Architecture is the art of designing spaces that inspire and relax the mind in new and interesting ways. Timber brings elements of nature and strength into buildings while showing the natural structure of the building. Timber trusses open up the roof space to cathedral ceilings and arched timbers, corbels and decorative finials bring a elegance. Architects can design buildings with full timber frames, timber trusses or simply decorative accent beams.

The easiest way to start is to visit our timber truss page  where you can see many different types of trusses that can be used. If you don’t see what you have in mind, send us a sketch of what you are hoping for and we will give you a free consultation on whether or not it will work structurally. We will also make suggestions on how to modify the idea to get it to work.

We like to use Vermont Natural Coatings to finish our timbers. We also use Benjamin Moore WoodLuxe for exterior surfaces and occasionally Minwax products for interior work. It is important to finish the timber on all sides and surfaces prior to shipping to protect the wood – that means that early in to process we will be asking for a finish type and a stain color so that as soon as each timber is cut it can also be finished. Of course, to help you make a final decision, we will send out sample with the different colors you select. Keep in mind that all timber is different with different ways the stain is absorbed – even within the same timber. Stain colors will be lighter when applied to the sap wood and darker when applied to the heartwood. Knots will take the stain differently and when timbers are stained a dark color and check can develop over the first year that will show up with a lighter color.

The most common texture in timber framing is planed smooth, or S4S – surfaced four sides. The timber comes to us in a uniform size, typically 1/2″ under the specified size. An 8×8 will finish out to 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ and an 8×12 will be 7 1/2″ x 11 1/2″. Normally we will put a 1/2″ chamfer on the edges of S4S timbers to soften the sharp edge and dress them up a bit. Other embellishments, like deeper chamfers, round overs and beads are also available.

A second choice is rough sawn timber. the timber comes to us in its rough form, as it looked after it was sawn at the mill. Most mills are using band saws now which give straight saw marks. Mills local to Vermont still use circular saws which give a round, or semi circular saw mark. The texture is nice and rustic, but it does come with marks and blemishes that are seen rather than sanded out as in S4S timber.

A third choice is hand hewn timber. We hand hew our timber the old fashioned way, with a slick and an adze to give it an authentic look. There are different ways to hand hew some people like a very deep and rough look while others prefer a lighter texture. Because we are hewing by hand, we can give each client the texture they like – of course we will send samples for approval prior to starting.

Douglas Fir is the species that we use most these days. Longer lengths and sizes are available in fir and it is a strong wood structurally. Fir is susceptible to rotting if it is outside and exposed to constant moisture. There is a clear pressure treatment available called Klear-Gard that helps protect douglas fir against the weather.

Local hemlock is a good choice for barns and rough sawn jobs. It is locally available, but is harder to find the longer lengths and bigger sizes these days. Hemlock doesn’t plane as nicely as fir and it often has a defect called “shake” that is a de-lamination around the ring lines that looks like a peeling onion skin if it is planed smooth. Still, hemlock is a great utilitarian, rot resistant wood for barns shed and stables.

White, red or mixed oak used to be quite popular for timber frames. Oak is more of a rustic wood. It does plane and hand hew well. It has a pretty grain, but it checks and twists much more than fir or hemlock. Larger sizes are also harder to come by and very expensive. Some clients love the look of oak, and we are happy to provide it when we can.

White pine is a great local choice for timber frames. It is light and versatile. Pine planes, hews and looks great as rough sawn timber. It is available in larger lengths and sizes, but it is not very strong structurally. Where an 8×8 might work in Douglas fir or oak, we might need to use an 8×10 or 8×12 in white pine.

Port Orford Cedar is a great rot resistant wood that is strong and versatile. It planes well and looks good in the rough. It is also relatively strong. It is good for outdoor structures, pergolas and entry ways.

We have also worked with Ipe, cedar, maple, southern yellow pine, Alaskan yellow cedar and cypress. If we can get a particular species that the client wants, and if it works structurally, we are happy to use it.

Using a grid system for the basic layout of a building is very helpful in timber framing, but not absolutely required. Like steel construction, using a grid concentrates the loads to specific points and simplifies the structural design. “Bents”, the building blocks of a timber frame, are put on the  grid lines and the rest of the frame is built off of the bents. The grid can be modified in length or width. When changing width at a grid line, a double bent or a custom bent may be required to pick up framing members from both sides.

Bents can be places perpendicular to one another to create hips and valleys, and offsets can be used to make the facade of the building more interesting. Each change in the grid does come with a cost in increasing the complexity of the timber frame. A rectangular grid is the simplest and most cost effective design.

When designing a timber frame, the space between bents is often the critical dimension. A grid spacing of twelve feet to sixteen feet generally works pretty well. grids can be spaced up to twenty to twenty four feet, but then the sizes of the connecting members gets pretty large.  Conversely, grid spacing can go down to six feet, but the timbers start to look crowded together when the bents are spaced close together.

The width of the grid (the span of the trusses) can start at sixteen feet or less and go up to forty, fifty or sixty feet. The bigger the span of the truss, the more expensive it is to build. Grid widths that are forty feet and below are generally pretty economical.

Often buildings are set up with multiple grid widths. For instance, a dining hall or a church could have two twelve foot sheds with a forty foot center grid with the grids spaced twelve to sixteen feet apart.

Yes. While not all of the timbers in a particular timber frame will check, many of them will – it is the nature and part of the beauty of framing buildings with heavy timber.

Checking is a crack that forms in a timber as it loses moisture and shrinks.  A full explanation can be found on our “Shake & Checking” page. Timbers are more dense toward the heart wood at the center of a tree and less dense toward the sap wood toward the bark of a tree. Because of the difference in density,  a crack will form in the sap wood and diminish and disappear as it reaches the center of the timber.

While eliminating checking in heavy timber is virtually impossible, it is possible minimize checking. When using Douglas Fir, ordering FOHC (free of heart center) minimizes checking quite a bit. Since the heart wood is denser and the checks tend to radiate out from the heart, going to FOHC material reduces checking. FOHC is generally only available in Douglas Fir, trees like pine, oak and hemlock don’t grow big enough to saw the heartwood out of a timber. Different species of wood with check more than others. Oak checks a lot and gets small surface checks easily. Hemlock and white pine will check moderately and douglas fir will check the least.

The most important thing to do is to slow down the drying process. Buildings in the winter months can have a relative humidity of 20% or less. Exposing a green timber to such a dry environment causes the outside of the timber to dry out too quickly and shrink rapidly, drawing checks. To slow the drying process, we recommend finishing the timber on all sides in the shop and keeping the temperature down and the humidity level up in the building where it is being installed for the first year.

Using kiln dried material will help a little bit. It is important to know that KD timber is only dried to a moisture content of 16% 1″ deep into the timber. The center of the timber is not dried and is still susceptible to cause checking at the surface. Kiln drying material also causes the knots on the surface to chip out then the timbers are planed, whereas green knots tend to stay in place for a nicer looking timber.