Vermont Mutual Insurance was willing to insure the house provided that we ran all wiring along inside walls (i.e. not in contact with straw bale walls). This request was made even though all tests indicate that plastered straw bale walls are more fire resistant than conventional walls. In fact, in areas of the country where straw bale construction is more common, straw bale homeowners are getting a preferred rate on their insurance.
Unfortunately, in the state of Vermont there have been some poorly built straw bale homes that have “failed” in the years between 1996 and 2008- most of the failures were due to moisture damage as the result of poor detailing on foundations and roofs- an area that our insurance company did not even question us about. At the present time it is harder to get insurance for a Straw Bale home than it was before but we are hoping that the well built straw bale homes which have performed well over time will dispel the bad reputation created by these poorly built structures.
