Rough sawn white oak for our timber frame

Above is a photo of our very first timbers for our new timber frame & straw bale house! We had a handful of sample timbers milled up at a local sawmill to determine the quality of the wood and the saw job. I’d say I’m pretty happy, especially at the quoted cost. (Pictured are two 8x8s, some 3×10 floor joists, and 3×5 brace stock.)

Granted, these are rough sawn white oak, so they need a bit of additional work if we wanted a more finished, smooth look. But that is not yet decided. They were not band-sawn, so there is a lot of ciruclar saw marks on the faces of the timbers, which isn’t my favorite thing in the world. So we may hand plane the timbers.

Our full order has been submitted, so it will be a few weeks before everything is sawn up and ready for delivery. Wow! Momentous.