We re-erected this 200 year old timber-frame in the same way that we took her down… one or two pieces at a time.

We chose to raise by hand all of the vertical members, partially “for the experience”, and partially, to honor the original builders.

When it came time to install the full length top plates, and then tie the structure together with the second floor joists, we brought in a crane.

I imagine this house frame was originally lifted in place in large sections with the aid of many neighbors and perhaps a team of oxen. Today’s insurance regulators wouldn’t think highly of me if I had brought in any neighbors. And, I didn’t have a fresh team of oxen so that option was out too.

Also, I had to keep in mind that I was putting up a different timber-frame than those men of old had assembled… mine was a treasured antique, still strong, but the flexibility of youth was long gone. I did not want to risk the loss of this structure by putting it through the stress of a complete wall lift.

And so, we lifted. We strained. We sweated. We groaned in unison. And, we loved every minute of it.

Originally posted 2015-04-11 16:06:57.

Here we have the first floor of one of the timber-framed rooms now standing, and we are busy putting in the smaller framing members that will all be secured once the top plate is installed.

Notice that we did have to do a patch on the bottom sill beam to repair the area below the main door threshold… a spot where rot often occurs, even on new homes.

Notice also that we numbered all these pieces with duck tape… a first for us, and it worked out pretty well.

I swear, duck tape can do anything!

Originally posted 2015-04-10 21:21:09.

As you can see the timber-frame walls were now going up.

It was easy to be distracted with the panoramic view that we had from this building site. Only a slice of it is seen in this photo.

If you are an old house enthusiast, the completed floor system really draws your eye in this image. But, if you are a real wood junkie your eye is then drawn toward the piles of lumber in the foreground. These are the members of the house that are ready to go up.

In particular my eye is pulled to the pile of lumber on the left, the one with the extremely wide boards that are on top. These are pieces of the salvaged attic flooring.

It’s a funny thing, but back when these vintage homes were built, the choice material was always the flooring that was six inches wide, and as long as the room in which it would be laid. This treasured wood had clear, tight, graining (no knots) and would be the most stable, with no shrinking or swelling, highly resistant to damage, and long lasting. And let’s not forget, very attractive.

Substandard wood, boards with a few knots and varied graining, would be cut wide and used in the attic space. Who would want to see that lousy stuff?

Today. everyone wants this wide attic flooring, and so, this substandard material, the rejects of our ancestors, often commands twice the price of the prime choice material that they so highly treasured.

Go figure.

Originally posted 2015-04-10 16:32:53.

Here’s a close-up of one of the hog-trough corner posts found in the Sugar Hollow house.

If you look at this image closely you can see rows of nail holes that once held wood strips which were used as part of the interior plaster work. You can also see the striping effect of where the plaster would touch the beams between those lathing strips.

Once you see these plaster details then the genius of creating the carved out hog-trough posts becomes apparent. Those early builders gave this house the strength of massive corner posts and at the same time created corners that could easily be plastered and trimmed out.

Much later timber-frame homes in Virginia (those built between 1880 and 1900) used much smaller corner posts and just skipped this detail. The plasterers who would come in later in the project would simply nail a board to each side of the corner post to support their plaster work.

To this old country boy, the corner post of timbered home is it’s maker’s signature. A well crafted corner indicates a well crafted house.

Originally posted 2015-04-10 15:13:25.

We reassembled the house frame in the opposite order that we took the home down.

Here’s the first corner that went up.

Immediately you can see that this a Virginia frame. The corner braces run to the floor, like a root and not like a branch. And, the corner posts are carved out with an axe to be in an L-shape when seen from above… better known as “hog troughs” by those who practice the craft.

Originally posted 2015-04-10 14:25:51.

We did replace two of the floor joists.

There was a little “funkiness” on the ends of two of the original beams.

Once we removed the bad ends of the vintage joists they were then clearly too short to reach from one sill to the other.

Whenever a situation like this arises everyone on site begins searching for “the board stretcher” which tends to greatly confuse the new guy.

Of course there is no such thing as a board stretcher, the joke is as old as the hills, but it seems some things in the world of carpentry never get old.

Soon we will find that we need the “sky hook”… now where did we put that? lol

Originally posted 2015-04-10 14:13:55.

Here you can see these six main timbers of the floor system being drawn together with the aid of a chain and a come-a-long, a digging bar and a crow bar, and a few extremely large hammers made of wood.

Originally posted 2015-04-09 20:24:29.

I maintained a crew of seven men on this project… it took that many just to handle the heavy timbers that made up this house.

Four of these men were very talented carpenters who would pair off and work together on a shared goal.

And then two of the men were the stone masons… I would later add a helper to their efforts once the chimney would start to rise and additional labor was needed to get the stone and mortar ever higher.

And then, I had my lead man who would orchestrate the entire process. That role being the most taxing, both mentally and physically, but if you have the talent for it, it’s the best job in the world.

I did have another project going on at the same time. The crew on that job was busy converting an old barn into a museum for a private art collection. When it came time to erect this vintage timber-frame I would combine both crews to get this old home once again “up in the air”.

That week, the week that the crews merged, the week that we put up this frame, was a celebratory time. I dare say that each of those men to this day reflect upon that week with great fondness. I doubt if the same can be said of that week on any other construction site in this county.

Originally posted 2015-04-09 15:29:02.

This old timber-frame was very rare.

The vast majority of old frames that I encounter, whether a house frame, or a barn frame, have a rotted floor system. When we rebuild those homes we start the home with a new floor system and from there we start putting up the vintage timbered walls.

But not here.

This incredible floor system was still intact, gorgeous to look at, and as strong as the day she was built.

I could hardly contain my eagerness in building this feature… I’m not certain my client ever fully appreciated my enthusiasm. After all, when is the last time you were excited about your floor system?

This was better than Christmas morning as a child.

This timbers were handmade,
with an axe,
using the best trees from a virgin forest,
two hundred years ago.

Here we see in this photo that the main front-to-back timbers are now in place. These timber’s tenons are now pegged in place to the rear sill timber, and the other ends are supported on the front using temporary cinder blocks.

All we have do now is slide the front timber into those tenons… that should be easy… it’s not like these things are heavy.

Originally posted 2015-04-09 14:22:03.

So, let’s build this house!

As you can see in this photo the stone masons have finished the foundation. And, what a job they did. A solid stone foundation that will last for millennia.

Dan, the head mason on this project, passed away a few years ago from cancer. On occasion he would talk about his work and how it would be a testament to his life after he was gone. He was right.

There is something wonderful in creating a piece of art that will last. I get a sense of purpose out of it, in that I did something that will last, and be treasured after I’m gone.

I encourage everyone to build something, something that’s unique… if not a house, then maybe a shed, or a piece of furniture, or a piece of art to hang on the wall.

Originally posted 2015-04-09 13:48:18.