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.

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.

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.

Once the plans were drawn, it was time to start digging.

Beyond a doubt this was my most challenging basement to dig with so much rock to break loose and remove.

Who would have thought that a mountain would be made of stone? 😉

Originally posted 2015-07-05 14:18:40.

This building was my first jobsite upon starting my business.

I lovingly referred to the structure as “the Shop”. She was an empty shell of a her former self when I knew her. On the inside her timber-framing was exposed for all to see. The store’s fixtures had been stripped out long ago.

I understand that back in the late 1800’s she was a general store. Once a bustling center of commerce but for the next few years it would be just her and me.

You can see my brand new truck setting out front of the shop, the only new vehicle I’ve ever purchased for myself. Well… I should say it was new… in 1988… I still drive that same truck today. I’ve got 450,000 miles on her now. We’ve both put on a few miles, and a few years.

On the other side of the truck you will see what was the rental house I was living in at the time. Inside that house was my lovely wife and my three children, all under the age of five. She had her hands full. My job was to provide for them all.

At the time this photo was taken I had left the employment of my previous job, working for another contractor, to start my own business. I had no work lined up, at all. I had just enough savings set aside to pay my bills for a month, maybe two. But I had faith it would work out, and just enough fear to keep me energized.

Each workday I would get up early, pack my lunch and walk the 40 steps to my Shop. There I would build sawhorses and benches, sharpen tools, and make phone calls.

I managed to find enough work that first year to keep the lights on. The next year I would build a log cabin that would find itself onto the cover of Country Living. And two years after that, I would build a home for my family and would leave this Shop behind. It was a bittersweet farewell.

She still stands there, tall and proud, I’m thankful to say.

I always drive slow when I pass her by and reflect on that period in my life. There I was cold, and broke, and scared… and so alive, anxious for what was to come.

Originally posted 2015-07-02 12:21:47.

We once built a timber-frame work studio for a young potter.

Her budget was extremely tight, but she wanted to practice her handcraft within a building that was handcrafted.

I appreciated that way of thinking.

We all pitched in, gathered up an inexpensive pile of “big sticks “from the local sawmill, and then had some fun for a couple of weeks.

Originally posted 2015-06-24 10:55:34.