DIY Small Simple Viking Longhall on Budget

⚒️ Overview of the project

A simple longhall inspired by Viking design:

• Size: modest — e.g. ~16 feet x 10 feet (5m x 3m), enough for gatherings, feasts, or rituals.
• Structure: timber frame with post & beam (no complex joinery needed), using logs or squared timbers.
• Walls: vertical plank, wattle & daub, or log walls.
• Roof: simple gable with locally sourced poles + thatch, turf, or wooden shingles.

🌲 Preparing your wood

Since you’re sourcing from your own land:

• Use straight young trees for posts & beams (oak, ash, hickory, pine).
• Select green wood, easier to shape. Avoid rotted or insect-damaged logs.
• Debark them to avoid insects & help drying.

Basic shapes:

• Posts: ~6-8″ diameter (15-20 cm), stripped logs
• Beams & rafters: ~4-6″ (10-15 cm)
• Planks or split boards: for walls or roof

🪓 Tools you’ll need

• Axe (for felling & rough shaping)
• Drawknife or spoke shave (for debarking & smoothing)
• Saw (chainsaw or handsaw)
• Auger or drill
• Hammer & nails (or wood pegs if you want to go traditional)
• Optional: adze or hatchet for shaping flat surfaces

🏗️ How to build it

1. Lay out your ground plan

• Stake out a rectangle, e.g. 16’ x 10’.
• Set corner stakes, use cord to make sure it’s square.

2. Dig post holes

• About 3 feet deep for corner posts + center posts if needed (depending on snow load & soil).
• Place vertical posts, backfill with stones & soil, tamp down firmly.

3. Add horizontal beams (wall plates)

• Lay beams across tops of posts, secure with lap joints or simply with heavy screws / wooden pegs.
• Lash with strong cord or use steel brackets if traditional pegs are too tricky.

4. Roof framing

• Run a ridge pole along the center line on top of posts.
• Set rafters leaning from wall beams up to ridge pole.
• Lash or nail rafters.

5. Roof covering

Options:

• Thatch: bundle reeds, straw, or grasses and tie them to horizontal battens.
• Wood shingles: split from logs with a froe & mallet, nail on overlapping.
• Turf: layer birch bark over boards, then cut sod on top.

6. Wall infill

Three simple Viking-appropriate methods:

• Plank walls: nail vertical planks to horizontal sills & beams.
• Wattle & daub: weave small branches between stakes, smear clay+straw mix.
• Log walls: stack small logs with notches or simply spike them together.

7. Floor

• Leave dirt floor, or tamp gravel.
• Could add simple wood planks if desired.

8. Finishing touches

• Carve or burn runes on lintels.
• Hang shields, weapons, or ritual objects.
• Build a central fire pit (with vent hole in roof or smoke hole).

💡 Tips for keeping costs minimal

✅ Harvest all wood yourself.
✅ Use clay or cob from your own land for daub.
✅ Use stone from your property for post packing or hearth.
✅ Scavenge old nails / metal from barns or pallets.
✅ Learn simple lashings with natural rope (hemp or jute).

🐺 Viking soul — modern tools

• Even though Vikings used axes & adzes, you can use a chainsaw for quicker cuts.
• Use battery drills to drive big screws or lag bolts instead of traditional wooden pegs if that’s more practical.

🌿 In short

• Simple post-in-ground structure.
• Natural wood + basic joinery or lashings.
• Walls of planks or wattle & daub.
• Roof of local thatch, turf, or split shingles.

This creates a humble yet powerful Viking longhall, alive with the spirit of your own land.  🌙