Builders, what do you think?

................24 inch ? since when ? It's still every 16 inchs around here !

We have a new house going up here framed by a contractor on 24 inch centres. Uno, all our outbuilding are framed with the missing stud (not by the missing stud). Every corner has to have a stud added to attach inside wall material.

uno wrote:Dan, your point is valid, some of these crazy design ideas (and I have LOTS of them) are hard to unload when it's time to sell. Local realtor says even log homes are harder to sell just because they appeal to a smaller market than a regular stick built home. I can imagine that a round, mud walled house might be a little harder to move even than a log home!

Your other point is also correct, that the closer to a square your house is, the more efficient use of exterior wall to enclose interior space. The more rectangular, the more costly to build(per foot of exterior wall) and you get less square feet for you dollar.

Still....I do like htese crazy, alternative ideas. Who the heck needs to sell it anyway, pass it down to the kids in the will, as a form of revenge. Ha ha, you get the round house and all my fine china.

Rosewood, it isn't ALL bad, this house was only built 20 years ago and there isn't a sheet of OSB anywhere in it! And we are 16" on centre, sided with cedar and OVERbuilt in anyway Hubby could double up on dimension size. Hallways are 4' wide, all doorways 3' wide, if either of us ended up in a wheelchair, we could live in this house. HUbby griped over my plan to put 3' doors in every room but blessed me when it was time to lug furniture around.

Now I feel the urge to dig out all my Fine HOme Building Magazines and study up on the 5 ways to frame a corner. I bet there's an article or two on round homes... And you know Dan, tubs and cabinets do not need to go against an outside wall. The possibilities are staggering.

In spite of the comments that I made I would love a house that is built into the side of a hill , almost like a cave where you are using mother earth's natural heat and shelter . There is one north of Calgary . All you see is windows in the side of a sandstone cliff with vegetation on the roof and lots of solar stuff. I don't think that I could talk my wife into it but I would love to be off the grid and not let these large utility companies hold us ransomed.

Dan, there are(were) two such houses like that here. I think they call them earth sheltered. Mostly concrete structure, built right into a hillside, which we have a lot of in this area! I think planning one so it didn't feel like a mole hole would be the trick, but they remain an even temperature due to not being very exposed to the vagaries of changing outside weather.

Probably 20 years ago when we were looking for property our realtor took us to a place where someone had started to build one of these earth sheltered homes and then abandonned the project part way through. Some problem with the weight of back filled earth and improprerly mixed concrete as well as a waterproof membrane that turned out to not be waterproof....for once we did the smart thing and said no thanks. Again, NOT a building method one should embark on unless you have an idea how much weight you will be adding when you bulldoze backfill over your roof structure! But they are a very low profile looking house, depending how they are situated.

Damn it! Now I want to build something! Oh, Rosewood is correct. Here in BC the building code allows for 24 inch on centre studs. Our scissor trusses are 24 inch on centre, despite our concerns. We were assured by the truss company that it would beef up nothing but our bill to go 16 inch. They are designed to carry our snowload at 24", and that's what is up there. But it's further stabilized with over 1500 sq ft of pine nailed to the bottom side. Oh..no air nailer. Each board installed by hand and the finishing nails tapped in with a nail set while Hubby teetered on the step ladder, yes, the top step!. Hubby complained about not having the right tools for the job. Such a whiner.