Comments on: Reciprocal Frame

By: Preparing for building the reciprocal roof frame at The Year of Mud: Building a cob house

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:34:46 +0000

[...] Zone5 has a brief description with some images of a Tony Wrench-style reciprocal roof construction for a roundhouse here and here [...]

By: Graham

Graham — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:31:26 +0000

There is a picture of my own house in Derrydubh looking up through the skylight on my “About” page, and a full description of how it was built. A temporary post is used to support the rafters until the last one completes the “reciprocal” (self-supporting) frame and the post is removed- magic!

By: Vincent van Heijnsbergen

Vincent van Heijnsbergen — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:10:46 +0000

I’m interested in building something like this, but the construction you used raises a few questions. In the designs i’ve see so far there’s a smaller and higher square construction in the center of the building to support the beams in the center of the roof. But in your building this seems not the case. I can imagine that there was an temporary support while placing the first poles, but does this roof support itself once it is finished? Can you make a picture of the center straight up? Great work!

By: Graham

Graham — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:27:10 +0000

We will board over the frame and then put a plastic membrane and then sod- I did this for my own house. Thatch needs a steeper pitch to throw off the rain faster- otherwise it wont last long. On the other hand, sod is not so good on a steeper pitch as it may not “cling” to the roof.

By: Tameson O'Brien

Tameson O'Brien — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:04:46 +0000

What are you planning on roofing it with? I like the idea of using sod, but what do you use to make it waterproof? How about thatch? It’s illegal (well it’s against code) to use thatch or wood shingles in parts of the US , but probably not in Ireland. I’ll be interested to see what yo come up with.