Posts and Beams

Several years back Flora and I discovered the big open spaces that are possible in both log and timberframe homes. We loved the look, went to some shows, toured some houses, and decided that is what we wanted. After I bought our lot I also bought a 110 year old barn frame and had it trucked down from the Pittsburgh area. It was only after we had a design created around that frame that we discovered how darned expensive it is to build a timberframe home because you are essentially framing it twice; once with the timberframe and once with the structural panels you attach outside the frame. Ultimately we did not build that house and the frame has been sitting around in pieces ever since, much of it rotting away.

Here Mario and Chad wrap the laminated ridge beam in barn wood to give it a more finished look. 

The house we are building now has much the same shape as that original design only this one is framed conventionally using laminated beams for the support structure. We had not though given up on using some of our barn beams in a decorative way. A few weeks back Mario, Chad, and I looked through the barn beams and chose a few that would supply the pieces we needed. I spent a week working them into shape and providing a proper finish to the wood. I didn't want to lose the original character but I didn't want them to be too nasty either.

Finally, last weekend we were ready to lift them into place to be used as posts on what we fondly call "the big wall". I assembled a team of able-bodied guys, rented a cable lift, and we went to work. The biggest piece was a 17 foot long 8" x 10" white oak beam that probably weighed 500 pounds or more. The lift was strong enough to get it the eight feet off the floor that were required to slide it into place, but how to control it once it was up in the air was the problem. I still had in place a tall scaffold that I had borrowed from the drywall subcontractor, so with Chad and Mario up on the scaffold, Rich, Chuy, and I wrestled it from the ground while Flora took pictures. The following pictures tell the story.

We pulled the end of the post up into the air, using an appliance dolly under the bottom of it, until it was rolled into an upright poistion

A safety rope secures the post while we devise a lifting strategy

With safety rope removed, Chad and Mario steady the post as it is cranked up eight feet to the top of the beam that will support it

Mario steadies the post while Chad makes some "minor adjustments" with a sledge hammer

Mario attaches the last of the securing screws

All posts in place

After this post was in place, Mario, Chad, and I lifted the rest of the shorter posts into place and secured them to complete the look. We used other pieces of wood from the barn to provide decorative elements in various places around the room, including replacing a required metal post in the middle of the room with another 8 x 10 wooden post. So, while it is true that this might not be the timberframe home we once dreamed of, we do have the big open spaces and much of the look and feel with none of the inherent problems of a timberframe home, and we saved over $100K in the deal; what's not to like about that?

Paint

It's funny how every new aspect of the house is so exciting. We were talking the other night about how excited we were when we first got our concrete slab poured in the basement and later when the Superior walls went up. So while I would like the think that getting the interior painted is the greatest thing that has happened, I guess these are just more steps in the build.

We had no idea it would be so tough to choose paint colors. I have spent so many years of my life living in houses with white walls, I knew that I wanted some color, but I also knew that in an open concept house where so many rooms could be seen from one place, all of the colors needed to work together. I also knew that I wanted a bright red accent wall in the great room; Flora was definitely not convinced that this was a good idea. But after a few weeks of working through color charts room by room, we finally had everything picked out and did a walk-through with our painter.

There were eight people on the paint crew. They spent the first day was masking, the second day the ceilings were painted, and finally on the third day the color was rolled onto the walls. We now have some green bedrooms and one that is yellow. Bathroom colors range from lavender to robin's egg blue. In the great room I got my red accent wall and it looks amazing. Now that the house is painted I can finally begin tiling the floors.

Although the painters were very glad to have the tall scaffolds to work from while painting the ceilings, I am really looking forward to getting them out of my living room!