need help with post and beam sizing...(revised)

[joe w.]

I need help with simple post and beam framing. first, there are no codes, permits, or inspections in the county where im gonna build. i want to build a post and beam straw bale home. i have read of folks who have used 4x4 post uprights every 8 ft., besides of course more around doors and windows. then using 2 2x8s nailed together for cross beam. they say putting on galvalume roofing its a lot less weight, and am also using the lightweight preman. metal trusses. so the 4x4's are plenty strong enough.(so i hear) plus using 1 and half to 2 inch stucco inside and out on bales strengthen it also. home is about 23x45 ft. with loft on each end. is this safe or are they pushing their luck? need to know if this is ok before i start building mine. please help with guidence on this issue, thanks, joe w.

[concretemasonry]

Joe -

Your structural system is your roofing, trusses, beams, posts and footings. The straw bales just fill up the space and separate the inside from the outside.

Whether you need a permit has nothing to do with what you should build since the code is the just worst you can build and still be safe. The loads do not change just because there is a code.

You have not provided any of the information necessary to give you an answer that means anything.

1. Where are you located (needed for snow/vertical and wind/lateral/uplift).

2. What is the layout and spans?

3. What truss spacing?

4. What kind of wood for the beams.

5. The posts around the doors and windows do not really help unless the openings are located next to them.

6. What kind of soil do you have to hold up your posts and footings and to prevent uplift?

6. If you have possible earthquakes, everything changes since the basis for your construction is from non-seismic regions.

You seem to have a lot of hear-say information and some general ideas from a book or magazine. This is not enough to base a building on.

I have seen many straw bale homes built. The best were in Africa, where they were based on the local materials, weather and the establishe construction techniques. The very worst were in the U.S. and built by people with no knowledge and experience. If they built like that in Africa, the locals (unoffical building inspectors) would just burn them down and require a new satisfactory one built to replace it.

Dick