Hi all, new to this forum. Would like to build house for my family, this is what I want to do: I want to build a 30 by 60 foot rectangle. The walls to be ICF 6″ walls with about 2″ foam either side.
Now here is where it gets tricky, tell me if this not practical. I want to build a single slope roof spanning the 30′ width with logs. I figure I would need about 12 or more logs to space them about 6 foot apart. The front wall I figure would have to be 20′ tall and the rear wall 10′ tall to get between a 3/12 to 4/12 roof pitch. The reasoning for single span logs is I want a tall open front with exposed logs on the inside with tongue and groove exposed ceiling like a log house. I also want the logs to continue on to the outside a couple feet for aesthetics. I live in Colorado at 6500 with 37 lb roof load.
How do you attach an 18″ log to an ICF wall for a rafter? Any reason why local building code with 2006 international standards would not allow me to do this? Is a 20′ tall IFC front wall too tall freestanding? Am I dreaming?
Replies
Time to Seek Out...
... an engineer who's familiar with the code in your area.
To my mind a 30' clear span's tricky enough in and of itself without adding the natural log (unknown resistance to deflection) beam element. Something has to tie the two long walls together remember & with just the log rafters at the top of the 20' wall you might see some problems over time from wind loads alone, let alone snow on the roof.
spclark is right on
What is to keep your assembly from raking. If you had log ties at teh ceiling level you would in essence have built a truss (rafter, wall and ceiling). Of course all of that would depend on fastening all together, but I think with the additon of log ceiling ties you could have a really beautiful design. but would be appropriate in this case, consult an engineer. However, in my experience, (you see I do talk endlessly to suppliers and engineers) an engineer will not be happy to talk to you about logs as they are not graded for strenght like sawn timbers. But someone out there must do that type of work.
If you don't use ceiling ties, it might be possible that entire walls running the short direction of your structure might give you enough shear strength. That an engineer would tell you easily, but will cost you.