Blog - Page 17 of 123 - Handmade Houses with Noah Bradley

Timber framing at it’s finest

Here’s one of the corner posts. Commonly referred to as a “hog trough” (as it is one piece of wood that was carved out in a similar manner).

Notice the massive corner bracing going down to the floor (typical of the Mid-Atlantic States). Also notice the white horizontal stripes, created by the plaster strips of long ago. It fascinates me that amazing woodwork like this was quickly covered over and then for the next two hundred years it was never seen, until now.

This corner post is a great example of mankind reaching perfection and then throwing it all away. It took men centuries to get to this level of skill and function in order to create the perfect corner of a house. And then, the focus switched to “reducing cost and increasing speed”.

Originally posted 2015-07-07 14:27:31.

Timber framing at it’s finestNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:39:02+00:00

The perfect home

An unbeatable combination…

Log.
Stone.
Timber Frame.
And, a big beautiful sky.

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Here we see the front of the home.

The log cabin is now ready for the first floor ceiling joists to be installed and then we can continue with the next floor of log walls which will create a bedroom above the family room.

The stone foundation work is completed just enough for us to erect the cabin and will be filled in at a later time.

The timber framing is slowly going up on this side which will create two future bedrooms, one above the other.

Originally posted 2015-07-06 18:30:55.

The perfect homeNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:39:01+00:00

There is nothing better than building a home

It’s a wondrous world out there in the mountains, building a home.

Originally posted 2015-07-06 16:10:42.

There is nothing better than building a homeNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:39:00+00:00

A wood stove enclave

The stone masons began their work in building the chimney.

They start in the basement in by creating a “wood-stove enclave” … which is basically an attractive area where one can place a wood-stove… something beyond a blank wall with a hole in it.

Originally posted 2015-07-06 16:03:30.

A wood stove enclaveNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:59+00:00

The best log cabin notch

The log guys worked on “dry fitting” the cabin’s logs.

My favorite notch is a half-dovetail. It’s attractive and easy to make. The half-dovetail, and the V-notch, are the most common notches found on old old cabins. One other great advantage of the half-dovetail is that any water that might find its way into the joint is pulled back outside due to the slope of the notch.

This cabin is made from logs that were salvaged from an old barn. I really like barn logs, they are generally more massive in size than house logs and in better condition… they have not experienced any “home improvements” over the years.

Originally posted 2015-07-06 14:28:59.

The best log cabin notchNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:58+00:00

Dry fitting a timber frame

The crew worked on “dry fitting” the timber-frame sections together in the comfort of a new barn that was on the property.

This vintage frame was salvaged from an old home by a professional salvager. He used the interior details of this salvaged home to build an exact replica for himself, but did not want to reuse the house’s frame.

Originally posted 2015-07-06 13:16:58.

Dry fitting a timber frameNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:57+00:00

Vintage woodworking

All of this joinery, and the timbers themselves, were produced over two hundred years ago, from standing trees, by men using nothing more than their muscles and a few hand tools.

Originally posted 2015-07-05 19:30:12.

Vintage woodworkingNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:56+00:00

The timber frame arrives on site

The old timber-framing pieces were the first to arrive on site. The logs wouldn’t arrive for another few weeks.

I’ve seen a lot of anxious homeowners at this stage. A good bit of money has been spent on what looks like a confusing pile of dirty lumber.

But for me, someone who has seen plenty of “piles” during my career, I can’t stop smiling when I see this sight before me.

It’s better than Disney World to a child.

Originally posted 2015-07-05 17:07:31.

The timber frame arrives on siteNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:55+00:00

And so it begins…

I absolutely love this stage of construction.

At this point I had been working many months on this project, getting to know the site, working up the plans, acquiring various permits, and finding just the right materials.

The excavation is now done.

The concrete crew has come and gone.

We are back up out of the hole in the ground.

It’s time for the carpenters to do their magic. The site begins to smell of fresh sawn wood and the sounds of saws and hammers are heard across the property.

What has been envisioned in my mind and put on paper months ago is about to be revealed to the world. I can’t wait to see how it would turn out.

Life is good.

Originally posted 2015-07-05 15:08:03.

And so it begins…Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:54+00:00

Building a basement

Once the hole was completed it was time to fill it back in with a basement.

I am a big fan of poured concrete basements… either solid concrete as you see here through the use of temporary concrete forms, or by using Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF’s) (which are large hollow foam blocks that are laid and then the completed walls are filled with concrete).

I once witnessed a cinder-block basement wall collapse as it was being back-filled. Although a rare event, it was enough to convince me not to use them for basement construction.

I admire cinder blocks… the ugly little devils that they are. Cinder blocks are a cost effective manufactured marvels. Just don’t use them were they will ever be seen, nor to build a wall where any horizontal pressure is ever applied, such as a basement wall.

Originally posted 2015-07-05 14:45:53.

Building a basementNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:38:53+00:00