Repairing a Vandalized Timber Frame

A few months ago we raised an eastern white pine frame for a customer who was very concerned with maintaining the "fresh, clean" appearance of the new timber. All was well until they had an argument with one of their contractor's trades. They believe he returned one night to take out his frustration on their almost finished home. Using a hatchet he took a swing or two at most of the posts on the first floor. Damage consists of cuts on one or more faces of a post, many cuts are across a corner, so involve two sides and in a couple cases the cuts "blew out" a chunk. None of the damage is deeper than 1-1/2" so there is no structural concern.

The customer wants our input on repairs that would return their frame to "good as new" condition. Insurance companies are involved and the customer is adamant that no cost be spared in setting the problem right. Post replacement is not a likely option given the fact that the building is virtually finished. What do you suggest? What are your experiences with aesthetically pleasing patches into timber that is still mostly unseasoned? How would you respond to a hurting customer with high (unrealistic?) expectations?

Wow. This is horrible.

I have no direct advice to offer. But I would like, if the client is willing, to continue to work through this in the public forum. There might even be an article for one of our magazines from this.

That would be good for everyone. Please take lots of pictures.

If the insurance company really wants to pay for as new, Mikkel Johansen in Denmark has quite a bit of experience replacing posts in place. It involves a beautiful vertical scarf joint - so it it not as new, only like new.

Otherwise, I'd be looking at nice long dovetailed Dutchmen (is that politically incorrect now?) in a contrasting species of wood; celebrate, don't hide. Do every post, not just the ones that are damaged. The look will be uniform, and the client will have a story to tell.

Sorry to hear such a thing.

As far as I am concerned there is no way to repair existing wood on timbers. Joel already mentioned replacing posts in place, so I would like to make diferent advice. How about taking off the damaged wood in particular shape (not really gunstock but something like that) or introducing some carwings on the posts (then the frame will celebrate not only timberframing craft but also woodcarwing).

Michal

News like this can just ruin your outlook on the day...

I'd first work on proving guilt on the part of the contractor and then, if the contactor can be proven guilty, procede to have the posts fully replaced; at his expense and regardless of cost.

If guilt cannot be proven, (a shame...) I like Michal's approach: if the posts are large enough, take the dimension down in a gunstock fashion or via chamfering.

Shaun

Hi Wayne

Bad luck. I agree with Joel that there are lovely ways to make repairs in-situ (scissor-scarfs and many others too), but you can also find these skills here in Canada. Pretty as a well-executed scissor scarf may be, Shaun's right that the ultimate answer could involve replacement. This doesn't necessarily mean un-building the whole house; and timber framers who work conserving historic buildings have plenty of tricks up their sleeves for this too. However, it's possible that the most effective strategy would consist of mixed repairs, replacement and patches. When conservators look at a damaged frame, they should really schedule all of the damage first, and then choosing from a range of possible repair-options, specify a particular answer for each specific location; working through the frame item by item rather than looking for a generic approach to solve all problems the same way.

I would guess that most of the damage has occurred at about chest-height?

The other issue of course is your client's expectations. My advice (for what it's worth) is that you tread very carefully in this respect...the simple truth is that their frame will never be quite the same again. Long after the damage is repaired, the feelings of anger, insult and intrusion will linger. With a bit of care and quite a lot of money though, you may find that they can create a 'new' frame (repaired, replaced, whatever) that they are more excited and proud of than ever before. If you can encourage your clients to look forward to something new and even better, rather than trying to get back what they've lost, then you'll be off to a strong start. Best of luck. Let me know if you need some contact info for people who can perform good in-situ timber repairs etc.