A review of the design of timber pole houses

As with any structure, design of timber pole frame houses concerns transfer of wind loads through structural elements into the supporting ground. The study described here considered the aspects of pole embedment depth, borehole backfill material, and the development of lateral resistance in a pole house during construction. Good pole embedment can help control both the lateral and rotational response of the pole house to lateral loads. Field studies on pole embedment used four embedment depths and three methods of backfill. Individual pole load/deflection behaviour was compared to existing theoretical methods used for predicting deflection. The response of the house to simulated wind loads was investigated by subjecting the pole house to lateral loading at various stages of construction. As expected the structure became stiffer as the construction progressed.