Building small timber frame house..beginning the journey

[Truefire]

Let's just say I've always loved timber frame structures.  Their soul speaks to me on a entirely different level.  They throw me back in time to when days were simpler, times were different and game was abundant.  Fast forward years down the road seeking solace, a greater magnitude of peace and wanting to see my dream of a working homestead, has me standing here peering into this mental space.  I'm currently on this dig to find answers regarding specifics around my build.

For this post, I'll just leave it to this introduction and throw this out there-- We know what we want; we want to build a small 800 square foot timber frame home so that when I drive the last screw, that baby is paid for...done and did.  But there's all these musings I have to get answers to.  I have plans to read some of the timber frame books out there and many of my thoughts and concerns may be answered and alleviated then I presume.  

Some of my thoughts currently are
-proper design structure for a square build of the sort that will live in cold climate (whats the best form of approach on this)
-post to pier foundation with elevated wood floor as opposed to concrete slab
-what in the world do I do with the array of choices regarding exterior walls (wow)
-do I buy bandmill and kiln, cut and dry my own lumber (seems to be cheaper than buying small timber frame kit, I'm seeing some kits at 16K+).

I'm certain many thoughts will be eased after reading some of the books but just wanting to get this out there.

Finding this forum came about in a unique way.  I had just recently stumbled upon it because of the content regarding 'timber frame structures'.  At the same time, I had another tab open and was wading through another forum platform post where a gentleman was promoting the knowledge base and professionals found here.  No brainer.  I'm here.

 

[Don P]

Hi Truefire, welcome to the forum.

When you get a chance please edit your profile and let us know where you are, or as close as you feel comfortable. It will help with some of the cold climate responses. Before this is over we are going to need your design snow load info so find it or narrow down the location.

For sourcing timbers. If this is a one off it will probably be more economical to find a nearby sawyer, unless you intend to keep playing with wood. The list of sawmill support equipment I want keeps growing, it's as bad as owning a fishing boat if you're not careful  :D. I've called in portable mills on some jobs where it made more sense even though I have a mill. I'm debating it now, there are only so many hours in a day.

Pier construction is an engineer required method, and for good reason. I see folks deliberating this approach quite often when starting out. It seems simple but in order to build it strong enough to handle potential wind loads, or seismic if you are on shaky ground, it takes careful thought and design... read no savings. The perimeter walls of a basement or crawlspace do more than hold a building up vertically, they also brace it horizontally. Post frame buildings, pole barns, use a continuous vertical post from footing to top plate, the walls brace the posts, that is another potential path to follow.

Anyway, wander around the old posts, ask questions, post pics and plans, and have fun here  .

[Truefire]

Hello Don.  I could edit the profile for others but it wouldn't help; the build isn't taking place here.  I currently live in NC but I can't get out of here fast enough; way too many people and growing exponentially, along with which comes the superfulous restrictions, ingrained building thought and build police.  I'll miss my saltwater fishing but that's about it.      

The build will either take place somewhere in northern Maine, Montana or Wyoming where game is abundant.  Reference snow load, I can provide some definitive snow data later.

I hear you about the mill to boat reference :D.  I sold the boats several years ago -- made the shift to paddle power...skin on frame kayak.  At the end of the day, I no longer have 10 fish which I paid $250 for :D.  If I purchased a mill, I would definitely keep it.  I was thinking manual mill of the sort.  If I could secure a bundle package of the sort: new mill, small used tractor and used/new kiln under the 15K, then that is the path I would choose.  Heck, if one was going to stay in NC, you could just buy a used tobacco cure barn and cure lumber in that...may be cheaper than a "kiln".  Not certain of cost comparison but I know it could be done.

On the other side of the token if I were to purchase a build kit, I was thinking there might be details associated with that purchase which would outline pier specs.  Maybe.  I hear what you're saying reference engineer but I know with all the builds in this country and world, there are outlines for small structures already floating around.  As a matter of fact, I know there are...I just haven't been successful locating them yet.  I'm still hunting.

[swmn]

Welcome Truefire.  I evacuated from NC in 2001, already too crowded for me then.

Imagine catching a wild Alaska salmon and smoking it right on the beach with alder you cut this morning less than ten yards from where you caught the fish.  Good times.  Unfortunately we have no elk in Alaska.  Moose and caribou are OK in the deer family, but I prefer elk when I can get it.

Snow load is going to be a huge bugaboo.  Most of the plans you can get online, if they specify snowload at all, are most likely written for 50 psf snow.  We got one builder here who has to build for 100-110psf snow somewhere in Northern California.  Local code for me is 55psf snow and it is a problem.  

You can put your rafters closer together easily.   Your posts can probably take it.  It is the beam connecting the post tops and supporting the rafters where you are going to get into colorful language.

Not sure about wind in Maine, but in Wyoming and Montana it can howl.  Diagonal bracing for that.  Lots of it.

For a one off build like I am contemplating, just buying the timbers already sawn makes time and money sense.  For me.

One thing I did that was a real eyeopener last winter, I brought in about 12 feet each of 8x8 and 4x10 spruce and cut a bunch of joints.  Wow.  If I take on a house build I will be investing in a chain mortiser powered by either electricty or gasoline, and no I ain't hand cranking no beam drill through all of that.  I have learned to sharpen handsaws, banging out tenons with sharp handsaws and a sharp slick I can do, but mortising is an expletive.

Cold climate is also an issue I know a bit about.  Among warm home in cold climate, permanent structure and no mold issues, pick any two.  That is the short version anyway.  I am currently in a tupperware structure with no HRV and a bit of mold in the 40 year old building.  I will probably try an HRV system in my next home, but I am fully prepared to rip it (and the vapor barrier) out and just run more wood in the woodstove if the HRV doesn't do it for me.

Best wishes.  Learn to use the beam tables in the tool box.  You simply must know them well enough to understand if the pro you hire as a sub knows what he is doing or is blowing sunshine.

[Ljohnsaw]

We got one builder here who has to build for 100-110psf snow somewhere in Northern California.

Probably me.  I'm up at 5,872' in the Sierras.  My ground snow load is 341 PSF.  I have a 53° steel roof slope so the roof snow load (RSL) calcs to 116 PSI.

[Dave Shepard]

A Super Hawg will work, too.



 

[Brad_bb]

Milling with a manual mill (or any mill) will take some time, probably as much as cutting the frame yourself.  First though, you have to procure logs that will meet the requirements.  You'll need mill bed extensions to be able to cut logs longer than 16ft.  I live in the midwest where I cannot just order logs from a logger.  I have to find other ways to procure suitable logs.  Typically I do it though a couple of firewood guys I've built relationships with.  They work with tree services who they get logs from that could be city or rural logs.

Sufficed to say, it could take several years to procure the logs and mill them for the project.  If you're in the state you mentioned Maine, Montana, Wyoming, you may be able to purchase logs from loggers making that process quicker.  It could still take you some time to mill everything on a manual mill though, plus you'd need a place to store your cut beams if you don't want them to grey out in the sun.  I have pole barns on my current farm I store my beams in.  I'm not trying to discourage, just want you to be prepared.  

Not a fan of kits, but I understand it's for some people.  If you love timber framing, then I think you'd be most happy if you cut your own frame, or had a timberframe shop cut and raise your frame. I don't call that a kit, but a custom frame.  I think you'd get the most satisfaction from cutting your own frame.  You could hire a timberframer to help you layout the joinery and coach you in cutting.  Or hire a few and work with them to cut it on site.

Step one is design of the home in general.  You need to know where it will be  to determine your foundation type.  I like a concrete foundation either with basement, or concrete crawl space.  I want to make sure critters and bugs are kept out, and that you're properly insulated from the bottom too.  But again, I'm from the midwest.  Once you have a proper design on paper with all the build details spelled out, you can design the timberframe and come up with drawings for the frame.  You can then use that to make a cut list, and bit it out several ways- from a timberframe shop orcutting it onsite with help for example.  The frame is only a portion of the build.  I know it's hard not to focus on just the frame, as it's initially the most romantic part, but there's a lot of other stuff to ponder and decide on.

Once you start to design, there are some tips we can give here, and there have been past posts on to help you avoid certain design problems.  There are various ways to do walls and roofs for example.  Each with advantages and disadvantages. 

Here's a couple recent threads with some tips:
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=113338.msg1781338#msg1781338
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=113263.msg1779889#msg1779889

[CJ]

 Hello Truefire...welcome to Fantasy Island. Not really! I just always wanted to say that. 
 Anyhow, I share in your sentiment of having that real yearning for timber frame construction, and it wasn't until I took a course on it a few years ago, that I realized how wonderful this building technique really is and what I have missed over the course of my life. It hasn't been until my latter years of my life that I have come to my senses and mostly to this calling. It's wonderful and rewarding, especially if you are going at it alone.
 I have to agree with what Brad_bb stated in his remarks. Purchasing your own mill and sawyering your own timbers would be a ton of work! I thought long and hard about it myself, but getting up there in years, I don't think I would be able to go the distance. I mean, cutting the trees, trimming them, having to haul them to the mill, load them on the bed....I'm tired even thinking about it! Maybe if I were a younger man with the stamina, then it's balls to the wall. 
 I opted to just go with a local sawmill to provide me with my eastern white pine. I gave them the dimensions and lengths and how many of each, and they did the rest. Keep in mind that my build is nowhere near the size you are looking it build. I built a 14' X 18' sleep cabin for my first build and the longest beams I had were the top plates at 24'. 
 I worked out of my garage to do most of the pieces that I could get in it. Started at the beginning of February with that nasty cold winter ravaging outside. It was a lot of work because everything was done by hand tools. No chain mortiser, no portable bandsaw; just drills, circular saws, timber frame chisels and an adze. 
 All in all, it took me the better part of three months to complete every piece. I got some good advice and insight  to issues from the veteran timber framers on this site. You can appreciate their knowledge from a green perspective. 
 Anyhow, I might be rambling here. But just to give you some idea what you are getting into, there is a lot of work involved in doing your own frame, but in the end it is soooo rewarding! So if you are going to build something that is in the 800 sq.ft. range, give yourself a break right off the get-go; work smart not hard. Pass on the mill, as you might throw in the towel before you even get to the constructing of the frame. Maybe get a plan for a certain design on Timber Frame HQ and see if you can get an engineer or architect to validate to the specifications you need. And if you are going to live in this all year round (I presume?), go with a slab on grade with one or two rows of either ICF or foundation blocks to give you a stable base, a crawlspace for anything you might want to add, and also to not have to worry about critters. Good Luck! Godspeed

[scsmith42]

Welcome Trufire.  

I'm just SW of Raleigh; from your post I take it that you're nearer to the coast?  If so you  need to reach out and meet Jim Rogers.  He has been involved in timberfame design and construction for many years, and just moved to eastern NC from Taxachusetts.  

Jim is an outstanding resource and potentially in your back yard.

Best of success to you with your future project!

Scott

[Brad_bb]

Oh, and you don't need a kiln for timbers.  You can't really dry timbers over 3 inches thick. They just have to air dry overtime in the assembled frame. Timber framing is typically done with green timbers.  As far as the mill goes, I knew I had several years at least before I would start my timber frame build, so I got a sawmill and got into milling. The mail has paid for itself several times over I would say between our horse barn, my workshop, some pieces from my moms house, and soon my timber frame home.  If you do have the time before your build, it might not be a bad idea. If you mail logs in North Carolina you would have to transport them, which may or may not be practical. I have a manual mill, a Wood miser LT 15, and it is just fine. I do have a small rough terrain forklift as support equipment. A good chainsaws the only other big ticket item I can think of. The one thing that having your own meal will allow you to do, is to work with unique materials that you otherwise wouldn't be able to get or afford. I'm using a lot of Black walnut in my frame because I have been able to find logs at prices I could afford. I also love the look of naturally curved knee braces. That type of wood usually ends up being left in the woods or cut up as firewood, so it's not bad to procure. I also use ash Osage Orange and Cherry.  You can find unique pieces like a post with a crotch that will stand out in your home it's a beautiful piece. A few guys that I know that like to use natural curve material are Jack Sobon, Collin Beggs, and Jordan finch.  The latter to have their own websites where you can find pictures of their frames.  Jack has had a lot of stuff and timber frame magazine, I've never just search the Internet for pictures of his frames but they might be searchable?