More Wine Cellar Ceiling

Dropped in that wine cellar ceiling today.  Jeff Ligon, the concrete subcontractor, had to build the foundation just right.  Sticks and Stones had to to frame it up just right.  Streamline had to build it just right.  And it all had to come together today.  And it did!

Wine Cellar Ceiling Going In

Bruce, of Sticks and Stones, had put a pencil line on top of the stud wall to show where the ceiling frame should rest.  It came to less than a 1/4″ difference at the worst spot.  Amazing to me.  The Streamline and S&S folks made some jokes about the old days of timberframing where guys would claim they use a micrometer to measure, a crayon to mark, and a chainsaw to cut.  Not that they really did that, but what these guys really do is nothing to joke about.

After we got it all lined up, Mike Stubbs from StreamLine Timberframe absent-mindedly stepped out into the middle of the frame.  Now Mike is a big feller, but that frame didn’t budge the least little bit.

Mike Stubbs

Mike is the Shop Manager at Streamline, and has (to me) become increasingly important (or at least visible)  in this project – he seems to be everywhere.  He sawed these timbers himself, he oversaw the talented timberframing crew building it, he delivered it, and he installed it.  And he, like everyone else at Streamline, is a grrreatt guy to work with.

More Timberframe

The timberframe craftsmen at Streamline are working exceptionally hard, while pretty much all other farmwork has had to stop for the winter.  The previous pictures show them using modern power tools, but that belies the essential nature of their precision work which relies primarily on  ancient techniques and methods and hand tools.  There is still plenty of hand work to be done, and these guys are true craftsmen of their trade in the large and historical context of the word.  Trish and I feel very blessed that these folks are right here in our community – most folks have to look very far and wide for these rare, archaic,  anachronistic, and valuable skills.

Hand Cutting

Hand Tools

StreamLine

While Trish and I headed off to our home in the West Indies for the winter, work continues.

All of the timbers were planed by Blue Ridge TimberWrights, who have this monster planer that planes all four sides at once, resulting in a timber not only perfectly sized and smooth, but more importantly – square. On the white pine, it can take off up to 3/4″ on all four sides in one pass. Wow.

All of the timbers are now at Streamline Timberworks, sitting on sawhorses. “From the horses to the horses”, as TJ Daly, the Pres of StreamLine pointed out.

Most timberframes today are cut by big, expensive, computer-controlled automated machines. I wanted a hand-cut frame, and StreamLine still had the craftsmen who could do it. We got pictures this morning. By the looks of the timbers on the sawhorses with their tenons already cut (not shown), it appears they are moving right along. The timberframe raising, something akin to an old-fashioned barn raising but with a crane, is scheduled for just about a month from now.

Noel from StreamLine cutting a timber

Isaac from StreamLine planing a cut timber

Garages

Timberframe garages

Thought I would post a sketch of the timberframe garages – the intended result of all this cutting, sawing, burning, etc….

Finally Sawing

After almost 4 months of timber-stand improvement and house-site clearing, we’ve finally been ready for Bob Gill, the sawyer, to bring out his sawmill and start turning the logs into lumber for house-building. Bob’s normal business is making gorgeous heart-pine flooring out of reclaimed lumber from his business Blue Ridge Heart Pine Floors, but he can be convinced to come and do custom sawing for the right projects, and we were very glad he agreed to help us.

First step is turning all of these white pine logs into timbers for the garage so that StreamLine can start hand-cutting the frame. We’ll need about 250 “sticks” ranging from 6″x6″ up to 8″x24″ for the timberframe. It will probably take the better part of a week to cut these, and then we’ll move on to cutting the oak, poplar, walnut, cherry, and maple for the house.

In the picture below from left to right is Bob Gill, Tom Franko, the Project Manager from Streamline TimberWorks, Jagger Rutledge, Site Manager from HHFF, Jason Rutledge from HHFF, and Adam Greene, one of the two very fine interns with HHFF. Not shown is the only woman on the team so far. That’s because Melanie (our other very fine intern) was the only one actually doing any real work at this point, dragging more logs over into position with the team of horses.

Timber and saw crew

Sawing Timbers