Timber Frame
We started work on the timber frame, the main structure of our house, in the spring of 2011.
The first step was designing the frame and then milling all the suitable logs we had felled into the right size timbers. We started the work of cutting the timbers into posts and beams and braces during the summer outside, and continued right through the winter, moving timbers in and out of our 10'X20' cabin so that we could work without frozen fingers and toes. We used hand saws, mallets and chisels, and a borrowed hand crank mortising machine to cut the joints, mortises and tenons. We had to replace our handsaws fairly frequently. We just couldn't find quality saws that wouldn't bend or curve after a month or two of regular use.
Our frame is entirely from wood cut and milled onsite. We used primarily hemlock for the frame, since the straight trees in the forest here are mostly hemlock. Knee braces are all red oak. We have one black birch tree post planned for the interior of the house-- though, we have yet to tackle the joinery work for this round timber.
The first step was designing the frame and then milling all the suitable logs we had felled into the right size timbers. We started the work of cutting the timbers into posts and beams and braces during the summer outside, and continued right through the winter, moving timbers in and out of our 10'X20' cabin so that we could work without frozen fingers and toes. We used hand saws, mallets and chisels, and a borrowed hand crank mortising machine to cut the joints, mortises and tenons. We had to replace our handsaws fairly frequently. We just couldn't find quality saws that wouldn't bend or curve after a month or two of regular use.
Our frame is entirely from wood cut and milled onsite. We used primarily hemlock for the frame, since the straight trees in the forest here are mostly hemlock. Knee braces are all red oak. We have one black birch tree post planned for the interior of the house-- though, we have yet to tackle the joinery work for this round timber.
House Raising
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Many hands raise the rafters to the staging
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Setting up the king post truss
One of the third-bent rafters is passed up
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The tongue and fork joint is secured
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The last rafter pair
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The last purlins
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The whole crew poses for a picture while we attach the traditional hemlock bough, giving thanks to the trees
And finally, some pictures of the frame with the roof, completed two weeks after the raising
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Framing ~ 2013
Patrick milled many of the trees that we cut during the winter and then framed out the walls with 2x5's-- creating openings for our windows and a cavity around the timber frame for cellulose insulation.
The framework around a timber frame is a little redundant structurally. In the 'old' days, before insulation, there was no need for a second framing, but you needed a lot more firewood to make it through the winter.
The framework around a timber frame is a little redundant structurally. In the 'old' days, before insulation, there was no need for a second framing, but you needed a lot more firewood to make it through the winter.
There was a lot of milling to do as the building proceeded. We had pretty much used up all of our softwood lumber in 2012. Luckily, we had cut a lot of millable pine and hemlock trees around our house-site through the winter, so we had plenty of raw materials available-- it was just a matter of turning all those logs into boards and beams for framing, sheathing, flooring, siding, roofing, and everything else!
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Once we got the house wrapped with tar paper, and a few windows installed-- it was time to move in!
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We had a mini-raising day for our mudroom frame.
We got some help raising this little bent (thanks Jason and Pete!), and then used straps and a come along to get the posts, beams, and braces into place.
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