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Timber Framing

Jan 04
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More Pier and Beam Foundation Design Images and Details

By Foundation, Timber Framing, Strawtron
Pier and Beam Foundation

The pier and beam foundation of our timber frame house

Earlier in the year, I discussed the idea of “replacing concrete with wood” in our pier and beam foundation design. For the construction of our timber frame house, we decided to go high and dry, and eliminate as much concrete as possible with this style foundation. I wanted to take this opportunity to go more in-depth about the plans for our pier and beam foundation, with a bunch of images to illustrate the design.

Read ahead more for details.

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Dec 08
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Greg’s Beautiful Timber Frame Shop

By Timber Framing, Hand Tools
Greg's Timber Frame Shop

A great space to create…

We’ve recently had the pleasure of spending time with Greg Pennington in his lovely timber frame shop, here in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Greg is a chairmaker and woodworker, and makes and sells some beautiful handmade Windsor chairs. He works with hand tools and creates some really beautiful work, in addition to teaching others how to work wood with hand tools.

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Dec 03
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How to Acquire Timbers For Building Your Own Timber Frame Home

By Timber Framing, Strawtron
Timbers

Figure out how you will acquire your timbers… early!

This is the first of many posts where I travel back in time, and fill in missing parts of the Strawtron building timeline with essential information for how we built our timber frame and straw bale home.

If you want to design and build you own timber frame home, you should be prepared to determine how you will acquire the timbers for your frame. You almost can’t determine this too early, nor start your search too soon. The timber frame can be a significant portion of the total expense of construction for an owner-builder, and as always, it is helpful to know how to keep costs manageable.

Here are a few tips for how you might acquire timbers for building your own timber frame home.

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Nov 28
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Our Timber Frame & Straw Bale House Building Timeline

By Straw Bale Building, Strawtron, Timber Framing

Straw Bale House2012 was a whirlwind of a building season. Organizing and running two natural building workshops, building a timber frame house with hand tools, meeting deadlines, unbelievable heat…

Despite all of it, we accomplished an amazing amount of work. Again, huge thanks to our awesome building workshop crews, and every volunteer that picked up a hammer (or a really heavy timber) in our crazy journey. Here I present a recap of our 2012 Strawtron building season. In the coming weeks I will ‘fill in the blanks’ where I have not provided online documentation of our timber frame & straw bale house, so look out!

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Nov 14
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How To Build a Timber Frame & Straw Bale House — Coming This Winter

By Strawtron, Timber Framing, Straw Bale Building

Timber Frame Home

Throughout the process of building my cob house “Gobcobatron”, I documented the entire process of its construction online here at The Year of Mud, demonstrating the process I went through to build my first home. It has been a rewarding experience for me, and the feedback and learning experience has been wonderful.

This year, since beginning the construction of my new timber frame and straw bale home, time has been particularly scant, as the timeline was even more compressed and deadlines were many, thus a less detailed documentation effort during the building season throughout the various construction stages.

However, this winter I have plans to retrace my steps, to present how to build a timber frame and straw bale house.

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Oct 12
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Upcoming Woodworking Tools Festival: Handworks

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing

handworks

Wow, this event looks really awesome, and best of all, it’s not that far away — and it’s free! Handworks is a (hand) woodworking tools event from May 24-25, 2013 in a beautiful restored timber frame dairy barn in Amana, Iowa. A bunch of hand tool companies will be there with their wares (and door prizes), and there will also be a presentation about that killer (and now famous) tool chest of H.O. Studley. Really cool. I definitely plan to attend.

Get the details here: http://handworks.co/

Sep 20
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Design Your Deck With Rot Resistant Wood

By Carpentry, Timber Framing, Strawtron
White Oak Deck Wood

Our white oak balcony deck floor

It is a wise idea to incorporate rot resistant wood into your outdoor deck, balcony, or porch designs, to ensure a long-lasting, safe floor for years to come.

I’m happy to be finally decking our west balcony so that we can stand out there and enjoy the view, without worry of falling through or tipping the temporary piece of plywood we’d been using. We obtained some nice white oak boards for the occasion, as the balcony is exposed to the weather. The balcony is actually under a substantial roof, but nevertheless, with our occasional big storms, moisture and rot is a concern. We chose thick 1.5″ white oak wood for its excellent rot resistance and strength.

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Aug 23
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Gransfors Bruks Hunters Axe: A Sentimental Review

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing
Gransfors Bruks Hunters Axe

The Gransfors Bruks Hunters Axe… ah…

There’s something intensely romantic about axes. Perhaps it’s that they have an ancient quality, having existed alongside humans for much of our history — they’ve been carried all over the world, used and depended on, for a long, long time. I’ve always thought of the axe as something that you’d really need in your arsenal, if you subsisted with only a small collection of manufactured tools. As far as woodworking is concerned, they predate many other hand tools and have long fulfilled the purposes of many newer, more specialized tools. Axes are versatile, simple, elegant, and timeless.

They’re something I can’t stop myself from looking at and picking up at the flea market, moreso than most other hand tools.

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Aug 13
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How To Build a House That Will Last 200 Years (Or More)

By Resources, Timber Framing

Bayleaf Farmstead Timber Frame House

“The life cycle of timber frame structures is measured not in decades, but millennia.”

It’s true: timber frame houses are built to last, and their durability surpasses conventional stick frames by leaps and bounds. The renowned Ise temple of Japan is, astoundingly, over 1300 years old and claims the title of the oldest existing timber frame structure in the world. And there are many more 500+ year old timber frame barns, homes, and buildings scattered globally, especially throughout Europe.

If you want to build a house that will last 100, 200, 300 years or more, the timber frame is the only answer to long-lasting framed buildings.

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Jul 19
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Progress is Sweet

By Timber Framing, Strawtron
Timber Frame Compound Roof

Our newly erected compound roof frame!

Progress is sweet. I have never worked so hard in my life. Physically, and mentally, even.
It is sheer exhaustion, but looking up at the timber frame in the morning light seems to make it all worth while. Getting compliments from friends and neighbors, and smiles from strangers coming into the village must mean we are doing something right, too.

Getting these compound roof rafters installed on the timber frame was a highlight.

More later.