Men are invincible.

Or at least we think we are.
We can stand on the “do not step here” top rung of a ladder, while wearing no safety helmet, while operating a saw… yes, even a very large saw.

I still remember this moment years later, when I showed up on the jobsite to witness this feat. The young man was given a talk on safety and an inquiry into his desire to live a long life, free of injuries. My company has had an amazing record of job site safety, no major injuries at all, the insurance companies have made out like bandits from us… thank God. Our success has not come from following the government rule books, but from practicing caution and common sense, from looking out for each other, and from listening to that quiet voice saying “is this a smart thing to do?”

Originally posted 2015-02-10 13:04:26.

Real men wear hats… no further comment needed.

Originally posted 2015-02-10 12:12:17.

Here we are assembling a barn home that we made from antique heart pine timbers. The wood was a joy to work with and created a beautiful frame.

Originally posted 2015-02-10 11:33:41.

I believe most people would view this house as an eyesore.

It’s one of the hundreds that I’ve been called on to come take a look at over the years, to see whether it could be restored. or if not, to see if there was any salvage value to it. This house was clearly beyond “practical restoration” (although I have taken on more extreme challenges than this one, but the pocket book has to be deep and the determination strong).

I passed on the salvaging option also, I don’t know why, but this old house just spoke to me, and I didn’t have the heart to be the one take her down, so I just snapped this photo and thanked the owners for letting me look her over.

Originally posted 2015-02-05 19:10:41.

If you are going to build a timber frame home from scratch, or if you choose to use timbered roof framing for your cabin or home, make sure and dovetail the collar ties into the rafters… not only is the result aesthetically pleasing, but the strength of roof is well beyond anything that could ever come against it.

Originally posted 2015-02-05 14:57:05.

Overall the most striking aspect of a replicated Virginia house frame is the abundance in the size and number of timbers.

I designed this frame based upon historic standards of houses built 200 years ago in Virginia. The building inspections office still insisted upon having an engineers stamp on the plans, so I brought one in. His report stated that this frame was somewhere between 5 to 10 times stronger than needed. And that is one of the main reasons houses built this way still stand centuries later.

Some of the details that I’d like to point out in this photo is the number and size of the rafters (Virginians don’t scrimp) (no Yankee purlins to be found). And, notice some of the joinery, like the beam the rafters are setting on has a scarf joint in it to create a beam long enough to span the length of the house. And finally, how all the horizontal members are “shouldered” into the posts.

I could look at this photo all day, but then, I’m just wood junkie.

Ted Benson, noted author, has put together an attractive book on timber frames but, he is a New Englander, as most timber framers are. There is no regional author/expert from the Virginia/Carolina area to rise up and bring our work to public awareness. It’s a shame, Virginia is loaded with historic timber framed homes from the 1700’s and early 1800’s. New England frames are mostly built with a “bent” method and Benson writes as if that is the only way to build a timber frame but I’ve never seen a bent built Virginia frame.

All the frames I’ve encountered in Va, whether they are two stories tall or one, have been laid out such that there is a center hall and a room on each side. Sometimes the home is larger such as a four over four, but you will have the same center hall, and sometimes one of the center walls is eliminated to make for a large room and small room with eliminating the center hall, but all of the above are framed the same way. This results in having eight main supporting posts for the house, the four outside corners and the four corner posts of the central hall… these are key posts. Next in importance would be the posts on each side of the doors, windows and chimneys, while not holding up the house they are important for added strength. After these any further framing is entirely to add nailers to hold up plaster.

Originally posted 2015-02-04 15:49:18.

The most prominent feature of a Virginia timber-frame is the corners where you will find huge “hog trough” posts with angle bracings going down instead of the much more common version of them going up.

We created these corner posts by extracting 10″by10″ posts out of the corners of 14″by14″ beams. Pretty slick huh? No waste at all, and we ended up with very strong, very stable, very attractive, historically accurate, corner posts.

With regard to the corner bracing going down instead of up… I have stood on both types of frames on multiple occasions and I can tell you that the Virginia method is more stable, with noticeably less movement.

Originally posted 2015-02-04 15:15:17.

This is the only newly built timber frame that I am aware of (other than museums) that is based upon historic Virginia timber-frame standards. Most of the timber frames that are manufactured today are overly engineered for stresses and loads and then aesthetics are added back in, sort of like how MSG goes into Chinese food. There are some folks up in New England that reproduce their style framing (it’s pretty nice)… but I’m not aware of anyone that produces our historic style. And yes we do have a style, and yes it is wonderful (better than those Yankees, thank you very much).

Notice the tree branch on top for luck… gotta have that. Look for other articles here that illustrate what makes a Virginia frame unique.

Originally posted 2015-02-04 14:27:16.

Here’s your humble host, standing out front of the timber frame that we put together for the front section of the Middle River house.  It’s all made from locally cut timber, purchased at a nearby sawmill for a bargain price. I realllly like this frame, it’s doable, it’s friendly, it’s not some elaborate showpiece of huge scale. It’s down to earth, something each of the men who played a part in building it could imagine one day doing for themselves.

Originally posted 2015-02-03 14:37:09.

It’s not very pretty… lots of dirty lumber and mud, but this is the reality of what a new/old structure looks like when you begin the process. Keep in mind that building a handmade house is sort of like having a newborn baby… you can’t let the poop scare you.

When building a home or a cabin the process often starts with the purchase of an antique structure. You want to buy the BEST there is out there on the market. You are going to spend a lot more money finishing the structure than this initial purchase, but this purchase is the core, is the heart, is the most visible piece. It’s what you are after most of all. DO NOT buy the cheapest, shop around, find someone with plenty of experience to help you determine if it’s the best, don’t rely on the guy selling it to you to tell you the truth. And with all that said, keep in mind that  the best antique structure out there is old, in need of repair, and it’s very dirty. Trust me, it can be scary when the material is delivered, but have faith, it’s going to be wonderful when finished.

I’d also like to point out in this picture my wonderful 1988 Ford truck. I bought her new for $9,000 and it took me a couple years to forgive myself for paying that much for a truck. Well, I still drive that same truck today, with 450,000 miles, and antique tags, on her. I no longer beat myself up about what I paid for it.

I saw a commercial during the 2015 Super Bowl that revealed that men look better standing next to a truck. It is so, so true. 😉

A man needs a truck. If you don’t have one, get one today.

Originally posted 2015-02-02 17:06:36.