Library builder

While trusses may be a little off the title subject of this book, they can be an easy, quick, and relatively economic method of building a roof, and they marry well to a strong one — or two-story post-and-beam framework. Trusses can be engineered for a variety of roof shapes, as seen in Fig. 4.44. […]

Ridge beam. I cannot hide my love for a substantial ridge beam (also called, correctly but oddly, a ridgepole), and Гт not talking about the comparatively flimsy ridge “board” used by most stick-frame builders. No, I like something like the eight-by-ten at Log End Cottage (Fig. 4.39) or the ten-by-ten at Log End Cave (Fig. […]

There are basically two different roof-support systems that are appropriate for use with timber framing. Most timber framers continue on with additional timber framing, and I have done this, as well, at Log End Cottage, Log End Cave, and Earthwood, by using methods described in this book. The other support system that should be considered […]

Note that in all of the joining methods described above, the beams are not diminished in cross-section, so full shear and bending strength is maintained. 1 cannot over-emphasize the importance of maintaining a good standard of “build quality.” One member should bear flat on another, without wobbling. The end of a beam should bear at […]

Let’s return to Chris Ryan’s garage to see a method of making girts from a pair of two-by-eights instead of a single eight-by-eight. Chris had seen that Russell Pray used a similar method on the gables ends of the garage at Earthwood and he modified Russell’s method slightly, so that he could use doubled two-by-eights […]

Where any two beams meet over a post, there are many ways, short of matrimony, to join them together. Traditional timber framers have a variety of joints to use in this situation, including an assortment of “scarf” and “dovetail” joints — these take practice — and half-lap joints, as in Fig. 4.14. Lap joints are […]

Nails, when they became cheap, replaced dowels, doveta Is, and mortise-and-tenon joints. Most nailing is called surface nailing: driving a nail straight through one board in order to fasten it to another. This is the way roofing planks and plywood are installed, as well as wooden siding. But one of the most valuable skills in […]

Before attempting to lift a heavy girt (or girding beam) to the top of posts, make sure that the posts are vertically plumb — check two adjacent sides with the plumbing bubble on your level — and that all the posts are supported with sturdy bracing, as already discussed. Make sure that the posts are […]

In certain areas of the country like the southern U. S. Gulf Coast, Hawaii, “Tornado Alley,” coastal Alaska, and other areas, code demands a more positive tie-down mechanism than the positioning pin and gravity technique that I employ in northern New York. Fortunately, several manufacturers make a variety of anchoring fasteners whose purpose is to […]

Several companies manufacture metal fasteners for a variety of wood-to-wood and wood-to-foundation applications. Since 1975, I have done a lot of timber framing without using these fasteners (except for truss plates), and I will share my techniques in these pages. But manufactured metal fasteners can make life easier, the building inspector happier, and improve the […]