Borrego
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# Posted: 9 May 2012 13:36
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Have you considered a 'pole house'? I ask because I am building one and it addresses many of the issues you face. I also have rocky soil, no electricity and remote access. Here is a quote from a site I used:
"Pole construction is building in which the vertical,load-bearing members are poles embedded in the ground,and which must be long enough to support the roof. The diameter of the poles usually is about six inches at the top ends, and they are spaced much further apart than are the uprights in conventional frame construction. No excavation is necessary beyond digging holes for the poles, and there is no concrete or block foundation. The poles serve the triple function of foundation, bracing and framework, to which the floor (if any), walls and roof all are fastened. Labor, time and materials all are saved in the pole framing method. Since lateral girts replace the conventional wallstuds, and since fewer and longer pieces of lumber are used,the actual framework of the building can be completed quickly. This is a real advantage in bad weather, as the project can be placed under cover rapidly.Pole buildings have been approved where light framestructures are prohibited because of fire hazard. Pole framing members are so widely separated that fire is unlikely tospread from one to the other. Pole construction is now recognized by all four U.S. model building codes. Other advantages of pole construction are: It is relatively simple to build, and little sawing is necessary. No scaffolding or forms are required during construction, and a minimum of construction labor is needed. In buildings where the loads are relatively light or the spans rather short,lower (hence cheaper) grades of lumber may be used. If the pole holes are dug by hand, only simple hand tools—the kind found in almost any household—are needed.There are further advantages to this kind of construction in that round timbers have two distinct advantages from the standpoint of strength.A circular timber is 18 per cent stronger in bending resistance than a rectangular timber of similar grade. A round timber, in practically all cases, possesses a very high proportion of the basic strength of its species. This is because the knots have only half the limiting effect on strength in the natural, round timber form that they do in sawed sections.Tests have shown that full-size round timber poles develop practically the full bending strength of clear wood.Another advantage of pole frame construction is its high resistance to wind forces, which results because the poles that support the building are firmly anchored in the ground"
Anyway, worth considering methinks. Ask any questions you may have.
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