This is my first post to the Guild, so please go easy...

We're building a hybrid timber frame in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. The timbers were fabricated and installed last Oct/Nov by the Cascade Joinery out of Bellingham WA. Thanks to Cascade Joinery's expertise, the timbers look stunning and the installation came off without a hitch. We got a roof on the place about three weeks back so everything is starting to dry out. I'm wondering what I can do from here on out to help minimize checking and twisting as the frame "cures".

I should probably provide a little more detail. The timbers themselves are green, structural select Douglas fir, FOHC, dense. The wood was salvage logged from the Biscuit Fire in SW Oregon so it may be a little drier than average. It was milled at East Fork Lumber in Norway, OR. The beams are mainly 8x10 and 8x12 with 8x8 and 6x6 posts. The timbers are planed smooth and all the edges are rounded over with 1/2 and 3/4 radiuses. The joinery is mainly lap joints in the beams with pegged mortise and tennon for the posts. The overall effect is vaguely reminiscent of Greene & Greene.

This is absolutely beautiful wood made more so by the outstanding work done by the craftsmen at the Cascade Joinery. I really want to keep it looking great. I believe Cascade Joinery put one or more coats of Land Ark oil finish on the timbers prior to installation. This is a natural Tung/Linseed oil mix, with citrus extract, beeswax, and pine rosin added. I has no chemical driers, so it's supposed to really soak in. I just put another coat of Land Ark on this week. Right now, I'm thinking about adding one more coat prior to firing up our (radiant) heat next month. I'll then follow up with another coat this summer. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? I'd like to achieve a deep satiny finish on the timbers, so I don't mind building up the coats and buffing them out.

Thanks.

Rich Johnson
Camano Island, WA

Rich,
First the obvious - have you asked the Cascade folks about your concerns ?
Drier than most and land-arked to oblivion your finish is probably good to go. Checking in doug fir will occur naturally but far less than any of the oaks. Going to a heated environment may accelerate the process a bit but starting drier it has probably already occurred. Que sera sera.
Going for satin is only a question of how much labor and time you want to invest.
Have fun , work safe.
Deralte

Actually, I was planning to stop by Cascade to pick up some more Land Ark this week or next. I'd intended to bring up the topic, but I thought I'd query the Guild as well. You know, the more minds on a problem...

Rich Johnson
Camano Island, WA

P.S. I attempted to use the image feature to attach a picture of the Cascade crew in action on our project. We'll see if it works. [IMG] http://img3.imagevenue.com/loc223/1e5_Joinery.jpg

Rich I like the picture of the frame, I am specifically intrigued by the round over detail on the timbers, do you have a link to more pics of the joinery?

Thanks...Simon

Wow, as Simon pointed out the round over detail is quite intriguing. Any other information/pictures?
--Chip

I have some more good pictures of the frame and joinery. Unfortunately they're not in digital format, so I'll have to scan them in when I get a few free moments. I'll try to get to this in the next day or two.

As far as the round overs, I specified 3/4" radius on all the beam and post edges and ends. At the lap and scarf joist areas, I dropped this down to 1/2" so as not to obliterate the detail. This is sort of typical Greene and Greene type detailing and it lends the timbers a much softer look. One of the guys from Cascade Joinery joked our timbers looked like a big pile of pillows. I like the way this detail, along with the smooth-planed finish, invites a person to run their hand over the wood wihtout a fear of splinters. It think in time our posts will develop an appealing patina due to just to this. Even though the timbers have a definate G&G feel, the rest of the house is not really meant to mimic their work. It has more of a Pacific Northwest feel about it.

Richard Johnson
Camano Island, WA

I guess I'll toss in my 2 cents as well...
First, I would have to say that regardless of the finish you use, these green timbers will have to dry out to reach the E.M.C (equilibrium moisture content) of their new indoor environment, and NO finish will prevent this.Turning on the heat, while probably a neccessity, will only speed this process up,unfortunately. The slower you can dry these timbers, the less they will check. Of course, timber quality and evenness of drying will determine the amount of twisting that occurs, but if you must turn on the heat, expect at least some checking. The finish, which sounds like a varnish (oil/resin mixture cooked up together)will help to slow down the drying, which is good, and varnish is arguably the best finish with regards to resistance to water-vapor penetration. All said, I too would like to see some photos when available, and I will be looking in to this Land-ark finish for my own use. Best of luck and enjoy the new house! Nick

Sorry for the delay, but here are the additional images of our project I promised.

Exteriors

Frame

Raising

Details

The "Exteriors" view shows the front and back sides of the house. The timbers are not very prominent from the exterior, but the protruding beam ends hint that there's something a bit different under the hood. There are several groups of casement windows that have 8x12 beams and produding beam tails overhead. These will be trimmed out with Western Red Cedar 2x8s between the windows. These will have the same edge radius detail as the timbers and to the untrained eye will appear as posts supporting the overhead beams. The effect will be carried through to the inside using fir trim. This may seem like cheating to purists, but a number of factors went into the decision to handle it this way.

The "Frame" photos show the two long chord beam lines that run the length of the house. In all we had about 90 timbers throught the house. The interior view is from the front entry foyer looking toward the dining room, kitchen, and living room areas. The timber elements serve organize this entire area. The masonry columns and fireplace are to be covered with stucco after some additional detailing.

The first "Raising" photo shows the team from Cascade Joinery in action placing the 8x10 chord beams. This view also shows the stairwell deck in the foreground. This was the other major timber area. The timbers here support the second floor hallway and extend all the way up to the roof. They are also an integral part of the stairway trim scheme.

The second view shows the living room fireplace supporting the chord beams. The timber and masonry in this area are strucutural, supporting 1/3 of the roof loads. This allowed the ceiling to be vaulted in the living room more dramatically than would have otherwise been possible.

The "Details" link shows a typical set of steel hardware securing the timbers to the masonry. I designed and fabricated these myself. There is a steel baseplate with welded-on rebar extending down into the block grout. These plates have nut assemblies welded undernieth that also serve as grease boxes to prevent water from getting at the bolt threads. This is really only an issue on the exterior locations, but I used the same detail on all 32 assemblies. The final finish is hand hammered and chemically blackened. The pieces shown didn't have their final finish applied and were later taken off for finishing. The black plastic was to protect the timber from rust stains until the roof was in place.

The other image shows one of the rain caps that will protect the beam tails were they protrude from the eve line. There are 16 locations in all where these will be used. I fabricated these from 16 gauge copper. The purpose of the protruding beams is to support collector boxes for the gutter system and to hang lanterns from.

I hope these pictures are interesting to those in the forum. Our "hybrid" project has a little different flavor from many traditional timber frames.

Take care,

Richard Johnson PE
Camano Island, WA

Rich is being too modest. For the record, Rich brought us what we consider to be complete piece drawings. We did not conceive of nor design the "frame" or the lovely joints. We cannot take credit for any aspect of the design; we can only take credit for faithfully executing his designs. Rich is certainly a man of many talents...