Doug Barnes

Hi Jay,

I just started to get in some of the books from the list you have, so I have a lot of reading ahead of me. I am looking to do some preliminary drawings soon. I was just trying to see how much of the resources I have available to me on my property that I could use to build the house. I am not looking to build a round house, something more along the size of 20x30, but I am still waiting on some books to further flesh out the framing. As for the thickness of the wall, I was planning on something thicker than 300mm. I would defiantly be planning to cob the outside of the house. I also have a lot of different types of trees available to me, so Spruce doesn't have to be what I use. I have an 8 acre wooded lot in central Maine. A couple of the books I bought have great sections on wood characteristics, so again, lots of reading ahead of me. Thanks for all your help, Jay!

Doug

Hi Jay,

People have different definitions of what "dry" wood is, haha. This tends to get a bit confusing. I am looking to build a small home, so that I can live on my property while I build a slightly bigger home. I have a lot of Spruce that I can use for the cobwood walls. If I use them before the 6-12 month( maybe longer?) recommended drying period, am I facing any other issues other than having to reapplying cobb? Especially since I am only looking to have this be a primary residence for under 5 years.

Thanks,
Doug

I plan on building a timber frame and using cobwood for the walls. Is the only problem of using green wood for the cobwood walls, that I will have to go back and fill in the cracks?

Great! Thanks, Miles.

Hi Jay,

I can't thank you enough for your help. You have so many great informative posts! The link to your book list brought me to my wish list, but I was able to find it by searching Jay White Cloud. Not sure why I didn't think to drop the C the night before, but if anyone else would like to see it, that is all they have to do. There are lots of great books there!

Thanks,
Doug

Hi Jay,

I have gone back a read a bunch of your other posts and was able to come up with maybe a better idea for the use of my trees. Would any of the books you have in your list help to build something like this?

Thanks,
Doug

Hi Jay,

Thank you so much for your help! How do I find your amazon book list? Which of the timber framing books would you recommend that I start with?

Thanks again!
Doug

Hi Jay,

I have been doing google search after google search and only really get little bits and pieces. I will post a few of the questions that I have, thanks for your help. I live in Central Maine so I have a lot of Beech, Birch, Ash, Pine, etc....

1. What would be the best wood to use?

2. How green can I use them?

3. What would be the smallest diameter I could use to make a (standard?) truss? I am familiar with what the different truss styles look like. I am just not sure if there is a standard, or one better suited for building with roundwood.

4. What would be the best way to connect them? The type of joint, metal connectors?

I have about 8 acres that is all wooded, and could use some thinning. Which is why I was hoping to be able to find a way to use them, instead of having to buy pre-made trusses.

I have been trying to find a step by step guide to building roundwood trusses and have not found much. Does anyone know where I might be able to find one?