Residential homes having tensioned curved wall panels

A residential house having a floor and a roof, comprising, in combination:

• a) at least one wall panel, with the wall panel:
• i) having upper and lower edges, wherein the lower edges are at the floor of the residential house and wherein the upper edges are at the roof of the residential house, and wherein the wall panel has sufficient rigidity between the upper and lower edges to support a roof load and to further support a live roof load;
• ii) having a pair of end edges running between the upper and lower edges, with a distance between the end edges along the wall panel being greater than 19½ feet when the wall panel is in a nontensioned form and such that a length of said wall panel is greater than a height of the wall panel;
• iii) being one-piece;
• iv) being in a generally curved form and having a concave face and a convex face, with the concave face being oriented toward an interior of the residential house;
• v) being tensioned outwardly;
• vi) being fixed in the generally curved form;
• vii) comprising a sheet of oriented strand board, wherein the oriented strand board is a wood product, wherein the oriented strand board is not particle board, wherein the oriented strand board is not flakeboard, wherein the oriented strand board comprises wood strands sliced from wood in a direction of a grain of the wood such that inherent tree strength is maintained in the oriented strand board, wherein the sheet of oriented strand board comprises a first face layer of wood strands, a second face layer of wood strands, and a core layer of wood strands between the first and second face layers, wherein the wood strands of the face layers are aligned in one direction, and wherein said one direction is a vertical direction running between the floor and the roof;
• b) wherein the roof is on the wall panel so as to form the residential house;
• and
• c) wherein the residential house is studless.

A method for building a residential house having a floor, a wall and a roof, comprising, in combination, the steps of:

• a) choosing first and second sheets of tensionable material for said wall of the residential house, with each of the sheets of tensionable material having ends, with each of the sheets of tensionable material being flexible between a generally flat form having potential tension and a generally curved form having a tension biased toward the generally flat form, wherein each of the first and second sheets runs from the floor of the residential house to the roof of the residential house, wherein said sheets have sufficient rigidity on edge to support a roof load and to further support a live roof load, wherein each of said sheets includes a length of more than 19½ feet when said sheet is in a nontensioned form and such that a length of said wall panel is greater than a height of the wall panel, and wherein the step of choosing comprises the step of selecting sheets of oriented strand board as the first and second sheets of tensionable material, wherein the oriented strand board is a wood product, wherein the oriented strand board is not particle board, wherein the oriented strand board is not flakeboard, wherein the oriented strand board comprises wood strands sliced from wood in a direction of a grain of the wood such that inherent tree strength is maintained in the oriented strand board, wherein the sheet of oriented strand board comprises a first face layer of wood strands, a second face layer of wood strands, and a core layer of wood strands between the first and second face layers, wherein the wood strands of the face layers are aligned in one direction, and wherein said one direction is a vertical direction running between the floor and the roof;
• b) bending each of the sheets into the generally curved form so as to form a generally concave face and so as to produce tension in the generally curved form;
• c) countering the tension in the sheets when the sheets are in the generally curved form, fixing the sheets in the generally curved form, and orienting the sheets relative to each other such that the concave faces are oriented toward each other and such that the each of the ends of one sheet confronts one end of the other sheet to make an enclosure;
• and
• d) placing the roof on the sheets to form the residential house.

A method for bending without breaking a panel of oriented strand board, with the panel having two end edges, with the method comprising, in combination, the steps of:

• a) selecting a panel of oriented strand board, wherein the oriented strand board is a wood product, wherein the oriented strand board is not particle board, wherein the oriented strand board is not flakeboard, wherein the oriented strand board comprises wood strands sliced from wood in a direction of a grain of the wood such that inherent tree strength is maintained in the oriented strand board, wherein the panel of oriented strand board comprises a first face layer of wood strands, a second face layer of wood strands, and a core layer of wood strands between the first and second face layers, and wherein the wood strands of the face layers are aligned in one direction, wherein the panel of oriented strand board comprises end edges, wherein the end edges run in said one direction;
• then
• b) drawing the end edges toward each other to form a curved panel of oriented strand board;
• and then
• c) fixing the curved panel of oriented strand board in place.

A residential house having a roof and comprising:

• a) a sheet, wherein the sheet includes a height sufficient to serve as a wall of the residential house;
• b) wherein the sheet includes a length, with the length being defined by the upper and lower edges, wherein the sheet has sufficient rigidity between the upper and lower edges to support a roof load and to further support a live roof load;
• c) wherein the sheet is one-piece;
• d) wherein the sheet is in a generally curved form;
• e) wherein the sheet is tensioned so as to be biased toward a flat form;
• f) wherein the sheet is fixed in the generally curved form;
• g) wherein the sheet is a sheet of oriented strand board, wherein the oriented strand board is a wood product, wherein the oriented strand board is not particle board, wherein the oriented strand board is not flakeboard, wherein the oriented strand board comprises wood strands sliced from wood in a direction of a grain of the wood such that inherent tree strength is maintained in the oriented strand board, wherein the sheet of oriented strand board comprises a first face layer of wood strands, a second face layer of wood strands, and a core layer of wood strands between the first and second face layers, wherein the wood strands of the face layers are aligned in one direction, wherein the sheet of oriented strand board comprises end edges, wherein the end edges run in said one direction, wherein the end edges of the sheet have been drawn towards each other to form the generally curved form;
• and
• h) wherein the roof is on the sheet so as to form the residential house.