Build a Classic Timber-Framed House: Planning and Design, Traditional Materials, Affordable Methods

While a timber-framed home might look like a typical stud-framed house from the outside, the two building systems are actually quite different. Timber-framed buildings have a skeleton of large wooden structural members connected to one another primarily by wood-on-wood joinery; timber framing isn't simply stacking big beams on top of big posts. This system is highly evolved, very traditional, and lends itself to affordable and practical techniques for the contemporary owner-builder or professional. The result is a home that is strong and graceful and - with the help of Jack Sobon's Build a Classic Timber-Framed House - economical as well.
An architect and timber framer, Jack Sobon coauthored the still-popular Timber Frame Construction in the early 80s. Now he's written a timber framing book for the 90s and beyond: Build a Classic Timber-Framed House. He shows readers how to build an early American hall-and-parlor house that integrates modern American interests in passive solar heating, quality building techniques, masonry and wood stoves, and creating a healthy home. Most important, Jack Sobon proves that timber framing is affordable. With some time and interest and the help of his clear instructions and numerous illustrations, you can build your own timber frame - a home to make you feel proud and secure in its handsome strength.
This book doesn't take a romantic look back at the "good old days." Build a Classic Timber-Framed House demonstrates that timber framing works for today and tomorrow by showing how to find affordable local supplies, process those supplies quickly and inexpensively, and use efficient and economical hand tools. Best of all, the hall-and-parlor house is designed to be expanded easily in the future for growing families and changing needs.
It's all here, from finding the ideal building site to creating a master site plan. Build a Classic Timber-Framed House covers hewing and milling timbers, integrating electrical and plumbing systems, making sound insulation choices, and assembling the frame. Start planning your new timber-framed house now.

Sobon outlines a unique craft that is part conventional furniture building, part home construction. In timber frame construction, there's a minimum of metal fasteners (nails, nuts, bolts, etc.), and wood is joined by many of the basic joints (for example, the mortise and tenon, the dovetail) traditionally used in making furniture. Knowing that one's home is put together by a variety of pins, slots, and notches may not be reassuring to most, but be assured that timber framing is an old technique that produces very solid structures. It does, however, require quite a lot of timber, since main beams, for instance, can be as much as eight-inches square; the various cuts must be made to rather close tolerances; and the way the timbers are harvested and sawn will have great effect on how they (and the building) respond when exposed to moisture and cold. Although the book's sample project and copious illustrations do enlighten the initiate, it's possible to come away feeling that a month-long class on the subject might provide a better education. Still, this is an excellent how-to. Jon Kartman