Pegged, not bolted.
A timber frame is heavy posts and beams joined with wooden pegs and mortise-and-tenon joints. It’s the oldest way to build in wood, and still the most beautiful.
Why fir
Douglas fir grows in the Cascades west of here, it’s strong for its weight, and it handles our dry climate well. We source it from Oregon mills and let it dry before cutting to limit checking and movement.
Raising day
The frame arrives cut and labeled. With a crane and a crew, the bents go up and are pegged together in a few days. Owners usually come out for it, and we usually buy lunch.
Enclosing it
Most of our timber frames are wrapped in structural insulated panels, which make a tight, well-insulated shell around the exposed frame. Some are hybrids, with a timber great room and a stick-framed rest of the house.
Ranges
Picture the frame going up.
The custom builder’s site, built in seven days.
Sixteen pages: a wildfire-zone diagram, honest cost per square foot, a timber-frame page, and the Oregon CCB number on every page because the state requires it.