dms: I am 100 percent with you on your philosophy. In fact if I did not know better I would think that I wrote that summary on timber framing philosophy. My only weakness to this philosophy is the insulation product choice. It seems that the only flaw with traditional building practies was the lack of a proper insulation layer, leaving the houses cold and sometimes damp and horrbly inefficient. I hate to have to bite it and accept the plastic and chemical insulative materials(sips,ssps,foams,pik stuff,etc...) that serve the all important function of insulation. I still toy with the strawbale alternative but I have not yet studied enough about it to address it now. I have always dreamt of building a beautiful and super efficient home using only natural earth materials. Imagining that if the building were to catch fire or last long enough to rot to the ground, that there would be nothing left on site but the very materials that the earth spewed out. seriously tb
