What species of wood do you use?

White pine, Douglas fir, hemlock, red oak. Usually we use white pine because it is local, easy to work, and quite stable (less shrinkage). Often we use red oak or cherry for knee braces.

Can we see some of your work in the local area?

Yes, we have various homes and barns the owners are willing to let us tour.

Can you give us a square footage price for your frames?

We can give a general range based on past projects, however an accurate final cost is hard to estimate by square footage, especially for timber frames. As an example, the labor cost to cut joinery for a 8 x 10 frame vs a 14 x 16 frame is basically the same, yet there is a difference of 144 sq. ft. We generally need an accurate floor plan and elevations to develop a frame plan. Then we consider the amount and complexity of the joinery to make decisions on the costs.

 

Do you only build in the Bethel, Maine area?

No, once a frame has been completed at our shop, we can ship anywhere in the country. We have erected frames in all the New England states and also Colorado and Montana.

 

What services do you provide besides cutting and raising the frame?

We can provide construction drawings for most projects. Working with you we can create floor plans and elevations including interior and exterior perspective drawings on a CAD system. In the case of you working with your own architect we can share electronic files through the Internet to facilitate a cohesive planning effort. We can oversee the enclosure of your frame with stress skin panels. When the frame is within an hour of our shop we will consider installing the panels ourselves and continuing the process until the frame is weather-tight. We can provide other custom woodworking elements for your house or barn such as stairways, railings, fireplace mantels, small scale timber furniture.

 

How long will it take to have a frame completed on our site?

Once plans are complete, it normally takes 3-4 weeks to receive timbers and the another 5-7 weeks to complete the joinery and deliver it to a site. Once on site we usually have the frame up in a week. If stress skin panels are being used to enclose the frame, plan on another 5- 8 day depending. Sometimes we use pre-cut panels so the installation is a quite a bit faster.

Is it true that Traditional Timber Frames are more fire resistant than stick built homes, post and beam homes with metal connectors, and or/manufactured trusses with steel gusset plates?

This question was recently answered in a letter to Timber Framing; Journal Of The Timber Framers Guild by Ryan Gilbert, a firefighter in Bellingham, WA

"Timber- Framed construction is significantly more resistant to fire damage than common stick framing and considerably more resistant to fire damage than construction using unprotected steel support members" (i.e. post and beam). "Solid wood is very stable at high temperatures and creates its own insulation upon contact with fire. As a result, heavy timber construction is given a two hour fire rating by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)." He goes on to say that "the beauty of Timber Frame joinery under fire load is that, as the outside of a beam chars, it turns mostly to carbon. Carbon is a great insulator, so the load-bearing portions of the joinery and members remain intact for much longer than in lightweight truss construction. He goes on to say that steel gusset plates fail rapidly in a fire, and engineered wooden I-beams will delaminate and collapse while the fire is still in the growth stages and temperatures are relatively low. "I always breathe a sigh of relief when arriving on the scene of a fire to find out that the building is of heavy timber construction. There is a much better chance of finding living occupants, and the officer in charge is considerably less hesitant to send in firefighters to search for victims."

To summarize: Traditional Timber Framed homes may give you and your family the extra time needed to escape that late night fire.

 

 

 

• GREAT BUILDINGS GET MAINTAINED, AND WELL-MAINTAINED BUILDINGS LAST FAR LONGER.

Timber framing may be one of the best ways to conserve our resources because these buildings are special places that people love, and because they are loved, they are maintained over the years, and because of that care, these buildings last for centuries rather than decades.

• WOOD IS ONE OF OUR ONLY RENEWABLE RESOURCES.

Think about this sometimes overlooked and obvious fact.

• TIMBER IS A NATURAL PRODUCT.

It is recyclable, biodegradable, and renewable. It does not off-gas toxins because there are none.

• TIMBER FRAMES, UNLIKE 2X4 AND 2X6 LUMBER, UPON THE END OF THE USEFUL LIFE OF THE BUILDING, WILL BE CAREFULLY DISMANTLED AND REUSED.

Used 2x4s may one day be reused, but today are going into landfills, rotting, and releasing their stored carbon into the atmosphere.

• WOOD IS A CARBON SINK.

If kept dry, wood lasts indefinitely. If you leave a tree in the forest to die a natural death, it will rot and release its stored carbon. If you cut down a tree at the end of its natural life, it has spent years storing carbon and producing oxygen. If you then fabricate it into a timber frame, and keep it dry for centuries, the timber frame is acting as a long-term carbon storage unit.

• TIMBER FRAMES CAN, AND OFTEN DO, USE LESS WOOD THAN STICK-BUILT HOMES.

The figure we’ve heard is around 30% less. There are some caveats here, and it may seem counterintuitive at first, but picture a stick-framed building without sheathing.

• TIMBER FRAMES USE BIG TIMBERS WHICH COME FROM BIG TREES.

Here’s another counter-intuitive one. Big timbers come from big trees–sometimes old-growth trees. Big trees have spent many, many years storing carbon and producing oxygen. Today’s 2x4s are manufactured from young, small trees–trees that have not lived long enough to store much carbon, or to have produced much oxygen. What we’re doing to make 2x4s cheaply is to grow genetically engineered super fast growing trees, cutting them down in 10 years, and then replanting. By the way, when we replant these crop trees, we’re not doing it by hand. We’re burning diesel fuel. Is is a cheaper
way to produce a 2×4? Undoubtedly. Is it greener wood? We’re not so sure.

• TIMBER FRAMES ARE THE BEST USE OF OLD TREES.

Related to the above: In our view, it is far greener to cut down a majestic old-growth Douglas Fir tree at the end of its life, and fabricate it into a functional and gorgeous timber frame that will be treasured and maintained for centuries, than to cut it down and saw it into 2x4s that will eventually go into a landfill and rot, or produce window sashes which will rot, or to make paper. Better to revere these fantastic trees by turning them into an architectural solution to a structural problem that is so stunning and useful that generations of people will benefit from, and take care of the building.

• SOME TIMBER FRAMES ARE BUILT WITHOUT CUTTING DOWN A SINGLE TREE

by reusing antique timbers from an old building.

• TIMBER FRAMING IS A DARKER SHADE OF GREEN.

Having recently spent a week in a photovoltaic solar class, we’d note that no building material or technology is without consequences to the environment–not even solar panels. We contend that timber framing, while not an environmentally perfect building solution, is demonstrably and quantifiably greener than most other conventional building methods.

Written by TFGNA Member Eric Morley, used with permission

• More FAQs coming soon regarding insulating systems,
  including stress skin panels and other alternatives!

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  Contact us by phone or email

  We encourage you to contact us as early as possible in your planning process. Often we can help guide you in a direction that will make the entire process more successful and less stress

  
  Rough out your thoughts on paper

  Sketch up some simple floor plans on graph paper or collect some plans with features that fit your perceived needs. Do the same for the exterior views of the house. Don't worry about how rough they may be; many great plans have evolved from a simple line drawing on a napkin! The more you can inform us about what you envision the better.

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  Schedule a meeting to present your ideas

  Present your ideas to our designer or your architect who is experienced with timberfames. A designer familiar with timberframes will be able to help show how the floor plan and timberframe can complement each other.

  
  Formalize the plan

  At this point we can convert your ideas to actual CAD drawings including detailed floor plans, building elevations, and a timber frame plan. Once these plans are done, not only can we give you an accurate estimate on the frame price, but other contractors can use these plans for accurate estimating also