Are timber frames that are assembled on a conventional first floor decks typically raised without tenons on the post bottoms? I could easily make the underneath blocking incorporate a mortise for a tenon. Wouldn't this help control twist? What's best?

Typically, a post sized pocket is cut through the floor and the post base rests on the foundation plate. The post base is reduced as required to fit beside the band joist. A Simpson strap is cast into the foundation and is used to tie the post down.


[This message has been edited by Grigg Mullen (edited 05-03-2000).]

'Typically;, in the excellent Dr. Mullen's case, refers to good practice refined over the last 20 years. Cast-in-place hold-downs and conventionally-framed decks allow people to do what they know how to do, and provide for high-capacity connections between the foundation and the frame, which is always a good thing.

Traditionally, timberframing extended right down to the foundation, employing sills and joists in a configuration not unlike the floor system on the level above. Old buildings in northern New England continue to sit on dry-laid stone foundations,with effectively no connection except friction between the building and the Earth, and yielding epicly poor thermal performance.