The butt and pass method

[beararms]

I was wondering, does the butt and pass method work for any shape or number of walls?

[loghomefun]

I was wondering, does the butt and pass method work for any shape or number of walls?

Hi Beararms, welcome to the forum.

Yeah it will work for just about any size or shape you want to build.

At http://www.loghomebuilders.org/photosofsomestudenthouses.html there are pictures of L shaped homes, octogon homes, and one house with a 2 story 5 sided turret.

I know I plan on building a square house, because as they mention at the class it is an easier shape to build. All the building principles are the same no matter how many walls or corners you have though, so with the butt and pass style you can build anything you want.

Doug

[JeffandSara]

Hi, Beararms--

Doug's right, the butt and pass method does give you some options in size and shape of house, and many students have made use of these options.

The one main caveat to that, however, is that the more similar in length your log walls, the better. This has recently been discussed at some length on the forums, but I think it was in the members' section. The point is that building with full-round natural logs, you can "choose" your log diameters at butt and tip to some extent by careful decisions about, for example, the 35' section you choose to use of a 40' log.

However, because per-foot taper is relatively similar in logs of the same species, region, etc., you will likely have trouble finding, for example, 40' logs and 15' logs that have similar butt and tip measurements. Since the goal in a natural butt and pass house is to have the top of the logs level in all four corners every second/even course, any large difference in your butt and tip measurements between the logs of one wall and the logs of another intersecting wall is going to be problematic.

We built our house square, and are glad we did. (Interestingly, however, most people who come to visit do not believe it's square. The log ends that stick out and the roof overhangs seem to give the effect of a rectangle.) If we build another, we will build either square again, or some other configuration with equivalent log wall lengths.

Good luck to you.

Sara :D

[beararms]

Thanks for the quick answers! I was thinking that it would be o.k., but just wanted to check before I start to make definite plans. I am going to try to attend one of the Feb. classes and want to have a plan or model before I go so that I can address any specific questions that arise from the design. Is roofline construction discussed in detail for a house that is not square at the class?

[beararms]

Oh yeah, one more thing: Looks like pine is going to be my most readily available source for logs. Is sap from these going to be a mess; does pine have to sit for a while before you build? I have cut pine before and after a day or so of oozing, the sap was much stickier than honey or molasses...

[rreidnauer]

You have made a good choice to attend the class. I would recommend not building a model yet, before extracting the information from the class, unless you like to build several. :lol: Some rough drawn plans isn't a bad idea though.

The class will also discuss the best times to cut your timber, and help streamline the task at hand. Roof structure and design is covered, with Q&A sessions, and idea sharing running rampid the whole time.

Congratulations on your decision to attend the class. You're in for a great eye-opener. I know I'd like to attend again just for the high amount of positive energy that was in that house during the whole weekend.

Enjoy!