Posted By: Anthony
Questions keeping me awake at night - 02/24/04 05:45 AM
I’m following the plans from Jack Sobon's book, “Build a Classic Timber Framed House” but would like to build on a concrete slab as per James Kachadorian’s book “The Passive Solar House. (The floor will be some sort of fancy concrete finish that my wife is in charge of) Thus I am eliminating all the floor joists, sill girders and sills from the plan, they no longer seem necessary.
So my questions are:
1. Can I indeed remove the aforementioned pieces or am I missing something about their functioning?
2. If it’s OK to proceed without the floor beams -- can I just plant the posts using an elevated post base that’s set into the concrete? Any suggestions for brands that can handle the weight or will I have to have the bases custom made?
Also:
I have 5 acres of mostly Douglas fir and some Western Red Cedar on the Olympic Peninsula and would like to build entirely from what’s at hand without buying any additional wood. However, the lumber list calls for grades 1 and 2 and specifies hardwood for posts and braces. I don’t know what the grades mean but I assume they indicate quality.
More questions:
1. How do I know the grade of the wood that I mill?
2. Isn’t Douglas fir good enough for posts and braces or do I really have to go buy hardwood?
Thanks
So my questions are:
1. Can I indeed remove the aforementioned pieces or am I missing something about their functioning?
2. If it’s OK to proceed without the floor beams -- can I just plant the posts using an elevated post base that’s set into the concrete? Any suggestions for brands that can handle the weight or will I have to have the bases custom made?
Also:
I have 5 acres of mostly Douglas fir and some Western Red Cedar on the Olympic Peninsula and would like to build entirely from what’s at hand without buying any additional wood. However, the lumber list calls for grades 1 and 2 and specifies hardwood for posts and braces. I don’t know what the grades mean but I assume they indicate quality.
More questions:
1. How do I know the grade of the wood that I mill?
2. Isn’t Douglas fir good enough for posts and braces or do I really have to go buy hardwood?
Thanks