After a year of planning, logging, sawing, and foundation work the building has started. My red oak columns were sawn to 8x8 and beams to 8x12, stickered and air dried for several months or more. Just before I am using them they get skinned to 7.5 x 7.5 and 7.5 x 11.5 only doing a couple at a time to use right away. They get cut to length, notched and ends slotted for my Connext fasteners, and coated with 1 part boiled linseed oil and two parts paint thinner. First ones are up. Have a long way to go.
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The building?
Barn?
Two bay garage 26 x 32. Phot is side withwhich will have garage door for tractor. Far side in pick will be a shed roof for my truck. two garage doors will be to the right. Fire wood shed roof to the left.
Reached a milestone today. The first level columns and beams are all up. I still need to put more braces and headers for the doors in and then a lot more to do but it feels good to have these up. My JD4720 has been great for lifting these heavy components but this is as high as it can go. I will bring in a scissor lift and a crane for the top plates, ridge, and rafters.
I am happy with my plan to rough saw 1/2 inch oversize then skin 1/4 inch on each side just before prepping and installing. The wood is dry about 1/2 in so I get a nice smooth finish right off the LT35 with flat square columns/beams to work with. All I have to do is a light sanding with 90 grit paper to remove any fuzz from the mill and handling marks.
The Connext connector system works well but is not as easy to us as I had hoped. With the wide variety of tolerance build up from sawing to exact size to cutting and notching square to screwing them in perfect it is tough to get perfect fit and holes for pins to line up just right. I have been going back in with my drill to make sure the holes line up before driving pins.
I will follow up with more details when I get a chance.IMG_0840.jpgIMG_0841.jpg
This is getting exciting!!! ffcool
Thanks for keeping us posted. smiley_trap_drummer
I am going to shift away from the build to all the other things I need to do for several days so thought good to give some detail.
-Experience: I have built additions to the house and a hay barn with standard construction. Run in sheds for the horses with rough sawn timbers and siding, but this is first time at a serious timber build.
-Process: All wood other than sill, windows, and doors will be from my forest and sawed on the LT35HD. I fell the oaks, skid out the logs, an sawed timbers this past fall, winter, spring (between rain storms). The timbers were sawed 1/2 inch oversize to allow them to start drying and checking. This has worked out well since the surfaces have dried about 1/2 inch in and skinning the 1/4 inch per side just before using cleans up the initial movement and provides a nice clean fresh surface to work with. The timbers then get cut to length, notched for fasteners on the ends and sides where needed and the notch 3/8" radius routed to match radius on fastener. Using a jig holes then need to be drilled where needed for pins. The connectors are placed in the notch and the drilled holes used to center point where the holes in the Aluminum need to be drilled. The connector then gets finish drilled on the drill press That connector now belongs to that joint in the orientation it was pointed so the holes line up. A light quick sanding with 90 grit paper then a liberal coating of 1 part boiled linseed oil, 1part paint thinner. I started with 1 linseed to 2 thinner but changed the formula because the 1:2 was too thin. I have been skinning and prepping one day then raising those timbers the next.
-Battery Saw: I have a post in the chainsaw section about the Stihl I am using.
-Jigs: I purchased the jigs from Connext along with the fasteners. The ends are cut square with the rotary cut off which can be rotated to the roof pitch for rafters and birds mouth cuts. The ends get slotted with the pivot jig. Drilling the 3/8" hole in the saw blade for the pivot jig was tough. Both of these jigs work pretty well but you need to keep the weight of the saw smooth and steady while cutting to prevent any wiggle which will cause fit up issues. The holes use a jig that makes it easy( to set up-not so easy drilling through the timbers, being green the chips do not come out like dry ones would).
-Next: I need to saw more ash sheathing and get it air drying so it can be planed just before use. The 6 top plates (7.2 x 11.5) need to be skinned and prepped at which time I will bring in an all terrain construction scissor lift to install them. I am figuring a month rental for the lift which will be used for bracing and preparing for a crane to come in and raise the center columns, ridge beams (7.5 x 11.5) and rafters.
-Goal for 2024: Get roof and sheathing on for winter. Still debating metal roof vs shingles. Second floor, stairs, windows, doors will all be next spring, with a lot of finishing after that.IMG_0831.jpgIMG_0835.jpgIMG_0839.jpg
Thank You for the sneak peek at your prep operation. I always dreamed of doing something with timbers, but that dream is also in my past. :uhoh:
"preparing for a crane to come in and raise the center columns, ridge beams (7.5 x 11.5)"
Crane, crane, you don't need no stinkin' crane! ffcheesy
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/PXL_20231010_234638972.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=348198)
How long are your beams? I had two sizes, 8x12 and 8x15 that were ~25' and ~32' long. Had to set both halves at the same time with 4 winches and inserting 8 braces.
I am not that ambitious and want the roof on. 2 days with a crane and scissor lift and all beams and rafter will be up.
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The columns and beams are up for the first floor. Have not been raising anything past few weeks but all the top plates, ridge columns/beams, dormer columns/beams are prepared. two preassemblies of ridge are almost ready and then we go up.
It looks great!
Outstanding !! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ffcool
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Top plates are up and most rafters ready to go. Crane end of next week for ridge columns/beams and rafters
IMG_0904.jpgRidge, dormer and rafters are up.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Visual progress may not look like much is going on but I have been very busy prepping the Ash boards for the ceiling.
Milled board to 1 5/16" then edge, plane, rabbet (for ship lap), oil with goop (linseed/ thinner). Should be ready next week to start putting them up.
Great post . I just found it today , Keep the pics coming.
The Ash ceiling boards will be finish installed in a couple days. Handling any more than 12 feet long by myself has been a challenge, particularly with the wind we have had. They all have a 2 1/2 inch wood screw into each rafter top and bottom. This has really socked the laps down tight. Holes on the ends are predrilled to prevent splitting. I also found it easier to spot holes with the drill for the balance of the screws allowing them to start driving right away.
All The trim and rake boards are up. The rakes are each a single 4/4 tulip poplar board and the trim three boards from sawing the rafters. Rakes are 11 1/2 inch and trim 9 1/2 inch wide. They are fully primed two coats oil based all sides/edges and will get a finish coat this weekend after I trim the ends flush and prime the trimmed ends. They went up before the ceiling boards with a 1 3/4 inch projection above the top of the rafters. This provided a firm stop to butt the 4/4 ceiling boards against leaving a 3/4 inch projection. I had originally planned to have a standing seam metal roof installed but the quotes came in more than double architectural asphalt singles. So, we are going with the shingles. But to prevent roofing nails from poking through my ceiling boards a 3/4" tongue & groove plywood layer will go down first hence the additional 3/4" projection. Blasphemy...How am I going to look everyone in the eye and say "all wood other than the PT sill came from my forest"??? Roofers will be here in two weeks.
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The Ash ceiling boards are all up. The roofer will be here right after Thanksgiving. I have a few more floor joists to put up but then will take a break from the project to take care of a lot of other things.
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Looking good! The ash ceiling came out beautifully.
The lines on the building are very nice.
All your research and preparations are coming together.
As is said up here: When your building is 'weathered in' - you're half way to being finished.
Great work Sir!
Great job.
We finished the roofing yesterday afternoon just in time for 4" wet snow last night. So, made my goal for this year of a roof before snow by abut 6 hours! Pending on weather I hope to get the balance of the floor joists installed and maybe headers for doors...if not, next spring start up again.
Great to hear that the roofing is done. ffcool ffcool
Hi,
First, I wanted to congratulate for the incredible work ! I am wondering how you managed the shrinkage with your beam ? I worked on a smaller projet and faced issue with the shrinkage of my beam. I spent a lot of time to bring back the beam squarre and realised they were still twisted when I was ready to do the joinery. Did you use end grain sealer to prevent shrinkage ?
Quote from: philoufelin on December 19, 2024, 09:01:32 AMHi,
First, I wanted to congratulate for the incredible work ! I am wondering how you managed the shrinkage with your beam ? I worked on a smaller projet and faced issue with the shrinkage of my beam. I spent a lot of time to bring back the beam squarre and realised they were still twisted when I was ready to do the joinery. Did you use end grain sealer to prevent shrinkage ?
The twisting is possibly identifiable in the log as it relates to spiral grain grown into the tree, and usually identifiable. If observed, then can avoid it in a beam that you do not want to twist when drying occurs.
The width and depth shrinkage in a straight-grain beam still needs to be accounted for when drying happens.
The length will not shrink. Shrinkage is inevitable and such you build that into your sizing or do your joinery quicker.
Phil,
First let me thankyou for you complement. Being my own worst critic sometimes it is tough to see the forest through the trees.
I am truly a novice at this, so what I know is from building run-in sheds for my horses and what I have learned on this forum.
Being my own timbers I bucked them well over length and sealed the ends with Anchor Seal immediately upon cutting to length. I added a good foot on each end of length to allow for end checking when cut to finish size. As I posted a while back I sawed them 1/2 inch in width/height oversize to allow for several months of drying shrink. Every post and beam is pith centered ( or as centered as I could saw) which worked out well as I found very little camber in the components after the aging. I do wish I had gone a bit more in oversize because just skimming 1/4 inch on each side is not as easy as it sounds because shrink varies with the grain and knots on the surface. I did not pay attention to length as I cut them to exact length just before installation. When I skinned/cut to length and prepped them the linseed/thinner goop went on right away including the ends. I see no signs of length shrink but checks and width/height shrink is occurring and will until until aged through out which will take several more years.
So, that is what I know. Hope it helps.
Quote from: Stephen1 on December 19, 2024, 02:15:11 PMThe length will not shrink. Shrinkage is inevitable and such you build that into your sizing or do your joinery quicker.
Thank for the answer. I understand the skrinkage is inevitable, so the best strategy is to cut the log and do the joinery quick. Is there any strategy (log sealing, etc.) ?
I put the linseed goop on right away to seal the ends and surfaces to preserve the fresh finish of the wood. Once I get the siding on this spring I will need to go over the interior with the sander to shine it up and apply another coating.
The pic is from where I left off in December the morning after having finished the roof. Have not done any building since then. Folks who walk our road have been asking when I am going to start up again. All I can say is I have been working all along to fell the trees, skid the logs, and saw the timbers needed to continue the build. I have a few more timbers to saw then start building with the plan for this year to frame the side over the slab for my truck, frame the back shed roof for firewood, frame in all the sides for doors and windows, and get siding and balance of roofing on. Lot to do. Oh and still have to saw the rafters for the two roofs.
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You have done a lot and still have a lot to do.
Mighty fine Sir, Mighty Fine. :thumbsup:
I have started the building again now that most of the sawing is complete for what I need this year. (still need to saw the rafters). Girts and door headers are installed on the first level. Had to raise 7 more floor joists that did not get done last fall. Interesting issue arose with them. The joists put up last year have continued to dry causing a 1/8 to 1/4 inch step down from the new joists end but up against them. Based on this step I decided not to screw these new ones down and will let them try and catch up in the drying shrink before fixing in place. Next will be the girts spanning the columns of the gable ends just below the top of the knee wall. These will also act as the framing for the second floor windows to rest. Sure would be nice to have the scissor lift to raise these. Instead I plan to raise them as high as I can with the forks on the tractor and then use block and tackle mounted on top plate and center column to finish the lift. Hoping to get on this when the weather settles/warms.
Next set of post and beams to go up. I need to slot the ends and drill pin holes where needed, then assemble and raise. Should have them up Tuesday.
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