Tag Archives: timber frame design

Designing Your Timber Frame Home – The Journey Begins

March 28, 2012

Designing your new timber frame home is a journey of sorts. You’ll bring
all the luggage you’ve gathered along the way. Homes you’ve seen on
television shows, homes you’ve seen in magazines, homes you’ve
driven past, homes you’ve lived in and visited…they’re all packed neatly
away, waiting to be sorted and reviewed upon arrival at the design desk.

This is where the fun begins. The kitchen you loved when you visited a
friend in the mountains may not fit into the bungalow you envisioned
when you thought about driving up the driveway each day. That great
Roman tub set up on a granite platform…beautiful in the magazine, but it
might not work in your master bath.

Form follows function. That’s the architectural rule and it’s as true today
as it was in 1852 when sculptor Horatio Greenough used it in speaking
of the organic principals of architecture. Architect Louis Sullivan
expanded it to “form ever follow function” in 1896 and that’s the rule.

So, you lay out all the pictures, ideas, and suggestions you brought on
this journey and you begin with what’s important. You consider the
space and how you’ll use it as you begin to lay out your timber frame
floor plan. You talk about the site and the budget …they are critical to
this journey. You discuss the way you’ll live and how this home will
serve you. Your house plan will address your lifestyle long before it can
be tweaked to address the style you’ll see when you drive up your
driveway.

Timber frame house plans are similar to regular plans, but without the
restrictions that bearing walls bring to the table. They are much easier
to work with and much more flexible. As you begin this journey, you’ll
appreciate that difference.

As you fit your “baggage” into the plan, you’ll find some pieces work
and some don’t. You’ll find that there are ways to make the important
things come together in creative and exciting ways. You new home plan
will gradually become “your” home.

The design team you choose to work with will be critical as you move
forward. They can’t take your ideas, pull them together and say “this is
what you asked for”. They have to be unafraid to step out and make
suggestions. They need to pull from their experience with other
homeowners and most of all they need to listen. So take that first step
and begin your journey. It will be the trip of a lifetime.

Give me a call. I’d be pleased to talk with you and to tell you about my
own experience in designing my dream home and to help you begin
your journey.

Bonnie Pickartz

Just email me or give me a call at 828-524-8662.

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Timber Frame Homes – Perfect Small Homes

February 2, 2012

Small Homes aren’t a trend.  They represent a way of life, both past and future.  A simpler life where home was shelter, not a status symbol or fad.  In the past, people built homes to fit their needs.  As their families grew, their homes grew, but only enough to provide the space they needed … comfortable space.

Over time we expanded our spaces, expanded not because we were more comfortable, but because we could.  Now, it’s time to step back.  We need to remember that the space we build, we have to maintain, we have to heat and cool, we have to “keep”.  That space can then take over our lives in ways large and small.

So, we’ve begun to step back, to build our homes to shelter us and to allow us to live comfortably.  We make a decision to design our homes to have space that fits our lifestyle and not to build out just because we can.  We become happier with smaller.  And maybe happier because we’re living smaller.

So, think through the way you live.  Think about the rooms that are seldom used and the size of the rooms that you do use.  Bring everything into the human scale and you’ll live easier and more comfortably.   So we encourage you to live smaller, live more simply.  Don’t forgo elegance and charm, live smaller and live better.

Timber frames allow us to build smaller.  We have no wasted space for bearing walls and hallways.  Space is divided to best fit the way we live.   Timber frames and small homes, what a great concept.

Thanks for letting me share, Bonnie Pickartz.

 

 

 

 

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Building A Timber Frame Infographic

August 21, 2011

This infographic brings it all together!

All the stuff you need to know to design and build your timber frame home…condensed.

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No Ducts in the Attic of a Timber Frame

June 23, 2011

Summer brings to mind not only warm evenings and flowers, but the cost to cool a home.  Timber frames are uniquely qualified to withstand the onslaught of summer heat because by the nature of the design, the ductwork is inside the building envelope.  If you consider that just something to work around as you design your timber frame home, you’ve missed a very important point.

Timber frames are typically enclosed in an insulated envelope.  That necessitates having all the ducts and plumbing inside a conditioned space.  Doing just this is really a “best practice”, but timber frames do it naturally.  The importance means lower cooling costs and less loss of cool air to the heat.   If ducts reside in an unconditioned attic, the loss is compounded by the superheated air that accumulates in the attic. The air conditioning unit works harder to produce less cool air.   In warmer climates, this is a significant loss.

In cooler climates, the reverse is true.  If the ducts are run through an unconditioned attic, the heat is sucked away from the warm air before it can get to the rooms it is meant to heat.

An excellent article on the Energy Vanguard Blog makes the case for getting the ducts out of the attic.  They linked to an article by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory “Ducts in the attic?  What were they thinking?” that offers statistics and real numbers that impact the comfort of a home and the energy used.

So why am I saying all of this.  Because it’s a problem that timber frame homeowners don’t have to deal with…ever.  The ducts are inside the conditioned shell in timber frames.  The way it should be done is the way it’s done in a timber frame.

So, as our energy bills languish (our running tally for the past twelve months is $1026 to heat/cool and supply electricity to all lights and appliances), we once more get to offer yet another reason why timber frames are sustainable and energy efficient.

Building a timber frame home is simply the best choice.  And when you build remember to Build Boldly.

 

 

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Comfort in Timber Frames

June 3, 2011

The heat of summer arrived early this year.  With temperatures soaring to the 90′s, we’re seeing days as hot as we’d expect in August.   But it seems timber frames with insulated panels are a good place to be when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

We haven’t had to turn on the air conditioning yet at our house.  The nights are cool, so we open the windows and sleep in the cool night air.   Then, in the morning we close the windows before it gets hot and we head off to work.   The house holds the cool, so when we come home late in the afternoon, with the temperatures hovering around 90, inside is fresh and cool.  We turn on the fans and are comfortable until it’s time to open the windows again.

Timber frames are energy efficient.  That’s a fact.  Most people who build them insulate them well and are concerned about sustainability.   Structural insulated panels (ours are R-24 wall and R-40 roof polyurethane panels) make saving energy easy.

So it’s summer time and the living is easy…in our timber frame.

 

 

 

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Timber Frames – The Structural Advantage

April 12, 2011

The structural advantage of timber frames has been substantiated in the centuries old buildings worldwide.  Wood, when joined by craftsmen using old and time tested techniques, is a forgiving and enduring material.

Wooden buildings centuries of years old are still used daily around the world.  We visited a chocolate shop in France and were far more interested in the joinery than in the chocolates (but we did enjoy them).   Seeing the timbers that have sustained through hundreds of years of use and even abuse was rewarding.  We celebrated not only the chocolate, but the historic building.

To think that the structures that we are building today will be visited with awe and that they will serve as inspiration for new buildings centuries from now is humbling.   It’s easy for us to get caught up in the beauty and drama of a timber frame, but the structure is really the most important element.

So, if you live in a timber frame, celebrate the structure.  If you don’t live in a timber frame home, you might want to join this celebration…it will go on for centuries.

Another of Goshen Timber Frames “Educate Yourself” Webinars will be presented on May 20th.  Contact Bonnie Pickartz at bonnie@goshenframes.com for more information.

 

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Building A Timber Frame

March 24, 2011

Building a timber frame home is an adventure, a challenge, and at the end of the day, a reward.  John and Janice have taken it very seriously.  They’ve built their own home, working early and late, a labor of love.  And they blogged it along the way.

And the reward is near.  Their home is almost finished and their love of timber frames shows, along with their artistry and talent.  So, today we share with you Building Our Timber Frame – The Suttons . They’ve shown us all how there is beauty, character, and space in a small timber frame home.

Each person or couple will ultimately decide how involved they will be in the process of building their own timber frame home.  Some will be up to their elbows in it, drilling, painting, hammering, and cleaning up. Others will watch from a distance, none the less involved and enjoying. Some will be somewhere in the middle, doing the work they are comfortable with and leaving the rest to others.

Soon, very soon, they will be living in their new home.  They’ll marvel at the beauty of their timber frame and will smile as they walk up to the door each day.  So check out their blog and get to know them. They have not only built the home of their dreams…they have enjoyed the process.

If you’d like to visit the Sutton’s new home, contact Bonnie Pickartz at 828-524-8662.

And when you build…build boldly.

 

 

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The Cost of a Timber Frame Home

February 27, 2011

Timber frame homes are sustainable, energy efficient, and beautiful.  Do they cost more than a conventionally framed home?  The cost question has been asked often and there doesn’t seem to be a perfect answer.  The differences encompass much more than the cost.

All too often, the timber frame home is designed and when the homeowner takes the plans to a general contractor, they are discouraged.  Sometimes a builder will look at the plans and argue the case that they can “build this house for much less”.  Let’s look the differences more closely.

1)  They tell the homeowner they can add some timber or box some beams to get the same look. The heavy timber in a timber frame is structural.  There are no compromises, no way that adding some beams or boxing conventionally framed posts can compare.  No home with timber added for looks or with boxed beams will ever be mistaken for a timber frame.  Even if you aren’t concerned about the longterm sustainability and just want a “look”, this isn’t an option.

2) They insist that they can get the same energy efficiency by offering a home with no leakage.  Air leakage is an important factor in energy efficiency, but insulation can never be discounted.  The thermal breaks created by a stud wall, the eventual sagging of even well installed, paper backed insulation, and the risk of poor installation caused by weather or other onsite issues are inevitable and will not compare long term or short term to a timber frame wrapped in insulated panels.

3) The cost of the timber frame and panel package will not be removed from the equation.  It money spent will be transferred from the timber frame company to the contracting company.  The cost to conventionally frame, sheath, insulate, and truss a home does not disappear.  The time onsite to do these tasks will be much longer than the time to install a package that has been fabricated offsite in a controlled environment and the costs (framing, sheathing, trusses, junction/boxes, subfascia, etc) are all there, just spread out over different categories.

4) The contractor’s fee is based on his/her involvement in the process.  It is a valid fee and the insurance, oversight, project management are all valuable services.  This fee will vary depending on the local market and the service provided.  We’ve seen everywhere from 10% to 20%.  While the contractor has contact with the timber frame company and does work with them (and often with their plans), the timber frame company has their own insurance, management, and often crews to install.  The contractor’s fee for that portion of the project can be eliminated or minimized, depending on the involvement of the contractor in the timber frame portion of the project.  Paying 20% to the contractor on the timber frame package will increase the cost, but not the value.  This can be a significant cost that can make the timber frame home more costly.  It is not necessary.  If the contractor is not willing to reduce or remove this fee, you may want to consider another contractor.

5)  Timber frame homes are often considered high end.  They can be…or they can be more modest.  If you are comparing apples to apples (the same finishes, appliances, windows, etc), there is very little cost difference in finishing the home.  If the idea that all timber frame homes are expensive is brought to the conversation by the contractor early and you are looking for a home with a more modest budget, ask him to suggest other ways to reduce the cost.  He should have suggestions that are realistic.

6) Talk about your budget early in the timber frame home design process.  Timber frames can create their own economies…with smaller, more open spaces; simpler frames; minimizing corners; building up or down instead of our.  Your choice of timber will impact the budget.  Be reasonable and base your choices on the level of importance to you…not to anyone else.

7) Take into account the long term savings in maintenance, energy costs, and the value of a timber frame as you calculate the cost differences.   Remember that a timber frame offers flexibility if later the rooms need to be reconfigured due to life changes.  There are typically no bearing walls in a timber frame or hybrid home.

All of that said, we believe there is little if any short term cost difference and that the long term cost savings weigh heavily on the timber frame side.

So, build and build boldly.

And our guest this week, Rutherford, a resident of New York, is quite the bull dog about timber framing!

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Energy Costs for Timber Frame Homes

February 1, 2011

We can all “talk the talk” about energy efficiency and timber frames, but at the end of the day, can we “walk the walk”?  I think so.  I believe that timber frame homes, wrapped in structural insulated panels, exceed all expectations.

Let’s set aside for a minute that the structure is naturally beautiful..that the massive post and beams bring a sense of stability and permanence to the homes.   Let’s forget about all the wonderful windows that bring the outside in and allow us to live comfortably by day without flipping the light switch.  Let’s not even think about the sustainability..that this timber frame home will survive for generations and will shelter each one equally well.

Let’s get down to numbers.  Our home has almost 1700 square feet of living space.  It is considered a “small home”, but there is no wasted space.  The one hall is about four feet long and has a storage closet (under the stairs) and a laundry room (with an energy efficient washer dryer combo) off of it.   The rest of the home is truly lived in.  It lives much, much bigger than a conventionally built home with their necessary bearing walls and hallways.

If the various weather authorities (whoever they are) are to be believed, 2010 was one of the hottest on record and January, February, and December certainly delivered the cold.  Taking all that into account, our energy bills should be soaring.

With far more windows than an average home and vaulted ceilings, you would assume that it would be expensive to both heat and cool.   We were willing to trade off some of the heating and cooling efficiency in order to have natural daylight and the expansive ceilings keep our home from feeling small.

The Creekside is heated and cooled with an electric heat pump.  So, it was with a little trepidation that I sat down to calculate our annual electric costs.  I logged in and downloaded all of our electric bills from Duke Energy’s website (you have to love the electronic age).  They totaled $1,043.97 for the twelve months of 2010.   That averages out at $87.00 per month.  In my humble opinion…that ain’t too bad.Energy Efficient Home

So, I’d have to say, “yes”, timber frame homes with SIPs do “walk the walk”, taking energy efficiency and sustainability to the next level.

Plan your next home carefully (and if you’d like some help with that, we’d be pleased to assist) and save money every day.  You can check out beautiful, energy efficient timber frame plans for every lifestyle at Goshen Timber Frames and work with us to design and build your home or you can purchase our timber frame and hybrid home plans at TimberStead – Timber Frame Plans .

Just build wisely and build well.

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Timber Frame Window Walls

January 12, 2011

Timber frames are a natural fit with windows.  The massive posts and beams frame the glass, offering an expansive view to the outdoors.  Never are the views more glorious than in the winter.  As you sit in your timber frame, cozy and warm, you gaze out the windows at nature’s best show.  Snow covers the landscape and you enjoy the view from your comfortable chair.Winter through timber frame windows.

Curved beams in a timber frameTimber frames wrapped in insulated panels are energy efficient.   Tightly sealed and well insulated, they are simply the best built homes today.  Windows are inefficient, so you need to do your research and choose the best windows available for your application.   Double and triple glazed windows are available in different styles and with various finishes.  Windows are not a good place to economize.  Buy quality windows.

So, enjoy your timber frame home, whether you are sitting inside looking out or out in the snow looking in.

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