Hi Northern Hewer,
The timber frame houses and barns in my neighborhood in Hampshire, England range from about 1750 back to the 1300's and the vast majority that are fitted with curved main, wall and roof braces have two pegs. I have observed some larger buildings with 3 lower and two upper pegs on cross frame bracing !
Towards the end of the medieval period (say late 1500) there was a move towards employing straight stock braces and these are generally fitted with one peg only and tend to be less deep in section (6" or so).
These buildings have stood the test of time compared with the buildings that you describe which relatively speaking would appear to be still in the flush of youth.
I assume that where advice and guidance is being given to relative newcomers it is important for us to quantify and / or qualify advice explaining the circumstances in which this practice might be acceptable.
In my earlier note above I tried to rationalise where or why non pegged braces might be found. I would be interested to discover whether my reasoning holds true. Could you please explain further about buildings that are fitted with non pegged braces.
What size are the braces that you have seen without any pegs ?
What type of building - barn / house ?
Regards
Ken Hume
Regards
Ken Hume
