Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions Exporting a roof frame to France?

Hello Everyone,

I was wonder if anyone has experience, (or knows of someone) who has built a timber frame roof in the States, and then shipped it off to a foreign country (in my case France)? I have tried to hire people locally in France to no avail, and would like to take things into my own hands.

The building is stone with gable ends, and I would like to build the main truss system and sill plate here, then purchase the rest of the wood for the purlins, rafters, etc at the local saw mill in France.

I have already thought of buying all the wood at the sawmill in France and building everything there, but once over there my time is limited, and if something goes wrong.... I like the idea of building the frame here in the States, in my spare time, and containerizing it.

Getting a crane to assemble the frame in France is not an issue.

Thanks,

51steve

51steve, you'll have to look into having the timbers kiln dried to some extend to insure that you're not transporting any bugs in the timbers. Exporting timbers may not be that easy. I really don't know, I've never done it but there are rules you'll have to follow, and hoops you may have to jump through to get it done.

This may be something that will add lots to the costs....

France? And there is no one that will work on a compound roof frame? Odd.


I've worked with a company that has shipped to the UK. Need to KD the material to kill off any bugs / spores / aliens.



Get a customs broker to handle all the paperwork. And leave plenty of time to get the container over there and through customs.

Thanks Mike and Jim,

As yourself, I was surprised that it was hard to find someone to do the roof. There has been plenty of leads, but they've never panned out. Well, at least I've got a new roof on the old pig barn!

Wow, I'm surprised. I thought there were plenty of TF guys over there. I understand that they have special apprenticeship programs in France and Germany where they have to travel around. Hopefully someone in the guild knows someone with the guilds over there. I know of one German guy, who's name is Jerry by coincidence, who is now living and working in Massachusetts who's been through the German program. Should I try to get his contact info to ask him?