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New Buildings - Straw, Sticks or Bricks?

The New House

Photographic Tour

Japanese Timber Framers

Workshops

  

The New House

What a busy year! Although everything did not go as planned (Does it ever?), the Lord took care of the details and things turned out better than planned.

The year was a big blur starting in the spring with soil compaction work inside the house. Then we decided to build a separate boiler house to save space in the house and store and provide more space for solar hot water storage tanks. This meant creating two insulated underground conduit bundles that had to be dug in under the foundation walls of the store and house. It seemed to take forever, but eventually the compaction was done, and timber footings, under-slab plumbing, and in-floor heating were installed.

 

Concrete flooring was poured just in time to start the timber framing; however, there was a problem - the timber we ordered from sawyer Owen Kenny of Wind River Log Homes did not show up. He finally admitted that he was not able to cut it. And to this date, he has not returned the down payment he collected, after our numerous phone calls and his numerous promises he would cut our lumber, or provide the timbers we paid for, or return our sizable deposit.

Another sawyer volunteered to supply us timbers on short notice but then also backed out the day he was supposed to deliver (he had not requested a deposit). Finally, McDonald Ranch in Grassmere came to the rescue cutting beautiful Douglas Fir, on very short notice, for a very reasonable price, and with acceptable quality. The timber was delivered just as Guy Pollard from Canmore arrived to help us with the frame.

Pressed for time with the scheduled straw/clay workshop fast approaching, we had to reconsider what kind of joinery to use on the house. We received some very good advice from a timber framer in Ontario, who not only told us how to simplify our joints, but also provided us with some very impressive Austrian-made, aluminum dovetail fasteners that made quick work of the more difficult joints.

With timber frame erected, preparation for the workshop was finally complete at 4 a.m. of the morning the workshop began! Despite the frantic start, the workshop went very well. The participants were enthusiastic about what they learned and we were pleased with the progress made. A week after the workshop ended, the straw/clay walls and remainder of the timber frame were complete and we were ready for the roof!

The roof turned out to be a bigger project than the rest of the house. As the trusses were about to be erected, significant errors by the manufacturer, Timber Tech were discovered. After some wrangling they compensated us for the extra materials that were needed to make the trusses fit before framing and sheeting. An experienced friend came to the rescue for this task, staying with us and helping us frame and sheet the roof. Several weeks of unseasonably cool and wet weather not only delayed harvest but the installation of the roofing metal. Finally it was done, just in time for winter.

The roofing metal is sure to draw attention. We chose a 22 gauge, “rustic” product from Bridger Steel in Montana. Its advantages are that it will never dent, scratch, scuff or fade, and the rust forms its own seal for the roof, giving it an expected lifetime of well over 60 years; it rusts to a beautiful orange and brown patina; as well, the snap-lock, standing seam profile means there are no exposed fasteners to loosen or leak; and the system is very durable in the wind.

Interior framing continues through the winter months with the clay finish application being planned for March, when there will be clay application seminars with Charlie Carruthers, a renowned clay plaster teacher. For more information, see the workshop section on our website or give us a call at 403-329-9157.

Tongue and groove ceilings, interior thermal mass walls, a wood-fired masonry heater, cabinets, and the cork flooring will need to be installed next. If all goes well, we hope to finish the house by spring.

If anyone has spare time and wants to learn while they lend a hand, give Mark a call.

Stay tuned for updates and information on seminars in 2010, including Japanese timber framing, clay/straw building, and clay plastering seminars.

Photo highlights of the new house construction can be viewed in the “Photographic Tour” section.

 

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