by By Jack Sobon
Storey Publishing, 1994
The Timber-Frame Home
By Tedd Benson
Taunton Press, 1997
Timber framing has become very popular the Northeast in the past 35 years as people have rediscovered the beauty and history of this traditional craft. Here are two books that have been touchstones of this movement.
Timber framing involves constructing a building skeleton of large posts and beams connected with wooden pegged joints. This style of construction was the standard for most of the 1800s; trees were hewn or pit-sawn on site, the joinery then cut, and then all hands gathered for a raising. The method, though artful, is also relatively slow and labor intensive. The advent of mass-produced 2x4 and 2x6 lumber and cheap nails in the late 1800s meant that “stick framing” became cheaper than timber framing. Timber framing fell out of favor and the craft was largely forgotten.
Then came the back-to-the-land movement of the early ’70s, which found both romance and practicality in the old way. Exposed timbers made a building’s structure palpable and the sense of shelter more real. Some people wanted to find builders who could bring this old style into modern homes, and builders responded. Others came to see that the method offered them the possibility of building their own houses entirely by hand.
Jack Sobon’s book, Build a Classic Timber-Framed House, is for the do-it-yourselfer. He starts with a classic “hall and parlor” house design and walks you step-by-step through the building process. His explanations and pictures cover just about every detail.
Purchase this book:
IndieBound | Powell’s Books | Amazon
My recommendation for someone considering their own timber-frame project would be to read this book first and then take a weeklong, basic timber-framing workshop at such a place as the Yestermorrow School. Those classes take a stack of timbers and turn them into a completed timber frame that will become some lucky person’s guest cabin, pavilion, or other structure. Such classes form the heart of Sobon’s book, covering timber layout and cutting, tools, and safe raising practices.
His book will then serve as the perfect way to solidify and expand upon the lessons of the week. At the same time, these classes give the opportunity to touch on some of the new materials, techniques, and tools that have emerged since Sobon wrote. These classes also will help someone find the further resources that are needed to take on a project and bring it to completion.
Tedd Benson’s book, The Timber-Frame Home, takes a broader, more client-oriented view. The first part of the book talks about the evolution of frames and reflects at length on what it is about timber frames that gives them their appeal. Gorgeous pictures drive these points home. He then describes the different types of frames and roof systems and discusses their various advantages. With those pieces in mind, Benson writes about the challenge of residential design in general and of timber-frame houses in particular. The art of designing a frame to accommodate someone’s needs, and of letting the frame’s requirements and subtle magic cycle back to new insight about how the frame will shape the perception of the whole, is elegantly presented.
Beyond that, there is a very good discussion about enclosure systems (what actually makes the walls of the house, if the frame is to be exposed), plumbing and wiring, foundations, finishing details, and more. A lot has changed since this book was published in 1997, but it still covers the fundamentals that are important today. If you are considering hiring someone to build for you, this book will give you the questions to ask and a method to follow in achieving the best possible result. You won’t get details of how to cut joinery from his book, but you will definitely get an appreciation for the joiner’s craft.
As fuel prices rise, there will be an ever-greater desire to build from materials immediately at hand. Timber framing elegantly meets that need, and these two books will continue to spread this good news.