The Scoop: October 2019
Timber Framing
Earthadelic has quickly become one of the leaders in timber framing in Knoxville and the surrounding areas, and we continue to get inquiries from customers on how this would fit into their vision for outdoor spaces.
What is Timber Framing?
Timber framing is a distinctive style of building construction in which heavy timbers frame the structure instead of more slender dimensional lumber (for example, 2 x 6-in.). Timber framing was a building practice used throughout the world until roughly 1900 when the demand for cheap, fast housing brought dimensional lumber to the construction forefront. In the 1970s, craftsman revived the timber framing tradition in the United States and have ushered the design style into the modern era.
One of the most defining elements of a timber frame is its unique joinery. Heavy timber is joined together via mortises and tenons, then secured with wooden pegs, or metal brackets.
What is Joinery?
Joinery is what ties timbers together, in traditional timber framing. The ends of timbers are carved out so that they fit together like puzzle pieces. A hole about an inch in diameter is drilled right through the joint, and a wooden peg is pounded in to hold the joint together.
Custom metal brackets were created for this project we completed this year.
In timber framing, all of the structural timbers for a building are prepared ahead of time—sized, planed, and joinery cut, all according to shop drawings. The elements of each cross-section, or bent, are test-fitted; then, when all cutting and testing is done, the bents are assembled and raised from horizontal to vertical one by one.
At Earthadelic, we have the technical carpenters on staff that can precisely cut the timbers on site. Therefore, saving the customer money in pre-fabricated cut timbers, this also allows for last minute adjustments if our carpenters run into issues that were unseen at the time of planning.
In this recently completed project in Westmoreland, custom up-lighting was suggested, and installed to hi-light the craftsmanship of the heavy timber framing.
Here are a few more examples of completed projects in Knoxville!
Herzong, T. (2015). BASICS: WHAT IS TIMBER FRAMING? Retrieved from https://www.tfguild.org/faq/basics
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