Introduction: How to Build a Sami Hut in Wood!
This is a description with pics of how i built my Sami hut in wood.
What this hut has as a raw model is the hut that our Swedish indigenous people called Sami, have built and used for many centuries.
This type of building is/was also (to some degree) used by the Inuit, Aleut and Yupik peoples.
As i made it from reprocessed wood from torned down houses and other buildings this is a totaly green project.
Tools/materials you need is a hammer, saw, knife, drill, spirit level, nails, tarpaper, wood and alot of patience!
As a non American/English i use the metric system, so i had to use an online converter to be able to present the messurements in inches.
So please dont mock me for my English as i am from Sweden.
What this hut has as a raw model is the hut that our Swedish indigenous people called Sami, have built and used for many centuries.
This type of building is/was also (to some degree) used by the Inuit, Aleut and Yupik peoples.
As i made it from reprocessed wood from torned down houses and other buildings this is a totaly green project.
Tools/materials you need is a hammer, saw, knife, drill, spirit level, nails, tarpaper, wood and alot of patience!
As a non American/English i use the metric system, so i had to use an online converter to be able to present the messurements in inches.
So please dont mock me for my English as i am from Sweden.
Step 1: Step One:
The most important step is to get the ground where you want your Sami hut horizontal (level).
I did that with bigger stones placed at the outer rim as a stop for the smaller stones/gravels (30 millimeters in size).
This ground made of gravel/stones is also important because the need of drainage.
Heavy rains will now float under the gravelbed and not make your feet wet.
The bottom frame that the hut is going to stand on, is made of 8 pieces of 2 by 6 inch pressure treated beams with both ends cut at 22,5 degrees angle.
You nail them together to the shape of the octagon you see in the pic.
The length of all 8 bottom frame pieces is 2.0 meters (78.74 inches), messured from the both outer edges of the 22.5 degree angle cuts (see drawing).
I did that with bigger stones placed at the outer rim as a stop for the smaller stones/gravels (30 millimeters in size).
This ground made of gravel/stones is also important because the need of drainage.
Heavy rains will now float under the gravelbed and not make your feet wet.
The bottom frame that the hut is going to stand on, is made of 8 pieces of 2 by 6 inch pressure treated beams with both ends cut at 22,5 degrees angle.
You nail them together to the shape of the octagon you see in the pic.
The length of all 8 bottom frame pieces is 2.0 meters (78.74 inches), messured from the both outer edges of the 22.5 degree angle cuts (see drawing).
Step 2:
In this step you will will make 8 pieces of 2 by 4 inch elevationbeams as seen in the pic.
On these 8 beams you will have to mitre a angle at the outside edges to get a nice fit for the sheathing that you will mount in step 5.
I did this by hand with a knife, but you can offcourse use a handheld planer to do the job.
The length of all 8 beams is 4.70 meters (185.04 inches), messured from the inner edge of the first 27 degree angle cut, to the outer edge of the second 27 degree angle cut (see drawing).
In the next step you will make the top frame that you will connect the 8 elevationbeams to.
On these 8 beams you will have to mitre a angle at the outside edges to get a nice fit for the sheathing that you will mount in step 5.
I did this by hand with a knife, but you can offcourse use a handheld planer to do the job.
The length of all 8 beams is 4.70 meters (185.04 inches), messured from the inner edge of the first 27 degree angle cut, to the outer edge of the second 27 degree angle cut (see drawing).
In the next step you will make the top frame that you will connect the 8 elevationbeams to.
Step 3:
Here you see the topframe with the 8 elevationbeams connected to it.
You make the topframe by nailing 8 pieces of 2 by 4 inch beams together.
The length of all 8 pieces is 36.3 cm (14.29 inches) messured from the outer edges of the 22,5 degree angles (see drawing).
This is also the time to make one more of this topframe and cover it with some board, because this will later be mounted at the top, making the smoking lid.
You make the topframe by nailing 8 pieces of 2 by 4 inch beams together.
The length of all 8 pieces is 36.3 cm (14.29 inches) messured from the outer edges of the 22,5 degree angles (see drawing).
This is also the time to make one more of this topframe and cover it with some board, because this will later be mounted at the top, making the smoking lid.
Step 4:
In this step we will make 7 pieces of 2 by 4 inch elevationbeams that will be mounted between the ones previous mounted.
The reason that it is only 7 pieces (and not 8) is that you have to leave one opening for the door.
The length of this 7 pieces is 4,63 meters (182.28 inches), messured from the inner edge of the first 24,5 degree angle cut, to the outer edge of the second 24,5 degree angle cut (see drawing).
The reason that it is only 7 pieces (and not 8) is that you have to leave one opening for the door.
The length of this 7 pieces is 4,63 meters (182.28 inches), messured from the inner edge of the first 24,5 degree angle cut, to the outer edge of the second 24,5 degree angle cut (see drawing).
Step 5:
Now it is time to build up the walls of the Sami hut!
This is the fun part, but tidious, if you like me using small and thin pieces of wood.
Here you can use whatever dimensions u have.
This is the fun part, but tidious, if you like me using small and thin pieces of wood.
Here you can use whatever dimensions u have.
Step 6:
After a couple of days of hard work and blue thumbs, the Sami hut is now fully clothed except from the door, top front and the top smoking lid.
Step 7:
Here i will show you pics of how i mounted the doorframe, but i will not give you any measurements because they will depend on what kind of door you find/buy.
As you can see i decided to put the door invards the hut to shield it from hard weather.
As you can see i decided to put the door invards the hut to shield it from hard weather.
Step 8:
I just had to testfire the hut, so i brought in an old trash can and lit a fire upon it... looks nice...
Step 9:
Here you see the door in place and the top smoking lid (described in step 3), mounted at the top.
Step 10:
The last but very important thing to do is to cover the hut with some protection against weather and rain.
I choosed to cover the hut with tarpaper because its easy and cheap, or you can paint the hut directly with tar if you want, but it is a messy project to do that....
You can see that i have nailed some ribbons over the tarpaper that this summer will be used to mount some (i have not decided what type yet) outer panel on.
That ugly monster you see in the last pic is an experiment to see if the arrangement could store some heat for the night (you make the fire around it), it works, but i will later on test an idea that makes use of self circulating water from an accumulator tank and radiators under the lavas (where you sit and sleep) .
Another very important thing to do is to install air intakes at the bottom sides of the the doorframe to feed the fire and to get air to the inhabitants of the hut, and to drill 3-4 pieces of 1/2 to 1 inch holes at the top smoking lid to act as vents.
You dont see this on the pics because it was added after the last foto op.
You can if you want, lead in air via a pipe digged down into the gravels if you dont want to have vissible air intakes.
Finnished!
You are now the proud owner of a unique Sami hut that you can use as a guesthouse or maybe a cool looking sauna.....
PS. If you dont want to turn yourself into a smoke-dried fish, you MUST USE WELL DRIED and WELL SPLITTED wood.
I choosed to cover the hut with tarpaper because its easy and cheap, or you can paint the hut directly with tar if you want, but it is a messy project to do that....
You can see that i have nailed some ribbons over the tarpaper that this summer will be used to mount some (i have not decided what type yet) outer panel on.
That ugly monster you see in the last pic is an experiment to see if the arrangement could store some heat for the night (you make the fire around it), it works, but i will later on test an idea that makes use of self circulating water from an accumulator tank and radiators under the lavas (where you sit and sleep) .
Another very important thing to do is to install air intakes at the bottom sides of the the doorframe to feed the fire and to get air to the inhabitants of the hut, and to drill 3-4 pieces of 1/2 to 1 inch holes at the top smoking lid to act as vents.
You dont see this on the pics because it was added after the last foto op.
You can if you want, lead in air via a pipe digged down into the gravels if you dont want to have vissible air intakes.
Finnished!
You are now the proud owner of a unique Sami hut that you can use as a guesthouse or maybe a cool looking sauna.....
PS. If you dont want to turn yourself into a smoke-dried fish, you MUST USE WELL DRIED and WELL SPLITTED wood.