Hey friends,

A buddy and I are putting together a business plan for a local competition. We’d love to start a timber framing company up in Northern California but are still seeking more details and concrete information.

I have read the public version of the TFBC 2009 survey on their site but still don’t feel like I have enough information about the timber framing business for my plan.

What I gather from the survey is (I’m generalizing) that most frame shops have about 4 employees and cut 12 or more frames a year. Most shops raise their own frames and many install SIPs on those frames. The largest demographic sector of clients is families in the 40-60 years old range. Do these numbers sound right to you?

What I don’t know is what income level that 40-60 year old family falls into. The US Census seems to top out at a category labeled “$75,000 and above”. Is that where potential frame buyers fall or is it a higher subset of that census category?

I have gathered from many TF company web sites that frames are priced $30-50/sq. ft. with an additional $10-15 sq. ft. for installing SIPs. But I don’t know what portion of the total cost per sq. ft. that represents. I’ll need that information to compare my business to other local custom home builders who work in the $150-200 sq. ft. range.

Does it seem feasible for two guys to cut, raise, and install SIPs on 6-8 frames a year (assuming additional labor at raisings). Or is that too much work for the given labor available?

Living in California, I would assume every project needs to be stamped by an engineer. How many hours should an engineer take to review a 2000 sq ft. residential fame, roughly? Do they all have 2-4 week backlogs of work? What is a reasonable hourly rate for engineering work?

So, did the recession kill our industry or has it focused clients to think about smaller custom homes with higher quality features as Sarah Susankah would have us all hope? What I hear from people with money is that they still have it but they are holding onto it until the market shows it is really on the up swing. My hope is that we can start building our business’s reputation now, even if things are slow, so that when the housing industry gets going again we would be well positioned to run a solid business.

Hey, I realize some of these questions are like me asking to see your underwear drawer. Very few of you are active in the region where I am located and, in the years I’ve been involved with the TFG I have been surprised again and again with the generosity of timber framers and their readiness to share their knowledge.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Sincerely,

Shawn

Hi Shawn,

In all sincerity and not to sound trite, but your questions lead to a lot of research. From a market standpoint, analysis fetch good money.

As far as your production, I would guess you have two factors. What production levels are you looking for and are capable of, and two how much does it cost you to provide such.

The per square foot variable, might be something you want to re-evaluate. Although GC's like to deal with this factor, timberframing is driven (in my opinion) by joinery and each's degree of difficulty. I would think that as a company progresses you would have a historical perspective (with accurate record keeping) to be able to say an additional X per square ft depending on what is desired.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. There are a lot of questions that companies think of each day.

Have you tried to call TFBC.

Best of luck. I like to think courage pays off. California needs you.

Cheers.