Tim, I have often wondered that in reference to Mr. Chappell. That said, I do respect his work.

But I'm all for lodging timber on top of others, and not so cracked up about everyone's obsession with making things join at a single level. I think you can preserve a lot more structural integrity by staggering your joints, allowing you to get by with smaller timbers. Also, lodging timbers allows for simplified joints, saving on material removed and definitely saving on time and labor involved. I know this comes from my German obsession. They use gravity for everything, and it seems to work well for them. The French seem to do so too. Is this uni-level framing hooey an English invention?

DLB