essentially means that it’s locked up from the weather/elements and can be safe guarded from thieves. If you want us to do some of the items not usually included, just ask your builder to quote it for you. External finishes to “Lock Up”: Steel roofing installed Gutters and downpipes possibly but not always (usually done toward the end of the build) Concrete slab or foundations are down (not sealed or coloured) Timber frame and strawbale/straw panel walls installed with workshop done External lime render (if we can get the windows all installed and you’ve done everything done to make it possible) Internal clay render (usually you do the last coat of render) Timber double glazed windows installed Timber external doors installed Internal electrics ‘roughed in’ – wires coming out of walls, connected to the meter box but no power points or light fittings installed Not Included in “Lock Up” Stage Usually Internal Finishes: Acid stain and sealing of floors for concrete If timber ply may be laid but timber floors not installed Cob internal walls Standard timber internal doors Ceilings Ceiling insulation (our standard 55mm R1.3 aircell roof blanket and R3.5 insulation batts) Carpenters’ fit out (skirtings, architraves, internal doors) Kitchen: Kitchen Kitchen appliances (oven, cooktop, rangehood) Kitchen sink and taps Bathroom: Toilet, vanity, bath & shower screen Bath, vanity & shower taps Tiles and tiling Services: Internal electrics completed eg not installed bayonet light fittings, light switches, power points and ceiling fans Internal plumbing finished with fittings Solar hot water installed Items to discuss: outriggers or eaves sealed, gutterguard, wood heater installation, decks, shade devices, shelving etc. Council approvals Other items that aren’t in “lock up” Stage Site costs aren’t included Connection to services – power, water, gas, septic systems Phone Water tanks All weather accessible driveway Development Application fee Construction Certificate Fees Other council fees (including S94 Contribution, Long Service Levy, septic and wood heater applications) Engineers Fees Survey Geotech Reports Other reports required by council or other authorities Landscaping Optional Extras or Finishes – these will increase the cost of the estimate: Additional verandahs, decks or pergolas Garages/Carports Anything above standard appliances White goods (fridge, air con, TV, washing machine) Wood heaters Solar PV Systems Hydronic Heating Insulated slabs CBUS Electrics Alarm systems Building Zones can add costs onto a build Blocks on slopes High Bushfire zones Heritage zones Remote areas Inner city areas Custom Designs Features which include the following items will add costs onto our estimates: Above our standard wall heights (anything over 2.4m high is considered non-standard and therefore costs more) Skillion/curved roofs Pavilion style (with lots of external walls) Clerestory windows Lots of window glazing Curved or unusual features Especially if you have numerous custom features such as those above, this will increase our estimate rates. It is difficult to know up front by just how much. The finishes you choose for your home can really make your home. We understand why people choose expensive finishes such as baths, sinks, light fittings, floor finishes, tiles, bathroom fittings and fixtures. Anything above our standard fixtures and sittings or over the allowance will significantly increase the cost of your home so if you have a set budget like most people do, then watch these items as they will increase the final cost to you above and beyond our estimates.
What's so good about strawbale and earth homes
They’re better for your health, because they’re natural
They’re better for the world as local materials are used (no sweat shop labour, poisons or virgin forests)
They look incredible, they’re different. They’re peaceful and feel like nothing else
They have high energy ratings and surpass most conventional designs and materials
Our designs are solar passively designed so the sun warms your home in winter and it’s cool in summer
Our homes have a high level of qualilty, they’re better built than most project homes!
They’re built to last
Do they last?
Can you build a two storey straw bale home?
Do we use load bearing straw bale walls or straw bale infill?
What happens if you build a straw bale home and then want to add on later?
How long does it take to build one of our homes?
What are the benefits of building with straw bales?
Do we use special straw bales?
Will the straw bales rot?
What are the length, height, width and thickness of the finished walls?
Do your strawbale homes comply to bushfire regulations?
What about during the installation of straw bales, if it is rainy weather? What if they get wet?
The way we build (post and beam and then in-fill with straw bales), deals with the problem of rainy weather and getting the bales in place. We get the bales delivered once we have a roof on the house! We ensure that the bales are kept dry and have a moisture content of less than 9% when they are baled and less than 13% when they are fitted in place, ready to be rendered. If they did get wet, it’s our problem as we are the builders, so it’s in our best interest to keep them nice and dry.
Are straw bales good insulation?
How to we put electrics, plumbing and gas into the straw bale walls?
What footings are used?
How do we do our wall & roof frames?
Our site is in a VERY high wind area, with lots of rain at times. What does this mean for straw bale houses?
What about hot and humid conditions? How does a straw bale home perform in areas with high rainfall in hot climates?
How much extra does it cost to build one a straw bale home on a sloping block of land?
The cost of building on a slope is twofold: 1) the costs of footings and 2) the practical costs of building on a slope, ie scaffolding is required and it’s more difficult to work etc. There are different ways you can design a house on a slope, such as using piers to support the house, strip footings, which can be block work or we use poured earth so that the width of the walls is around 300mm wide, or we make modifications to the design so it is split level. You can also have suspended slabs but that is costly. As a very rough ballpark you could look at around an extra $10,000-20,000, depending on the slope of course, for foundations and the cost to build on a slope. Our Bees Knees design can be detailed as a split level house, so depending on the slope it could work. We have designed homes on a sloping block without too many costs. But if you’re looking for land it’s a bit like the chicken and the egg isn’t it….so get land which is as flat as you can, then contact us or another builder to see what is possible.