Appropedia

How to: Reciprocal

Roof

A reciprocal frame is a class of self-

supporting structure made of three or
more beams and which requires no
center support to create roofs, bridges or
similar structures. As quoted from
Wikipedia.org

This page is intended to show the basic

How-To's of installing a reciprocal roof on
a structure.

The reciprocal roof lends itself to round

walled structures. This structure is a
hexagon, although, an octagon, decagon,
or vertex-less/circular one would make
installation easier. The reason being that
the reciprocal roof pitch is determined by
the x distance from the top plate to the
tangent of the center ring where the
rafters lay reciprocating over each other.
If the x distance changes, ex: in a square
with four corners the x distance from the
center point of the square to the edges of
the square box are not equal. It is a
greater distance from the center to the
corner than to the center of a face/side
of the square. Therefore, the pitch of the
roof will be shallower at the corners and
steeper at the faces. In theory, the non
sided circle is the best way to achieve an
even pitch around the whole structure
making a conical roof.
In this hexagonal structure built in a
series of community workshops the roof
pitch does vary slightly from vertex to
face; but this can be mitigated slightly by
placing the rafters a distance away from
the vertices.
Enjoy this How-To for educational
purposes, if this page does not help or if
you are looking for more, here is another
reciprocal roof how to with blog The year
of Mud Reciprocal Roof Blog , enjoy.
Round Pole Reciprocal Roof How To::

Hexagon Structure Awaiting a

Reciprocal Roof

Here we have a
Hexagonal structure
ready for a roof. This
structure is a basic
round pole gazebo style
made from Hawaiian
Iron wood (aka:
Australian Pine,
Whistling Pine, Horsetail
Beefwood). The top
plates are all about the
same length and
diameter each lapped
over the previous in a
reciprocal fashion. The
idea being to equalize all
joints in strength since
the weight of the
reciprocal roof presses
down and out at top
plates. In other words,
the roof wants to make
the hexagonal top plates
break the circle.

2
All the rafters awaiting installation

Here we have all the

rafters awaiting
installation. The rafters
are all cut quite longer
than required for the
roof. Working with round
poles that are not all
together straight and
have varying taper it is a
good idea to leave all
your members long so
that they can be twisted
and transitioned right
where each piece fits
best.
3
Finding the center of a hexagon

In addition to the
reciprocal top plates
mentioned in step 1,
three additional
members were added
atop the hexagon of top
plates for more strength.
The added members
extend from the middle
of the top plates' span
cross to the center of the
opposing span, making
the view from above or
below a triangle inside of
a hexagon. This step is
not required for all
applications. It was
chosen here because the
walls in this particular
structure are simple and
not reinforced. A circular
cob or earthbag
structure would likely not
require such extra
tension support. The
three members were
also installed simply to
make the installation of
the rafters easier by
serving as scaffolding to
stand on.
String lines across the
vertices help us find
center so we an
determine the position
of the charlie stick.
4

The distance from the center of the

structure to the charlie stick
determines the size of the opening

There are several ways

to install the temporary
support post known as a
charlie stick . This one is
installed by lashing a
temporary support
between our added
support beams. Another
way is two lash two
charlie sticks together in
a cross at the top used
in this [video ]. In most
cases the trick is to keep
it temporary; do not bury
the charlie stick in the
ground, that will make it
very difficult to remove
later. Lashing, nailing, or
screwing knee and
lateral braces from the
posts to the charlie stick
are adequate
anchoring.Notice in the
photo the distance of the
charlie stick from the
center of the structure,
this determines the size
of the opening of the
reciprocal roof. A
circular template is also
sometimes used.
5

An example of a square lashing used

to secure the charlie stick

This close up shows an

example of the square
lashing used to secure
the charlie stick to a
temporary beam to the
structure . This lashing
was made with nylon
rope found in the jungle.

Continued from the

previous step: The
height of the charlie
stick determines the
pitch or slope of the
finished roof. The
reciprocal roof looses
strength with too much
rise. The strength in a
reciprocal roof comes
compression from the
members above and
below each rafter. Too
wide an opening or too
small the compression
ring looses strength as
well. There are
numerous examples of
that all fall within reason.

6
First three rafters up one laid atop the
next.

After the charlie stick is

set, the first three rafters
went up. The first rafter
laid in the crotch of the
charlie stick.
Remember to place the
charlie stick far enough
outside the final ring in
the center to avoid
getting the charlie stick
stuck from the last
rafters installed.
The second is laid atop
the first and the third
atop the second. Each
crossover is tangent to
the radius of the center
opening desired. Due to
the steep pitch of this
roof, temporary cordage
ties each new rafter onto
the previous one. These
will come off later.
7

To set each rafter, each one is

notched.

As each rafter goes up,

every one is fitted to the
optimal location and the
notched. Each pole is
transitioned and twisted
till it sits where we want
it, meaning the the poles
have roughly the same
diameter where they
cross at the top and
where they lay on the top
plate. Then, each rafter
pole is notched with a
chisel to a half round
that keeps the pole from
sliding off the roof. It
helps to have at least
three people for this
part.
Notching is not
necessary for all roof
instal applications.

Half the roof is up, not yet trimmed.

In this step we can see

about half the rafters up.
Notice the relatively even
distance between the
rafters at the top plate.
Also notice how long
many of the rafters are,
each one adjusted
around until well set.
The ends will be cut off
before we release the
charlie stick.
Leaving the ends long
also lets us choose the
length of our eave.
9

Temporary ties holding the rafters

from slipping down.

Here we are with about

the first 12 rafters up.
Temporary ties secure
each pole to the next. At
this stage we are really
starting to see the center
ring taking shape.
We can slightly adjust
the position of each pole
but remember, trying to
adjust a pole laid several
courses back will move
every subsequent pole
up to the current unless
you carefully lift the
weight off of the
member when adjusting.
10

Fitting in the last rafter can be a little

tricky.

The only really tricky part

of a reciprocal roof is
fitting in the last rafter to
balance the forces. The
vertical arrow on the left
shows the last rafter on
its way up to the last
tight spot underneath
the first rafter placed on
the charlie stick
indicated by the upper
arrow.
In some cases the space
is too small and a little
lifting of the first is
required. In other cases,
the gap for the last rafter
is too big and the charlie
stick has to be let down
a little to get the gap to
close.
Both maneuvers have
the potential to knock
the center ring out of
center so be careful. In
this the last rafter was
tight , and loose in [this
one ].

11
Final adjustments of the center ring.

In this step some of the

temporary ties were
removed from the rafters
to adjust the shape of
the center ring slightly. In
this case, the charlie
stick was placed just a
little too close to the
center ring and was
becoming stuck, and the
gap for the last rafter
was a little big, so a little
shaking of the charlie
stick and half the rafters
got it to drop into shape.

I would NOT attempt to

do this much adjusting if
i were using rafter poles
over 6 inches in
diameter, the weight at
the top would be too
great and the possibility
of collapse much higher.

Also notice from Step 6,

the charlie stick is
outside the center ring
and can be freely kicked
out when the time
comes

12

Cut all eaves to length after placing

them on the roof.
The charlie stick is still in
place. Before removing it
we have determined the
desired length of the
eaves for the structure
and cut the bottoms and
tops of the rafter poles.
Remember in the the
prologue of this How-To
about the rise of the roof
pitch. This rise also
affects the length of your
eaves if you want them
to be all the same height
off the ground. In this
case we had to cut a
little more off of the
rafters in the middle of
the spans between posts
to get the desired height
because the pitch is
slightly steeper when the
x horizontal distance
from the top plate to the
center ring gets shorter.

Also notice how

awesome the shadows
cast by the rafters is on
the ground, one of the
beautiful perks from a
reciprocal roof.

13
Wrapping thick gauge wire around the
center ring to keep it from slipping
out.
Before removing the
charlie stick we wrapped
a double course of thick
gauge galvanized wire
around each rafter to the
next in the center ring.
Starting at the first rafter
going in the direction
you laid the rafters, wrap
the wire as you remove
the temporary ties. Once
a full course has been
wrapped pretty tightly,
we are ready to pull out
the charlie stick. A short
1 min .SWF video can be
viewed Here showing the
charlie stick removal and
immediate strength of
the roof once set. Please
turn your sound off,
there is nothing to hear
and the quality is bad.
There is also a video on
the removal of a charlie
stick on a bigger scale at
The year of Mud
Reciprocal Roof
Blog and here on
[Youtube ].

14

Adding extra wire for strength and

bark to hide the wire.

Some final touch ups

after the charlie stick
has been removed. The
first course of wire has
slipped a little as the
rafters settled into place.
Now that they have
wiggled and found their
locking position, an extra
two courses of wire are
added here to lock
everything in even more.

[Hau bark ] was used to

decoratively wrap over
the wire for aesthetics.
15

The Decorated Finished Product

Here is the finished

structure sans roofing
material and decking. At
this point the final
touches are sanding off
all the sharp edges of
the rafters and treating
the poles with a
 preservative. this one
was coated with Eco
Wood Treatment .

Project on this page completed March

2014 in Hawaii as part of a community
building workshop. Have fun with yours!

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