Opinions on timber housings...

List,

I am looking for some opinions on the age of timber housings. Does anyone have any opinions, theories, etc. on the use of a haunched housing vs. squared housings and as to which would be considered to be the older type.

Feel free to contact me off line if you prefer to.

Rolland
nwdb2000@twcny.rr.com

Rolland,

I'm asuming you are referring to housings that start flush to the face of the morticed timber at the top of the mortice. I usually refer to these as diminished housings. Diminished housings are most often indicative of scribe rule framing. They are found occassionally in square rule frames, but they typically exhibit square housings. Interestly in German origin framing a diminshed (haunched) housing is often used on only one shoulder of a joint while the other shoulder is left square.

Square housings pretty much gaurantee you are looking at 19th century framing, while diminshed can be as old as the colonies.

Hope this helps.

Rudy

Cecil Hewett's book "English Historical Carpentry" follows the developement of joinery techniques from the Saxons through the eighteenth century. Hewett gives the evolution of diminished haunches in floor joist and minor purlins in the Tudor era. This was an important innovation in joining the joist well with minor weakening of the beam by avoiding cutting the compression wood on the top of the beam.

Expedient carpentry has the "increasing haunch" as a patching in method, where a sloping housing cut by handsaw into the outside or upper face of a post or beam to nothing on the joist or purlin bottom or inner face, the waste is chiselled out and the piece is slid in and toe nailed.

But generally, the old buildings I see mostly have unhoused joinery on the reference side.

Roger and Rudy,

Thanks for the additional information. I have seen some Dutch-style barns that exhibit what appears to be a mix & match, square rule with diminished haunch and scribe with a square housing. Unfortunately we do not have any documented pre Rev War Dutch-style barns in the western end of the Mohawk. Most of the Dutch-style barns we have are all post war replacement barns ranging from the middle 1780's up until the middle 1850's.

Every little bit helps.

Rolland