We used iron railing around the exterior basement stairs. It is easy and quite often tempting when I am building a home of natural wood to get carried away and use it everywhere… such as to fill in the area between these heart-pine posts.
I find that an occasional splash of iron though “snazzes” things up a bit, and accentuates the wood that I did use.
Originally posted 2015-07-14 13:10:51.
From the loft above the timber-frame kitchen we built a sliding barn type door, using old lumber and hardware, to give this area a bit of privacy when desired.
Originally posted 2015-07-13 20:47:45.
After the chimney was completed we then framed up the small home-office, making use of left-over timbers from the other additions off of this cabin.
This would be a small cozy space, with a lot of charm featuring a log wall, the stone of the chimney, three walls that were timber framed, and windows with a view to die for.
Originally posted 2015-07-11 12:01:08.
Here we have the harsh contrast of the old, and the new. The best of what once was, with the best of what is new.
Tyvek is a wonderful product, (although a royal pain to install on a windy day). It repels moisture from reaching the wood, yet allows the wood to breath beneath it. And it’s low in cost compared to the value that one receives from it.
It’s not very pretty to look at though… I’m not certain why the manufacturer feels it so important to blast their name brand all over it. Even so, I try to apply this house wrap so that the wording is not upside down or at an angle. I’m funny that way… I don’t want salvagers centuries into the future thinking that I was a sloppy builder.
Originally posted 2015-07-10 14:51:29.
The downside to stress-skin panels is… well… they don’t make a house look any better, at least not a timber-framed home. What was a piece of art on the landscape is then quickly converted into a new wood box.
It always saddens me a bit when we reach that wonderful moment of having completed the assembly of a vintage timber-framed home and then we immediately start to cover it up.
I have built timber-framed homes for clients who never saw the finished product “standing for the world to see”. It seems that everyone is always in a hurry to witness the finished product and so many fail to enjoy the wonderful fleeting moments along the way.
Originally posted 2015-07-10 14:30:24.
Next up. The timber-frame sections are covered with stress-skin panels.
These modern inventions are extremely strong (some folks build house walls out of nothing but these.) They are cost effective, provide incredible insulation values, a finished interior wall and a nailing surface for any exterior covering.
Originally posted 2015-07-10 14:09:21.
The timber-frame for the ktichen is now complete.
I can count on one hand the number of vintage timber-frames that I have seen that have impressed me as much as this one. Just take a look at the size of those corner posts!
Originally posted 2015-07-08 14:16:08.
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.
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.
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.
