We were supposed to use rye straw for our insulation. We had harvested it 2 years ago from my dad’s fields (organic rye straw), had bailed it and stored it in the house’s cellars waiting to install it. Like with every project where innovative or uncommon construction techniques are used, our plan for the insulation system fell apart when we realized that the stone walls were not completely waterproof. During heavy rainfalls, moisture was appearing on the inside of the house along certain walls. It wasn’t like water was dripping but in a few places, it was seeping through the 50-cm thick stone wall and wet spots could be seen in several areas inside the house. Although rye straw is less prone to mold than wheat straw, it is still not 100{86faa949d09500cfb2fb8be01edc8582822a5980221f039bd4bbebd1d0646763} resistant against moisture and mould. After a lot of research and much worrying, we finally settled on replacing the straw with cork. Loose cork is a very good insulating material and unaffected by moisture. The challenge was that it is generally expensive and comes from Spain, Portugal or even further away. So we did more research and were very excited when we found a small business in Southern France (4 hours away from where we are) that recycles wine bottle corks and turns them into loose cork for insulation. Because there is a lot of volume in our house (20 cm of insulation all around), we practically booked the company’s supply for the next 6-month. Wine bottle corks are usually made of good quality white cork. There is a little bit of a wine smell but once tucked away between the stone and brick walls, the smell can’t be detected. Here are a few pics of the first delivery of cork and installation inside the walls.