Snow and Sloped Housings

A snowish substance dusts the timbers in early morning.

Crazy cuts on Post 2B - the sloped housings
on the sides are desugned to accept girts.

One of a number of jigs Erik created to expedite the routing
of consistently-shaped sloped housings.

A dusting of snow covers the timbers in the early morning. Days this week have proven cloudy but excellent for doing most of the timber framing outdoors. Posts are being cut with sloped housings to accept girts, the beams in the post-and-beam timber frame structure.

December 12: Timber Framing Rolls Along

Each timber is an individual. The tops have unique
shapes that coincide with their eventual position in the frame.

The shaping begins with cuts from several directions.

Another cut with the chain mortiser.

Chiseling and chamfering smooth
the housings and tenons for trouble-free assembly.

A herd of sawhorses laden with timbers in various stages of completion.

Timber framing moved ahead this week as many timbers were drilled, cut, shaped and finalized for assembly.

To our readers: We apologize for having to password-protect Eye on Orcas, but from the beginning this was to be a blog for our family and friends...not the whole world. We needed to resort to passwords after we realized search engines were crawling the blog and a simple search showed it as #1 in Google (how ironic...one normally would be ecstatic!) Thanks for your understanding!

December 4: A Beautiful Week for Joinery

A view of the north porch post through the mortise in the center post.

Joinery layouts are drawn before any cuts are made.

Kaj works on laying out and cutting timbers.

Chiseling away at the Douglas Fir.

The chain mortiser is used for cutting mortises, the void
in the timber which accepts the tenon.

The center porch post features intricate cuts and a keystone.

Rex takes in the view from the front porch and entranceway.

Favorable weather this week permitted much work to be completed on joinery for the front porch and entrance. Before any cuts are made, Erik draws the joinery details in CAD, and then the mortise, tenon and housing areas are measured and marked on the timbers. During timber frame assembly. the tenon is inserted into the mortise, and then the hole in the beam or post is used to guide the drill bit through the tenon so a peg can be inserted. Needless to say, the cuts are made oh, so carefully, so everything fits perfectly.

Heavy winds

Ferocious winds have been slowing progress. Off and on for about 10 days, Erik has had to deal with sustained winds of 35 mph with gusts to 74 mph, with loss of power and crazy noise.

November 13: Working Into the Night

It was about 11:30 pm by the time the concrete set up and everyone was satisfied with the product. Our neighbor Mindy said our house looked sweet with the lights on, casting a warm glow into the valley.

November 12: Finally...The Slab Pour

A large crew came in to work on the slab. Radiant heat tubes snake through the rebar.

Concrete is pumped in - the 10" x 10" timbers are wrapped for protection.

Smoothing out the concrete is a long process requiring much patience and finesse.

After the heating tubes, roughed-in plumbing and electricity passed inspection, we had more than a week of fierce weather with rain and winds gusting to 50 mph, snapping and ripping the tarps, requiring constant attention and frequent pumping to protect the area. Needless to say, with all that noise and worry, Erik got little sleep. Finally, the weather broke long enough for the slab to be poured. The concrete pump truck returned and the pour began early in the morning.

October 24: Lower Level Takes Shape

Beautiful weather led to a productive Saturday as the lower level takes shape. Views are from the field toward the northeast corner, and from inside the structure looking north to Orcas Road,

October 22: Timbers Go Up, Framing Begins

After re-sawn timbers were delivered to the site, Kaj makes a cut in the base of the post - note this is the SE corner post, which will be in the corner of my office on the lower level. Kaj and Doug lug the timber to the corner and hoist it into place, dropping the post onto the knife blade.

October 14: Timbers Re-Sawn

These re-sawn timbers will become the timber frame for the porch and the bent and girt walls of the main timber frame structure. Erik is extremely happy with the final product and says the timber color will darken as the wood is exposed to air.

October 10: Backfill, Excavation and Under-Slab Work

Orcas Excavators returned to backfill around the foundation and prepare the under-slab area. They also dug a long trench to the south - this will carry conduit from the house to solar collectors. Rough-ins were made for plumbing and electrical systems.

October 10: Carport Enclosed for Workshop

Our project incorporates green building practices at every opportunity. Erik carefully deconstructed the stem wall forms in order to reuse the wood for closing in the carport. This dry workshop will come in handy during the wet winter months.

October 4: Stem Walls Poured

Forms were constructed for the stem walls (part of the foundation), meticulously measured and leveled. The truck returned for two sets of pours, and after the concrete cured, forms were stripped from the walls - the wood is to be re-purposed to close in the carport for a workshop. Visible in photo 3 is a knife plate, anchored in concrete, which will secure a 10" x 10" post supporting one of the timber frame trusses.

September 22: Footings Poured

Forms were built for the foundation's footers, reinforced with rebar and inspected. A huge Sea Island Sand and Gravel pump truck poured concrete, which was laboriously smoothed and prepared to accept the next stage: stem walls.

Plans Approved

On September 17, after consistent followup work with county officials by Erik, and help from Teri Williams at Permit Resources, the plans were approved and our building permit was issued. Plans call for a main level timber frame expanse of living/dining/kitchen areas, a master bedroom/bath in the loft, and a lower level with two more bedrooms, full bath, office and laundry room - all compactly organized within a 24' x 36' footprint. A stair tower on the north side provides access to all floors without compromising the energy efficient structural insulated panels (SIPs).

August 2009: Timbers - Rough Sawn

Our timber frame house, designed by Erik Sircely, will have massive hammer-beam trusses of Douglas fir, all harvested sustainably on Orcas Island. The beautiful rough sawn timbers, which are being stored at Westsound Lumber, will be resawn once more before being delivered to the building site.

August 2009: Animals Come Visiting

Our neighbors across the valley have horses, cows, sheep and llamas. The animals tested the new fence one day and ended up in our field. So wonderful to see horses grazing on our property! Some day...we'll have horses, too.