Any basic design concepts that will help keep overall costs down?

Obviously, save the custom carved timbers for your next home (posts carved to resembe a beaver...)

But once you've cut the pure ornamentation, what are some basic rules for economical timber frame design? Does designing around a standard column grid really save money?

How about overall layout? does a compact 2 story timber frame cost less than a similar sized home on a single floor?

I'm looking for 'big picture' ideas on how to keep costs under control for a new timber frame home design. Most articles describe methods to save money on material choice or selecting less expensive finishes. I'm curious if the basic frame layout / design can have a significant cost impact, and if so, what are some good ways to keep the frame costs down

Simplify the joinery, not saying to eliminate it altogether, as an example joist set atop other members, no drop in or tusk and so on. Purlins as well, perhaps just set into shallow daps. I use a lot of long timber reducing the number of splices.

Stretch out the bents, but no more than 16'.

Height, keep it low. It will cost after the frame. Staging takes time.

Hips, valleys, dormers, are out of the question.

No finishes, oils etc.

Keep It Small Stupid, instead of keep it simple stupid, well keeping it simple is the goal, too.

Fewer windows, are more efficient, think about it after the frame, closing it in and its life after you are gone. Enclosure systems, roofing, siding, all contribute.

Look to our past for examples. Don't build for the glossy magazines.

Shop tooling? Travel time, to the site?

I keep coming back to the big picture, from the ground work to the ridge cap, the whole picture has to be taken into account. The frame is only one joint. It really rubs me the wrong way when I am pinched on one aspect of the frame and the client then turns around and spends big bucks on granite counters and or a frivolous bathroom, or granite facing on the foundation, real world scenarios. Oh, and don't forget that open fire place and the masonry work to boot. And while I am at it, no paint on the exterior trim.

Don't change anything. Once it's drawn and you change something then the drawings have to be changed. Big cost factor in the design concept phase.

Do your research up front, get pictures from magazines of what you want. Know what you want. Stay with what you want. No, what ifs......

Follow the above advise. K-I-S-S......

hire and pay a good designer

spend money upfront where it counts:

design
foundation
frame
enclosure
services
roof
windows and doors

those are all important, but roof can be changed, windows and doors can be changed with some effort and it gets harder to change the foundation, frame, services (depending on how you do it, could be easier than most), and enclosure.

upgrade the small stuff later on - put in what is serviceable that fits in the budget, but have a plan for transitioning over the life of the house.

build small(er) - but build smarter.
optimize your plan for how YOU live, not how your designer or your favorite celebrity, or a magazine thinks you should, or your friends live.

i have a small test / essay questions that i give clients, asking them all sorts of stuff - including long(ish) answers about coming home from the market, entertaining friends, what a typical saturday morning is like, etc. how they wake up in the morning, what they eat for breakfast, if they like cold toes, sitting in a sunny spot, etc. etc. etc.

the world is what you make it.
in many cases, beauty is not a budget problem, but an expectations and creativity problem.

and, nothing is free. somewhere, you pay for it - either in sweat, in $$, in overtime, in thinking things through.

and, try to do the big things right the first time - don't fall into the 'always time to do it twice, never time to do it right' mindset.

but don't be afraid to experiment.
conundrum, for sure.

When building a home think about what parts of it are important to you. I really like Bmike's essay/questionnaire idea. What size of living area do you need, and what size do you want? The two may seem like similar questions but they are very different. Make a list of your wants and needs in a new home and clearly define and prioritize them. I think others have covered this much of this portion of the topic, and yes remember both kiss principles. As far as simplifying designs for economy, look to old barns and even old houses. Things like making a two story building with a great room open to the roof with a massive stone fireplace may suit some people, but others might prefer the cozy feeling of a small stove in a room with lower ceilings.

I quite like a standard bent design. Our most cost effective buildings we've built have had the following elements: king posts with ridge beam and common rafters, 1 1/2 to 2 stories(building up is usually more efficient than building out), gable style roof design, and local timber/wood.

I'm increasingly finding the best timber frames are not about the wow factor but more about the warmth and soul of the building.

Hi Subway;

In looking at old buildings I nave noticed the cheaper buildings may have 7"x7" posts (8"x8" is a standard size which allows full 4" tenons) and other slender lumber, but it is important not to skimp on strength and is regulated by code. This said, another trick old-timers used in barns is to leave out the joists and span openings up to about 8' with wide-planks only (tie them together like you tie together wooden staging planks and they share the load). Some old buildings do not even have posts (plank wall construction). Also the species selection matters, pine is cheaper than oak, etc. The quality of sawing can save you time by allowing mill rule framing. Old buildings often have reused timbers, but today old timber can sometimes be expensive. Minimizing the number of connections such as by using a few long braces such as in the stereotypical German framing rather than multiple short braces. I have not analyzed the costs I think but you can get more floor space for the money using jetties (smaller foundation = less cost). As in the first paragraph Tim Beal wrote, use lodging (laying timbers on top of each other rather than notched together) which also allows the use of smaller timbers since they are not notched. I have also seen barns with vertical boarding where the wall nailers (rails) were left out and a slab or plank was nailed to the boarding to keep the boards in-line. Thick (2" to 3") slabs (the first cut off a log) were used as studs, jack rafters, and braces in some old buildings, a very efficient use of materials.

Jim

Jim, is "lodging" a proper term for such joinery, or lack of joiner? I shall have to adopt that term.

And, recent viewing of the Poland expedition, don't for get to use the " snap". I am using it more and more.

Yep, I have seen the word lodging used for the type of "joint" where a timber rests on another, perhaps with a slight "dap" and is characteristic of framing of Roman and Greek origin such as where purlins rest on top of principal rafters and are fastened with a an iron or wood nail.

I use the snap some, lately I have been jacking a barn and used a scotch!

Jim

Nibble, nibble, scotch?

May I add,

German framing relies on timbers resting atop each other with very shallow connections, this is especially true of joists and other cross beams that sit in very shallow pockets. A minimal pocket is desirable as it does help to handle the beam's tendency to move laterally over time.

Around here, a lot of the old barns have joists that just rest atop other members, not secured or connected to them in any way. This works for the most part, but some of these joists have traveled over time. Although this would be easy to prevent just by keeping the floor boards in constant repair.

The biggest way to keep costs down as said is in proper design, don't go all out. If a frame is well designed and well proportioned, it makes efficient use of materials and has its own beauty apart from that of a richly decorated frame. This very fact is why the farmhouses of my ancestral homeland have such a strong appeal to me; in their austere simplicity they are beautiful.

If you are confident in your own abilities, an additional way to keep costs low is by doing as much of the work as you can, especially if you have hand-tools at your disposal.

I am working on a project right now that I am doing as much of the work as I can by hand (with some help from willing friends). Basically the only costs to me are glass for windows, wire, and pipe, along with some window and door hardware, and perhaps some bricks to make an oven and a chimney (although my brother kind of wants to make some bricks for me, and I may make the chimney out of random fieldstone), and the cost to have some boards milled for the floors. Everything else is free -the wood to make the timbers included.

However, the drawback to this approach is that it requires a tremendous amount of time and a great deal of hard work.