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Barn Raising in Pennsylvania
This video shows a native oak timber frame being erected. The frame is 40'x96' and included a loft and a large open area for tractors and farm equipment. It is on a beautiful estate surrounded by a vineyard, a christmas tree farm and expansive lawns. It is built on a brick foundation with arched door openings. |
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Hemlock Barn Frame Being Delivered
Parts for our timber frames are delivered "knocked down" to job sites on 48' tractor trailers. All the pieces are marked and labeled so the installation crew knows exactly where they go in the building.
When the trucks are unloaded, timbers are organized according to bents and bays. the parts for the bents are put close to the building to be pre-assembled, and the purlins, connectors and ridges are put where the crane can reach them on the day of the raising. |
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The bents are assembled and stacked on the deck prior to the crane coming for the raising. A bent is essentially a cross section through the house. Connectors, purlins and ridges span between the bents to finish the frame for the house. The purlins are often dovetailed, and the connectors have tenons on the ends to fit into the bent's mortises. |
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The crane picks the bents or trusses up off the deck and lowers them into the proper position. Care is taken during this process to make sure that the joints stay tightly together. Often strong backs are clamped onto the joints to give them a little extra support. |
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Bents are brought down and secured to the deck, then temporarily braced with 2x4 cross bracing. This photograph shows timber framers aligning the bottoms of each post into the proper position.
Later, the 2x4 bracing will be released and the bents will be spread open a few inches so the connectors can be put into place. Once the connectors are in, the bents are pulled tight with come alongs and the connectors' tenons are pegged tight with hardwood pegs. |
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Entire sections that can be pre-assembled are picked up and lowered into place. This picture shows the cupola for a monastery in Virginia. The cupola is a 20' by 20' octagon with a peak that is 44 feet high.
Notice the tenons on the cupola post bottoms - they have tenons that fit exacting into the supporting rafters below. |
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Small Barn Frame
Purlins are lowered into their pockets. The bents for the post and beam barn have been spread and pulled back together - the connectors have been pegged off and now the dovetailed purlins are fit in. Once the purlins are in place, hardwood wedges will draw them tight and finish the roof framing. |
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Finally the timber frame is tightened, finished and a tree is nailed to the high gable.
Nailing a tree to a timber frame is a German tradition, that builders carry out even to this day. |
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This beautiful church truss is 48' long by 21' high. It is douglas fir stained dark to look like old cathedral ceiling beams. |
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Rough Sawn Hemlock with a driftwood stain. The photo shows section of the building which was pre-assembled on the ground, being lowered into place by a crane. |
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A truss is being prepared for raising. It has just been lifted off of the ground. Notice the scale of the timber compared to the size of the people in the photo. |
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"Tag" lines (the ropes) are used to spin the trusses in flight and direct them into place. |
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Deer Lake Dining Hall Truss
A girder truss being assembled on the ground. Come-alongs (the things with the handles) help pull the parts together and hold them tight while pegs and bolts are driven into place. |
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Pegs being driven by hand. The timbers shown were naturally weathered in our yard for several months which gave them a great antiqued barnwood look. |
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Super insulated foam panels are fabricated and cut to size at the stress skin manufacturer's shop, then shipped to the job site ready to be installed. |
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A nice photo showing pre-assembled bents stacked up and ready to raise, with standing frames in the background. |
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Another view of pre-assembled bents stacked on a deck and being raised into place. Lifting the bent off the pile is the most critical moment in its life. Timber frames are designed to be loaded vertically with building materials and snow, and laterally with wind and seismic action. when standing, they are extraordinarily strong, but they are torqued as they go up in an unnatural position, and often the joints need to be reinforced for the process. |
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