Non traditional shapes?

[soulf2]

Would there be any reason not to build a non-traditional shape cabin??? say an octagon or even a horseshoe shape?

[RockEngineer]

Octagon you have lots of complexities in the roof. Both shapes you get less room for the number of logs. The most room for the least expense in logs is always a square. You can do almost any shape but it comes down to money and skills.

[clairenj]

There is a website link somewhere in the forum which shows pictures of a spectacular Yurt shaped log music room and studio built by a woman named Dorothy. I can't remember her last name. She also built a log home twice; the first one burned. So sad. I got mucho inspiration from her story; anybody would.......

[loghomefun]

Soulf2, yes just about any shape will work.

Obviously the more complex you go with design, the harder it gets when it comes to building. There are posts about this same subject at http://www.loghomebuilders.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1089&highlight=turret

Doug

[ponyboy]

Here's a cool roof if you were going to build an octagon.
"reciprocal force rafter" :shock: or just reciprocal roof

http://www.middlepath.com.au/temple/roof.html

http://www.lamafoundation.org/build/here/now2000/tour/10.html

http://www.mts.net/~sabanski/pavilion/pavilion_design.htm

[soulf2]

Thank you all for the information... The reciprocal roof is terrific.

I look forward to signing up for the class next year with my retiring father. We plan to build my mothers dream house in Tennessee for her retirement.
She has shown great interest in a double octagon connected cabin.

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Any suggestions or pitfalls we should be prepared to ask during or after the class with this type of design in mind?

Thanks in advance.

[modell]

soulf2 - If you're just looking for opinions, and you're wanting to build her dream house with logs, the design you have in mind may be best suited for something like cordwood building, rather than full length logs. It is something that my family and I considered before attending Skip's class. Try goggling words like cordwood (sometimes called stackwall) building if you're curious. You could also look into building with vertical rather than horizontal logs. I would recommend taking the class first and making the decision about the design afterwards. BTW, although not yet retired, Tennessee is a great place to live.

[Basil]

piece en piece is probably your best horizontal log option. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there about this style, though.

[Mark OBrien]

I agree with Rock Engineer that the roof would create the biggest challenge. I've seen several octagon houses and they are way cool if you can get it engineered properly. Here is a link to figuring the area of an octagon:http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.05/andrew1.html
Also, if my math is correct, the angle for each side of the octagon is 67 1/2 degrees. On the wwebsitw listed there are also links to figuring the length of each side to get the square footage you desire. Hope this helps.

[Quinton]

If you are building an octagon, consider that the Navajo have been building that style for a at least 500 years, and they might know a bit about the style ;)


http://waltonfeed.com/peoples/navajo/hogan.html

is a good site for how it is/has been built