TIMBER FRAME CONSTRUCTION ALL ABOUT POST AND BEAM BUILDING by Jack Sobon and Roger Schroeder The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment. Illustrations by Jack Sobon, photos by the authors unless otherwise noted. © 1984 by Storey Publishing, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other — without written permission from the publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information, please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247. Storey books are available for special premium and promotional uses and for customized editions. For further information, please call 1-800-793-9396. Printed in the United States by Versa Press 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Sobon, Jack, 1955- Timber frame construction p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-88266-365-4 1. Wooden-frame houses — Design and construction. 2. Building, Wooden. I. Schroeder, Roger, 1945- II. Title. TH4818.W6S63 1984 694’.2 83-48972 CONTENTS Introduction CHAPTER 1 Timber Framing: Then and Now CHAPTER 2 The Timber Frame CHAPTER 3 Joinery CHAPTER 4 The Wood CHAPTER 5 Designing for Strength CHAPTER 6 Building the Shed CHAPTER 7 Assembly and Raising CHAPTER 8 Closing In CHAPTER 9 Projects CHAPTER 10 Timber Frame Revivers Appendix Index To our parents, John B. and E. Margery Sobon, and Frank and Georgiana Schroeder INTRODUCTION MOST OF US ARE FAMILIAR WITH A TIMBER-FRAMED BUILDING. It may be an old barn with huge columns of wood on the inside supporting great timbers exposed overhead. Perhaps it is that historic house in the neighborhood. For one of the authors, the first such building probably was the octagon-shaped windmill that has survived near his home for the past three centuries and made us aware that timber framing has been in use for at least that long in this country. Such buildings emphasize that they are the product of a craft that combines ingenuity and engineering. Yet, quite abruptly as history goes, that craft passed into oblivion a mere hundred years ago. The reasons for that demise are several. The mass production of a simple fastener called the nail had something to do with it. Sawmills and westward expansion in the 1800s also contributed to the halt in timber frame construction. Today, Americans seem to be slowing down enough to look back at their heritage, searching for roots and old ways of doing things. At the same time, they aren’t exactly turning back the clock to give up indoor plumbing and solar panels. Rather, the building practices of the past are catching up with the present to produce a vital combination: yesterday’s craftmanship meeting the needs of today. Identifying Timber Framing Why did those buildings of the past last so long? The answer is inherent in the frame. If you were to remove shingles, plaster, and sheathing from most barns and houses built before the middle of the 1800s, you would find a frame built from very large timbers, the biggest usually being the posts, or uprights, and beams, which connect and give stability to the posts. You would also find something seldom used in modern buildings—braces, the diagonal members that connect posts and beams and give the frame rigidity before siding is applied. In old barns, where the skeleton is exposed on the interior, the framing is more obvious. This Nantucket windmill, built in 1746, is the oldest operating windmill in the country. Salvaged oak timbers from wrecked vessels were used in its construction. Armand LaMontagne reconstructed this traditional Rhode Island stone-ender in 1973. It is typical of the homes built by Welsh settlers three hundred years ago. Few examples survive today. Timber framed restaurant interior by Ernest Bufton. What can’t be seen usually are the ways these timbers are joined. The most common joint is called the mortise and tenon. Joinery, one builder has said, is the heart of post and beam. Pieces are carefully fitted together and locked into place with pegs. Made from hardwoods, these pegs were used as fasteners long before the introduction of nails to carpentry. Using the combination of joinery and large timbers, even the biggest frames have resisted, with remarkable rigidity, the forces of wind and even earthquakes. This method of construction has other appeals. One of these is craftsmanship, cabinetmaking on a grand scale, with large timbers notched out to accept the reduced ends of others, a mating that is done so perfectly that no trial fitting is necessary. Yet another is interior design. While from the 1700s on, the massive timbers were plastered over, today they are usually exposed inside. Some call this rustic. I prefer to describe it in terms of strength, warmth, and an honesty of construction. And, since the beams carry so much weight that interior bearing walls are not necessary, the result can be larger rooms. Cutting Costs There’s an opportunity, too, to cut costs using this method. Enough housewrights have been building this way in the past two decades to know that it is cheaper than stud-building in many instances. One reason for this is yet another fascinating aspect of timber framing—the use of local materials. Before the housewright of the past began to build, he looked at trees on or near the building site. He preferred a timber taken from the site, cut and shaped there, believing it would last longer than one brought in from a distance. Today, with on-site timbers rarely available, housewrights go to sawmills to purchase their wood. The very fact that they are working with green or unseasoned lumber makes the cost considerably lower than for imported lumber that has been dried. And big timbers can be cut a lot more quickly than can a lot of 2 × 4s. Some housewrights go a step further when large logs are available by shaping timbers with chainsaw mills that can be moved to the log, reversing the usual process.