A Timber Frame Raising
To pick up the thread of our last blog post, we were sitting by, and not in, a hot tub eating lunch having made a decent start on raising a full house frame for Phil and Kay in Durham.
With barely enough time to get indigestion, it’s back to work hoisting the wallplates into place and then…..
The king post trusses are fully assembled at ground level on trestles. The curved braces that will eventually support the ridge purlins are also fitted at this point to avoid fitting them at height later on.
Sending complete trusses soaring into the sky is always a thrill and a good photo opportunity.
The trusses are then oriented correctly (this gable truss is faced outwards) and gently lowered onto the teasel tenons of the bayposts, being careful not to forget the bracing.
Cross frames for the one storey part of the build can be fully assembled complete with funky sling braces and curved collar.
This section joins up with an existing brick barn outbuilding so great care was taken at the design stage to ensure the roof planes would match.
With the main structure fully raised, it’s time to fit the wind bracing to the roof. With the purlins cogged over the principal rafters, cleats are fixed against the purlins to stop any rocking and the braces nailed down onto the top of the main rafters.
Lovely curved wind bracing not only looks good but also provides vital resistance against racking forces.
Andy, Dani, Jake and Rob having a quick break and doing some posing.
Back to work driving in the 600 or so hand made oak pegs and feeling the whole frame tightening up.
The weather just gets better and better.
Time for some more posing with Phil (the modest one).
As the sun fades and brings to an end a hugely satisfying frame raising.