I read a few years ago in a ski magazine (I think it was Powder) where someone in Colorado used straw bales as insulation for a house they were constructing. They commented that due to the density of the bales, it was naturally fire resistant. Kind of surprised me but it made it through inspection. Their plan was to buy as many recycled and or odd lot building items as possible, The chief complaint was that the house had to sacrifice space due to the size of the bales, but for this trade they saved a small fortune on insulation, and got a house which was far, far more immune to noise infiltration even due to internal sounds, than any other house the reviewer had experienced.

The builders also collected a variety of off sized windows, meaning they went to a distributor and bought whatever was cheapest at the time and integrated it into the house design. In a similar way, they collected a lot of materials from other construction sites, antique resellers and even the occasional dumpster diving. They put a new finish on everything that needed restoration.

The house turned out very nice, and they employed a lot of their dumpster diving findings in the interior finishes. The kitchen had a nice mix of stainless and sheet rock, along with an antique gas stove and fridge (both rebuilt), with a sink out of another era. The fire place employed pieces of sheet-brass and chain mail for an exterior finish. The bathrooms were an eclectic mix of modern and antique finishes, and where the massively thick walls met a window made for many fine places to sit and observe the mountainous country around them, keep plants or other decorations. The upper floor had a lot, even a surprising number of windows. They used recycled hardwoods for floors and sills throughout. All of this and they said they cut about 30% off of the construction costs.

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"