Carpenters and stone masons need to work together as a team to build a place like this. It’s often a back and forth process, where each relies upon the other to accomplish their work.

Here we have a photo of the stone masons having just finished building the stone piers that will hold up the large front porch off of this addition. I myself have attempted to do enough stonework (I emphasize the word “attempted”) that I greatly appreciate workmanship like you see here in these images.

The next photo shows where the carpenters have come in and assembled the porch deck and some of it’s upper framing.

Then the masons moved back in and assembled their scaffolding so that they could complete the stone chimney up above the main roof.

Finally, the last photo shows how that the carpenters have returned to complete the porch.

Carpenters and masons are as different from each other as apples are from oranges.

Carpenters live in a world of power tools, sawdust, exact measurements, splinters and cuts, and constant movement around the job-site. They generally have a broader awareness of the entire project than the masons, but yet they often earn much less. The more talented “woodworkers” often go into fine trim work, cabinetry, or even become builders.

Stone masons on the other hand live in a world of dirt, mud, mortar, and rock. They are constantly lifting and their bodies generally wear out by the time they hit 40… 50 at the latest. Their tool bags are small but heavy, hammers and chisels, and a well worn trowel or two. They are their own biggest critics… I guess that’s because what they build will stand for centuries… if not thousands of years.

My life would not have been complete without having both types of tradesmen as friends.

Originally posted 2015-03-11 17:20:18.

Once we completed the timber frame we immediately began to cover it up.

We did our best to keep weather exposure to a minimum . Our top priority was now to protect the frame.

After the frame was assembled we gave her a good cleaning with a power washer. We then took an evergreen branch and nailed it up on an end-rafter to symbolize our desired blessings for the homes inhabitants. We patted each other on the back for a job well done. And we took a few photos, for memories.

And then, it was back to work.

It was really a shame to rush the moment. A timber frame is so gorgeous. It would have been nice to pause for a couple of weeks and just have enjoyed this piece of art.

But, it was time to move on.

We covered the entire structure in stress skin panels. They provided added strength to the building, an outer shell to attach siding, high insulation value to keep it’s inhabitants cozy, and a finished interior surface to brighten the interior.

Each panel was craned into place and spiked onto the timber frame.

Once the panels were installed this addition became three to five times as strong as any new home built today using standard construction techniques. (Not to mention her being environmentally friendly, energy efficient, historical, and drop-dead gorgeous).

Originally posted 2015-03-11 16:17:52.

And then, we finished re-erecting the timber frame for the coming addition.

I often ponder what the original men who built this frame would have thought if they could somehow know of what we did.

Two hundred years ago those men went into the woods with an axe to fell trees. They squared the logs in the woods with those axes, leaving the waste there, and making the material lighter to move. A team of horses would drag these hewn timbers to a pit saw where one man would stand on top and another would be down in a pit, each taking turns pulling on a saw so that dimensional timbers could be made.

Then master craftsmen would do their joinery magic and assemble a frame that would stand for 200 years, even though she endured decades of neglect.

Their work would not be seen in all those years, covered in plaster on one side and siding on the other. And then, just as the home was about to be lost, some young men came in and once again made use of their seventeenth century workmanship.

I have encountered hand prints left by those men, and pocket change that fell out of their pockets, and once, I found a chisel that had been accidentally left on horizontal beam and was covered over by plasterers, still as sharp as any in my tool box.

I’d like to think that both generations would be appreciative of the other. A brotherhood that spans centuries.

Originally posted 2015-03-10 17:48:10.

Finally, the fun part begins. I love this stage of construction… I already know what the finished product is going to look like and it’s exciting to watch it be revealed to the world.

The design work is done, the permits have been obtained, the deck has been built, the materials have been salvaged. Even the sky is bluer.

The time has come to build! One piece at a time the frame goes together.

Life is good.

Originally posted 2015-03-10 17:08:23.

We recovered some tremendous framing members from this old house that we would use to build the coming addition.

Notice the sag in the main floor system. I’ve never taken down a frame that was under such a degree of strain and stress. I was relieved when it was all on the ground.

I’ve never had a serious injury on one of my projects in the 25+ years that we have been doing this… and for that, I am very thankful.

Originally posted 2015-03-10 16:33:42.

My clients wanted an addition designed and built that would have “a timber-frame barn feel” to it.

I could tell by their description of the addition’s future use that a house frame, with a much greater number of framing members, would be a better option than making use of an old barn.

And as fate would have it, about that time I received a call asking if I would be interested in salvaging an old house.

This house, in her day, was stunning. Likely built in the very early 1800’s. Old homes like this are extremely rare. It was a crime to let something this valuable go to waste.

Collapse was imminent. She had been greatly neglected for a long time. All of her doors, floors, mantles and windows, even the trim and the staircase were gone. There was talk of burning what was left.

But the frame of the house was amazing… even though a fourth of it had rotted away, and the rest was sagging under tremendous strain.

Here are three photos taken on day one of our salvage operation.

Originally posted 2015-03-10 15:31:44.

OK… Here’s another project that I think you will find of interest.

I was asked to design and build a vintage barn addition that would adjoin an old log cabin that another builder had put up.

Originally posted 2015-03-09 20:28:56.

Here are two photos of the restored stone home’s interior.

The first photo was taken of the main floor. As you can see, the danger phase is now over, and sanity once again rules the home. This new floor system should be good for another century or two.

The second photo was taken of the restored fireplace in the basement kitchen, with the new/old joists that we installed clearly seen overhead. Nice aren’t they?

The second “issue” with this home… the other reason we were brought in… was the low ceiling height found down in the basement. I believe it was something like 6’6″, from finished basement floor to it’s plastered ceiling.

It was “possible” for someone like me, who is 6’2″, to be down there without bending over, but it was mighty uncomfortable. All I would need to do would be to drink a little too much coffee, gain a little bounce in my step, and I would be destined to acquire a headache very quickly.

Now anywhere else in world, other than the Shenandoah Valley, this would have been an easy fix… just dig out more dirt below. But the builders in the Valley, when they build a home, dig down until they hit bedrock and then build their homes… hmmm… they build their houses on rock… that sounds almost… well…Biblical… a house doesn’t get any stronger than one setting on a miles-deep ledge of stone.

So with that being the case, I could not give my clients their desired extra two feet of ceiling height, at least not for any reasonable cost. But, we were in a situation where every inch I could gain would make a difference.

The first idea for more height was easy, we would not replace the plastered ceiling. That would not only give us an extra inch, but more importantly it would give the illusion of having much more headroom due to the higher space between each ceiling joist.

Next, we thought we could eliminate the stone flooring and perhaps even pull out the old concrete slab below it. We could then put back in a thinner slab and use it for a finished floor.

And that, is what we did… in the process we gained a full six inches in basement height… which surprisingly made a huge difference in the enjoyment of the basement kitchen.

Originally posted 2015-03-08 16:42:54.

You better watch that last step when you come down in the morning!
It’s a doozy.

Originally posted 2015-03-08 15:16:51.

Originally posted 2015-03-06 18:11:00.