03-02-2008, 10:46 AM
You could use pipe, but in this climate it's going to be prone to sweat, rot adjacent areas, and beg termites to the rot, so I'd be cautious of that. As well, it will be ugly, which would bother me, and will likely require an inside treatment where a cleanly built timber frame roof with ACX and the A face down may only need paint to look nice, if that. While any new idea is good, but I'm a wood builder, and very fast with it, and that alone often saves a good deal of cost over trying something new. Speed of build matters, as if one is building for oneself on doesn't want to absorb the cost of a protracted campout or renting elsewhere. Ultimately the proof is in the puddin' and what-ever is most cost effective wins. I personally feel it's very hard to beat stick frame construction all things being considered.