Tag Archives: rustic flooring

Timber Frames and Flooring

July 14, 2010

Your timber frame home offers lots of opportunities to express your individuality.  As you design and build your new home, you’ll gain insights into the flexibility that timber frames offer.  Is your taste elegant?  Does it lean toward traditional or even rustic?  Your new home will be whatever you wish, just make selections carefully and design it to be the home of your dreams.

While many, if not most, timber frames feature wood flooring, the types and finishes available in wood floors are almost as varied as the styles of timber frame homes.  There is antique flooring, fine clear flooring, and everything in between.  You can choose laminates, hardwood, or even softer pine.

We decided we needed a durable hardwood that would withstand not only people, but dogs without looking worn.  So what better choice than to distress the floor before it went down and not dread that “first scratch”.   Pam and Neal had installed amazing hickory floors in their new timber frame and they guided us on the techniques used so we could enjoy a similar floor.

Starting with a utility (economy) grade hickory, we ended up with an amazing floor that looks as though it has suffered through generations.  It is warm and inviting and handles traffic easily.   The cats, dogs, and human traffic only add to the patina.

The dark color compliments the clary sage walls and lighter timber.   The contrast is stunning and grounds each room.  With rugs (chosen with Pam’s input) defining the different living spaces, this flooring is never overlooked.

While we opted for tile in the bathrooms and mudroom, this warm flooring is used throughout the rest of our home.   It works well even in the kitchen, where spills don’t cause concern.

In using utility grade material (the stuff that didn’t meet the grade for “real” flooring), we feel that we made a step in the sustainable direction.  These trees didn’t die in vain.  Finished with water based stains and polyurethane, the floor offer a non-toxic alternative to many of the products available on the market today.

So, begin thinking about your flooring early on and know all of your options. Go with the floor that will compliment your home and your lifestyle.  There is something out there for everyone and your wood floor should last for a long, long time.  Why “wood” you use anything else?

For some other ideas on designing and building your timber frame home, check out Timber Frame Magazine .

See you soon.

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Designing Efficient Timber Frames

November 13, 2009

When home plans are discussed, we tend to talk about floor plans, elevations, sections, details, and foundations.  We need to make “efficiency” one of those key elements.

Your timber frame home should be efficient in every manner.  It should, of course, be energy efficient.  It should be space efficient.  It should make efficient use of materials.  This list can go on and on, with efficient being the key word.

Of course, designing only the amount of space you use is the first step.  While we’d all like to have unlimited room to roam and to escape, be realistic.   Think through the way you live as you design your new timber frame.  Timber Frame

Don’t build too small and then necessitate remodeling in a few years…but don’t build rooms that no one will ever occupy (maybe Aunt Sue will come to visit someday, but if you are building that room just for her and she’s never left her hometown, then maybe you can better utilize that money and rent her a nice room at the local B&B if she arrives).  Don’t build just to keep up with the Joneses or Browns.    They will be spending money to maintain those rooms when you can be spending yours to travel.

If there are two of you for eleven and three quarter months of the year, do you need three more bedrooms and three more baths for the two weeks you have company?

A timber frame does give you the flexibility to move walls without major engineering. This means you can enclose or open up rooms as your life and lifestyle changes.

Efficient use of materials is important.  Plan your home wisely, using products that are sourced locally or regionally whenever possible.  Don’t put in cabinets that you know you really don’t like…planning on installing better ones in a few years.  Buy the best you can afford and live with it.  Hardwood and tile should be a “forever” product, so chose carefully.

Energy efficiency, of course is such an important part of building.  A timber frame, wrapped in energy efficient insulated panels is an excellent choice.  The panels provide a tight, well insulated shell and will be far more efficient than any form of conventional framing.

Our new home is so comfortable.  It is small (smaller than some would like and larger than some might want), but just right for us.  We used many salvaged materials in our home (not for everyone, but something we love) and it is wrapped in panels, providing shelter from cold and heat.

Building efficiently will reward you for years to come.  Small steps will make a big difference.

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New Flooring, Old Look, in Our Timber Frame Home

August 3, 2009

The floor of a timber frame can be either elegant or rustic…or anything in between.  We chose to use utility grade hickory from a local supplier.  The hickory has character and we added to the character with a chain saw, skill saw, crow bar, and chain.

The process included an ebony stain, much sanding, a brown stain, and several coats of water based urethane. We borrowed the recipe from a client and friend who used this process in her home.  When I take someone to see the home, they often look at the floors first…a bit of a disappointment for me, since usually the focus is on the timber frame.  She is an amazing designer and I’m a challenging client.

Anyway, the photos don’t do this justice, but it is absolutely beautiful (in the eye of this beholder).

Distressed hickory flooring

Distressed hickory flooring

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