Timber Framing for the Rest of Us: A Guide to Contemporary Post and Beam Construction

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Many natural building methods rely upon the use of post and beam frame structures that are then in-filled with straw, cob, cordwood, or more conventional wall materials. But traditional timber framing employs the use of finely crafted jointing and wooden pegs, requiring a high degree of craftsmanship and training, as well as much time and expense. However, there is another way . . .

Timber Framing for the Rest of Us describes the timber framing methods used by most contractors, farmers and owner-builders—methods that use modern metal fasteners, special screws and common sense building principles to accomplish the same goal in much less time. And while there are many good books on traditional timber framing, this is the first to describe in depth these more common fastening methods. The book includes everything an owner-builder needs to know about building strong and beautiful structural frames from heavy timbers, including:
the historical background of timber framing
crucial design and structural considerations
procuring timbers—including different woods and recycled materials
foundations, roofs and in-filling considerations
the common fasteners

A detailed case study of a timber frame project from start to finish completes this practical and comprehensive guide, along with a useful appendix of span tables and a bibliography.

Highly illustrated, this book enables "the rest of us" to build like the professionals and will appeal to owner-builders, contractors and architects alike.

Rob Roy is a former contractor with 11 previous books to his credit. He has been utilizing timber framing techniques for the past 25 years in the construction of homes, as well as in the numerous outbuildings at Earthwood Building School which he founded in 1981 with his wife, Jaki. He is most recently the author of Cordwood Building: The State of the Art (New Society, 2003).

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