Hexagonal Room

[chiangrai]

I'm getting a little house built and the middle room is going to have

6 sides.

It's going to be made with a concrete post and beam structure and

cladded in sheets of plyboard.

I'm trying to understand how to do the concrete post and beam structure for the hexagonal room.

If I use right angled (4 sided)posts the angle will be totally wrong when I try to attach the plyboard on the outside.

I see hexagonal posts for sale if that's the way to go or is there a way of attatching cladding to 4 sided posts on a six sided room.

Help on this one would be really apreciated because the construction is going to start soon and I need to be prepared.

[IMHO]

I've only ver seen/done Octagons - because they work with normal square posts (none need to be rotated), and can be mated to normal rectangular rooms in various ways...

Plus the math is a lot easier for a regular construction worker to handle

[Crossy]

Get you contractor to cast in place with plywood forms, you can define the exact shape on paper using schoolboy geometry. Just make sure the cross sectional area and re-bar is the same as calculated for a square post.

Those hexagonal 'posts' are intended as light duty piles, they have very little re-bar inside. I doubt they would pass muster as a structural member.

[cooked]

Use round posts as I have, visible on the outside. I built a 45° corner in for fun and it looks fine.

[krisb]

You could always build the 6 sided room in timber studs perhaps. That would make fixing the ply easier. Or you could build a square room and then partition the extra corners out of timber stud.

Another way to do it I see is on each point of the hex use 2 square posts and turn the second post to the angle of the next wall.

[worgeordie]

Good luck,I found it very difficult to get builders,to make any

shape other than square or oblong,

regards worgeordie

[eyecatcher]

You could always build the 6 sided room in timber studs perhaps. That would make fixing the ply easier. Or you could build a square room and then partition the extra corners out of timber stud.

Another way to do it I see is on each point of the hex use 2 square posts and turn the second post to the angle of the next wall.

Agree with you; thats the way I would go. Two posts adjacent to one another preferably timber posts.

[krisb]

I think the degree is 135? To make a hexagon.

Edited May 23, 2015 by krisb

[krisb]

Good luck,I found it very difficult to get builders,to make any

shape other than square or oblong,

regards worgeordie

Depends on who you use. I had trouble getting them to turn up. Even then I knocked down a thousand bricks on walls that looked poorly laid.

[chiangrai]

I was trying to stay away from timber because the concrete will last longer but

maybe I should consider it.

Also the lenght of each side of the hexegon is only 8 foot but the hieght is 12 foot because

there will be a loft bed at 8 foot high.The exposed concrete posts and beams might look too clunky in a room thatt size.

We get the odd earthquake tremor up here in the mountains and I was thinking that the concrete would be stronger.

Now I'm starting to think that wood would be cheaper and faster and maybe more flexable in an earthquake tremor.

What do you think.

[cooked]

A few years ago I made a hexagonal timber structure at the botanical gardens I was working at. In the end I made up a sort of form work for the columns so that they were all equidistant from each other and from the centre point (which you are going to have to set up first, even if you do take it away later). Trickiest job I ever did. I doubt that you will find many builders in Farang land that can do this either.

[cooked]

Ok, I don't know why I bother,

[krisb]

A few years ago I made a hexagonal timber structure at the botanical gardens I was working at. In the end I made up a sort of form work for the columns so that they were all equidistant from each other and from the centre point (which you are going to have to set up first, even if you do take it away later). Trickiest job I ever did. I doubt that you will find many builders in Farang land that can do this either.

Hmm, plenty of builders anywhere that can build any shape room you like. It's all about taking time and getting the set out right. It's not that hard if you work on 120degrees or whatever the angle is off the first square.

So back to the op, get yourself a protractor, then set the angle on a bevel.

Get the square shape on the slab first, (if you don't have a square to work with use the 3,4,5 trick) then from the corners of the square measure in the remaining sides of the hexagon using the bevel. Flick the lines with a chalk line. Won't be too hard to get right.

[weegee]

I was trying to stay away from timber because the concrete will last longer but

maybe I should consider it.

Also the lenght of each side of the hexegon is only 8 foot but the hieght is 12 foot because

there will be a loft bed at 8 foot high.The exposed concrete posts and beams might look too clunky in a room thatt size.

We get the odd earthquake tremor up here in the mountains and I was thinking that the concrete would be stronger.

Now I'm starting to think that wood would be cheaper and faster and maybe more flexable in an earthquake tremor.

What do you think.

Use steel!!!....you can achieve any shape you want...Villaboard on the outside and Plaster board on the inside.....

[krisb]

I was trying to stay away from timber because the concrete will last longer but

maybe I should consider it.

Also the lenght of each side of the hexegon is only 8 foot but the hieght is 12 foot because

there will be a loft bed at 8 foot high.The exposed concrete posts and beams might look too clunky in a room thatt size.

We get the odd earthquake tremor up here in the mountains and I was thinking that the concrete would be stronger.

Now I'm starting to think that wood would be cheaper and faster and maybe more flexable in an earthquake tremor.

What do you think.

Use steel!!!....you can achieve any shape you want...Villaboard on the outside and Plaster board on the inside.....

I agree Weegee, steel studs are the best. Always straight, no rotting, no termites.

[chiangrai]

Wow,

I thought this post was dead.

In the mean time I have,checked up on my high school geometry and

marked out the hexagon on the ground so thats not a problem.

I understand that concrete or steel would be better but I'm going to go with wood because it's ceaper and more natural.

What I'm concentreting on now are the walls.Assuming that between myself and the builder we get the wooden frame up then what should I clad it with.

On the inside it's going to be "maai lampoon" chich is made of bamboo pressed into

8 by 4 foot sheets in a factory.

I'm trying to decise on what insulation I should use and what to use for external cladding.

But maybe I should start another thread for that.

[krisb]

Wow,

I thought this post was dead.

In the mean time I have,checked up on my high school geometry and

marked out the hexagon on the ground so thats not a problem.

I understand that concrete or steel would be better but I'm going to go with wood because it's ceaper and more natural.

What I'm concentreting on now are the walls.Assuming that between myself and the builder we get the wooden frame up then what should I clad it with.

On the inside it's going to be "maai lampoon" chich is made of bamboo pressed into

8 by 4 foot sheets in a factory.

I'm trying to decise on what insulation I should use and what to use for external cladding.

But maybe I should start another thread for that.

Sounds good, I can't say I've heard of or seen these pressed bamboo sheets before, post a pic if you can mate.

Insulation assuming you're talking about the batts, in walls is usually dictated by the thickness of the timber studs. It should fit without bulging out of the studs.

On the external walls if you are cladding, not bricking, you need to use this before you clad with whatever you are using, cement sheet etc etc...It's important to create a moisture barrier, don't skip this stage unless you want mold within a year leeching through.

[krisb]

Here's something else that should be used on external clad walls. We call it snake skin at work because its patterned like snake skin. It should actually be used even on brick work this dry course roll.

Edited June 3, 2015 by krisb

[chiangrai]

The "maai lampoon" can be found in the traditional Thai wickerwork shops.I've never seen it in the hardware shops.Up here in the north it's used a lot.

It's 350bht for an 8 by 4 sheet and about 3mm thick.

i haven't learned how to post pictures yet i'm afraid.