Hi Tammis;

I cannot specifically answer your question, but I had a few thoughts. I think timbers have always been used "green" or unseasoned, however I am of the opinion that old wood is generally much better wood, more dense and rot resistant with annual rings of 30 to 40 per inch. Perhaps more dense woods do not shrink as much as our modern, fast-growth (5-15 rings per inch?) wood so your shrinkage problem was not as much of an issue in the distant past, although 1920 is not the era I am speaking of.

It sounds like this is something that is already in place and you are asking how to deal with the cracks and how to do it differently next time for better results.

You may need to wait until the timbers are seasoned and then, in the dry season, knock out the mortar around the edges and repoint, or parge or plaster over the bricks to get a perfect joint.

Next time, defintiely use lime mortar. Lime is a miracle product which both absorbs water (i.e. away from the timber) and expells it very quickly into the air. I do not understand how this works but it does. Using lime will help the timbers last longer and is self healing in the event of small cracks.

Here in New England we do not have half-timbering, but we have brick nogging hidden in the walls of some old houses between the posts, studs and braces to cut the drafts, keep the vermen out, provid a fire block, and act as a heat sink to moderate the daily indoor temperature swings. Some people use the word "insulation" with nogging but the R value of brick is low. The nogging I have seen is typically tight to the timbers with no signs of wood shrinkage. I have wondered how they managed this and I have no real answer.

I enjoyed living in an 1813 cape with brick nogging, except for when I had to change the vent for the clothes dryer!

Jim