Practicality of building a livable structure from ~1 acre of woodland?

[SoilHugger]

Presupposing that time was not a factor and I could live in van in the meantime.

I suppose you will ask what type of wood it is but I could not say. Maybe some type of birch. Size is probably about double story house and thickness of a thigh at the bottom.

There is also a small cropping of what I guess is willow as they are just whips jutting up from the ground in a cluster.

I read that you have to do all sorts of curing to make the wood suitable to use as dwelling material which takes at least a year!

Surely our ancestors were not waiting a year in the elements until the wood was cured. Likewise they would have used what wood and other raw materials were available not fussing over what type of tree.

Aren't there structures you can make that would be usable immediately? What about wattle and daub? Thin mesh of willow and splat on the 'admixture'.

There are lots of shelters in the SAS survival guide granted, I presume those ramshackle structures are not made for long term habitation, just to last long enough to rescue.

Back again, to our forefathers, they must have done things to have habitable dwellings right away.

Is all the talk of 'x years of curing' just a modern idealistic notion?

In the vein of self sufficiency it is a rather romantic idea. So can it be done reasonably?

I would definitely want to know it was a no go before I looked at other options. Must be a way for a simple structure from immediately sourced materials, if you have the will to do it.

 

[HatsOff]

Wood is full of water when it is cut. As it dries (or 'cures' or 'seasons') it will warp and change shape. Materials changing shape aren't great for buildings.

Our ancestors that would have had this issue probably were nomadic. Once settled they have the foresight to store wood for a year or two.

 

[SoilHugger]

Wood is full of water when it is cut. As it dries (or 'cures') it will warp and change shape. Materials changing shape aren't great for buildings.

Yes I understood that as the general reason but wattle is so small that would not really be a factor if at all would it as that is used only as a skeleton and the daub is the main filler whereas timber structures rely on the wood as the main material.

 

[delilah]

The Woodland House - Ben Law

“Here is a house so ecologically sound, it breathes in time to the trees around it.”Kevin McCloudKevin McCloud Built in 2001, the woodland house was the building that brought ‘roundwood timber framing’ to the public eye. Filmed for channel 4 for Grand Designs, the episode known as ‘the...

ben-law.co.uk

 

[HatsOff]

Yes I understood that as the general reason but wattle is so small that would not really be a factor if at all would it as that is used only as a skeleton and the daub is the main filler whereas timber structures rely on the wood as the main material.

You're not thinking about this in the right way.

Where does the water go?

Why does something being small not mean it won't be affected?

Anything is possible but you'd have a lot of ongoing work to correct issues compared to just using seasoned wood.

 

[SoilHugger]

You're not thinking about this in the right way.

Where does the water go?

Why does something being small not mean it won't be affected?

Anything is possible but you'd have a lot of ongoing work to correct issues compared to just using seasoned wood.

Well I was just thinking exactly that, why couldn't you live in it while it's curing to get the benefit of shelter while it is going through the process.

Just make the structure in a modular fashion and adjust as it gets (presumably) smaller

Also heating the space would speed the process wouldn't it?

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Our ancestors didn’t have the option of living in a nice, draught free, dry roofed house. They would have lived in natural shelters or dug themselves in when times got really tough.


If you’ve lived in any house built in the last 200 years then you’re probably not going to be too enamoured with getting woken up by draughts cutting your feet off or rain dripping on your pillow at 3 am.

But to our ancestors, that was much better than be out in the weather.

Edit: So, meant to say, do it right and do it once. Let the timber mellow and then it won’t warp.

 

[egbert]

Presupposing that time was not a factor and I could live in van in the meantime.

I suppose you will ask what type of wood it is but I could not say. Maybe some type of birch. Size is probably about double story house and thickness of a thigh at the bottom.

There is also a small cropping of what I guess is willow as they are just whips jutting up from the ground in a cluster.

I read that you have to do all sorts of curing to make the wood suitable to use as dwelling material which takes at least a year!

Surely our ancestors were not waiting a year in the elements until the wood was cured. Likewise they would have used what wood and other raw materials were available not fussing over what type of tree.

Aren't there structures you can make that would be usable immediately? What about wattle and daub? Thin mesh of willow and splat on the 'admixture'.

There are lots of shelters in the SAS survival guide granted, I presume those ramshackle structures are not made for long term habitation, just to last long enough to rescue.

Back again, to our forefathers, they must have done things to have habitable dwellings right away.

Is all the talk of 'x years of curing' just a modern idealistic notion?

In the vein of self sufficiency it is a rather romantic idea. So can it be done reasonably?

I would definitely want to know it was a no go before I looked at other options. Must be a way for a simple structure from immediately sourced materials, if you have the will to do it.

Assuming your questions are merely about building from the round timber you have growing....rather than bigger questions like 'planning permission' and 'building control'

Birch wood is massively NON durable...IE everything eats it.
Its resilience to rot, in exposed use, is nearly zero....your structure would rot away inside a year.
In a dry secure space, it potentially lasts longer, but is still liable to insect attack, and it needs to be very dry and aired to keep rot out long term.
The 'seasoning' aspect is very much secondary to the longevity. It won't matter how much it distorts or shrinks...seeing as it is going to rot away so quickly.


You could chemically treat it to preserve it, and likely there are heat treatments that might do likewise (and this would be serious heat treating, not playing about at it)

Willow is pretty much the same.....expect it to rot away in no time flat

For construction where there is exposure to damp, you want oak or chestnut, which you can use as freshly sawn green material, as long as you understand the implications, and design your structure to allow for that, and to protect the framing from damp...(IE sit ground contact timber on a dry footing)

 

[Exfarmer]

Early shelters were mainly a shallow pit in the ground with branches over the top probably simply thatched with grass and rushes. Gradually goit larger probably with a central post again branches leant against with simple thatch until some had the bright idea of plastering with clay
Check out “The Beaker People” our farm in no9rth Bucks vhad several field near the river where there was airial evidence of hundreds of such houses.
They built a simple pit for a fire and probably a hide to cover the doorway. I suspect there were plenty of people lived like that in the world till this century and it is possible to see similar structures today

 

[teslacoils]

My ancestors moved to Minnesota and lived in a house dug out of soil. The cut the turf into chunks and used that for walls. The roof was made from the cover of their covered wagon.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

I built a mud brick extension/workshop at The Grange in Campbeltown.

As long as the eaves oversail the walls by 3’ or so they will remain in good order for at least a century.
Not far away from this job was the largest rammed earth house on the Southern hemisphere, Wanstead Park. So there is nothing wrong in using natural earth
SS

 

[serf]

Not seen all the thread but noticed unseasoned wood when building mentioned and thought of the old wonky donkey at chesterfield !

 

[onesiedale]

Assuming your questions are merely about building from the round timber you have growing....rather than bigger questions like 'planning permission' and 'building control'

Birch wood is massively NON durable...IE everything eats it.
Its resilience to rot, in exposed use, is nearly zero....your structure would rot away inside a year.
In a dry secure space, it potentially lasts longer, but is still liable to insect attack, and it needs to be very dry and aired to keep rot out long term.
The 'seasoning' aspect is very much secondary to the longevity. It won't matter how much it distorts or shrinks...seeing as it is going to rot away so quickly.


You could chemically treat it to preserve it, and likely there are heat treatments that might do likewise (and this would be serious heat treating, not playing about at it)

Willow is pretty much the same.....expect it to rot away in no time flat

For construction where there is exposure to damp, you want oak or chestnut, which you can use as freshly sawn green material, as long as you understand the implications, and design your structure to allow for that, and to protect the framing from damp...(IE sit ground contact timber on a dry footing)

@SoilHugger ^^
when it comes to timber, this fella knows his onions. Take note of what he says.

 

[SoilHugger]

shallo

My ancestors moved to Minnesota and lived in a house dug out of soil. The cut the turf into chunks and used that for walls. The roof was made from the cover of their covered wagon.

I built a mud brick extension/workshop at The Grange in Campbeltown.
As long as the eaves oversail the walls by 3’ or so they will remain in good order for at least a century.
Not far away from this job was the largest rammed earth house on the Southern hemisphere, Wanstead Park. So there is nothing wrong in using natural earth
SS

Yes I was thinking that another option, hobbit home built into the ground. You would get natural insulation from the earth then wouldn't you?

I was reading an interesting article the other days about the different buildings in britain that became popular through different periods and locales. Not really related to what I am doing as it was when building was more established using commercial building blocks but interesting to read the history of different structures we take for granted in different towns and settlements.

 

[puppet]

When our ancestors lived under a collection of branches and turf then life expectancy was around 30. There was a reason for that

 

[br jones]

got planning easily enough then ?

 

[teslacoils]

Yes I was thinking that another option, hobbit home built into the ground. You would get natural insulation from the earth then wouldn't you?

I was reading an interesting article the other days about the different buildings in britain that became popular through different periods and locales. Not really related to what I am doing as it was when building was more established using commercial building blocks but interesting to read the history of different structures we take for granted in different towns and settlements.

The reality is that life in a dug out sod house in 2024 would be poor.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Presupposing that time was not a factor and I could live in van in the meantime.

I suppose you will ask what type of wood it is but I could not say. Maybe some type of birch. Size is probably about double story house and thickness of a thigh at the bottom.

There is also a small cropping of what I guess is willow as they are just whips jutting up from the ground in a cluster.

I read that you have to do all sorts of curing to make the wood suitable to use as dwelling material which takes at least a year!

Surely our ancestors were not waiting a year in the elements until the wood was cured. Likewise they would have used what wood and other raw materials were available not fussing over what type of tree.

Aren't there structures you can make that would be usable immediately? What about wattle and daub? Thin mesh of willow and splat on the 'admixture'.

There are lots of shelters in the SAS survival guide granted, I presume those ramshackle structures are not made for long term habitation, just to last long enough to rescue.

Back again, to our forefathers, they must have done things to have habitable dwellings right away.

Is all the talk of 'x years of curing' just a modern idealistic notion?

In the vein of self sufficiency it is a rather romantic idea. So can it be done reasonably?

I would definitely want to know it was a no go before I looked at other options. Must be a way for a simple structure from immediately sourced materials, if you have the will to do it.

Why not build yourself a cob structure, with lime plaster outside and inside? Or a straw bale house with the same lime plaster? By the way, houses have been built with unseasoned wood, green oak frame houses, but I am thinking you are planning more of a budget built than a green oak framed house.

 

[Daddy Pig]

From your description of the trees they may be Alder, especially if there is Willow growing close by. Alder is favored for making Clogs but rots very quickly when exposed to the air. Apparently a lot of Venice is built on Alder piles.

 

[Danllan]

Why not build yourself a cob structure, with lime plaster outside and inside? Or a straw bale house with the same lime plaster? By the way, houses have been built with unseasoned wood, green oak frame houses, but I am thinking you are planning more of a budget built than a green oak framed house.

Just reading through the thread and found myself thinking, why not cob?

@SoilHugger I built with cob a couple of times at the old place when I was much younger, nothing massive, just a sort of large hut (I think the last was about ten by twelve) and provided four rules are followed it can last well.

Rule 1) build the cob on a stone / water resistant base, ideally at least a foot higher than the surrounding area'

Rule 2) have a an outward-downward sloping border (path) around the base, a yard wide would be good;

Rule 3) have a really good overhang of eves all round the walls - such that, allowing for wall slope, the overhang will not let water fall on to the wall-base;

Rule 4) render it well and give it a regular coating.

That last is argued by some, I think on aesthetics; but I like limewash and it certainly helps resilience. If you have a good local substrate, that would be as good.

The thing is to avoid water damage, if it gets wet from above or from low splashes, it will fail.

Regarding your bit about wood, hmm... I have read and heard and seen experts tell how bad it is to use green wood; and I have seen and lived in buildings that were built using green wood... although obviously there is enormous variation between tree species.

Take a squint at the link below...