The timber frame revival in North America has run now for some thirty years. In that time the Timber Framers Guild has grown to include over 1,000 members. A new sister organization, the Timber Framers Business Council, reports that there are over 200 timber framing companies now who built 2,600 homes in 2007. The quality of the work has steadily improved as we have collectively gained in experience. Yet one of the biggest challenges that timber framing faces is a lack of good competition. Potential clients presented with many good choices usually choose one. The same folks with few chances to compare work often shy away. Let’s take a look at some of the good choices a client now has in choosing a timber framer.
(Photos courtesy of Southern Timberwrights.)
(Courtesy of Wild Rose Timberworks.)
(Photo courtesy of Vermont Timber Frames.)
As we have gained experience together, home designs have improved. Our joinery techniques have improved.Computer aided structural analysis now replaces old rules of thumb, making structures predictably safe. We no longer must answer a question about structural integrity in a seismic zone with, “Because we have always done it this way.” Now we can say, “Here is the data.” We have come far. Where do we go from here?
The Future of Timber Framing
No craft can be sustained without both a steady supply of new clients and a growing body of skillful craftsmen to fill the demand. If timber framing is to become recognized as more than a way to assuage a wealthy client’s ego while underpaying those who practice the craft, we must continue to broaden our appeal and our utility. There is much about timber framing to recommend it: Beautiful structures that serve a useful purpose, a building method that uses local resources and builders, energy efficient spaces, and buildings that excite our imaginations such that we are encouraged to maintain them for centuries.
It may come to pass that craftsmen will both find opportunity to be trained and to be recognized for their growing skill. The Timber Framers Guild will soon have an apprentice and journeyman program in place. It has taken three decades to give voice to the question, “Who will train the trainers?” We have taught each other. We have messed up a quantity of perfectly good timber in our quest for knowledge. And we have joyfully worked very hard.
Thanks to steady coverage in the media, timber framing has become recognizable—not as some strange kind of log cabin—but as a distinct and desirable way of building. New uses for timber frames are being explored. We are in no danger of supplanting nail guns and 2 by 4 studs, but we will do our share of building. And we will do it well.
In timber framing, everything is either heavy or sharp, and many things are both. My son Ben, twenty-seven years old today, worked with me last winter. One afternoon I could not lift my end of an eight hundred pound timber. My son could, but I could not. The clock ticks. Time to hasten on. Time to teach.
Conclusion
I end with a quote from Annie Dillard, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1977 for her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Annie wrote, “How you spend your days is, after all, how you spend your life.”
May each of you spend your days in joyous pursuit of your life’s work.
Photo Credits -
The Future of Timber Framing
No craft can be sustained without both a steady supply of new clients and a growing body of skillful craftsmen to fill the demand. If timber framing is to become recognized as more than a way to assuage a wealthy client’s ego while underpaying those who practice the craft, we must continue to broaden our appeal and our utility. There is much about timber framing to recommend it: Beautiful structures that serve a useful purpose, a building method that uses local resources and builders, energy efficient spaces, and buildings that excite our imaginations such that we are encouraged to maintain them for centuries.
It may come to pass that craftsmen will both find opportunity to be trained and to be recognized for their growing skill. The Timber Framers Guild will soon have an apprentice and journeyman program in place. It has taken three decades to give voice to the question, “Who will train the trainers?” We have taught each other. We have messed up a quantity of perfectly good timber in our quest for knowledge. And we have joyfully worked very hard.
Thanks to steady coverage in the media, timber framing has become recognizable—not as some strange kind of log cabin—but as a distinct and desirable way of building. New uses for timber frames are being explored. We are in no danger of supplanting nail guns and 2 by 4 studs, but we will do our share of building. And we will do it well.
In timber framing, everything is either heavy or sharp, and many things are both. My son Ben, twenty-seven years old today, worked with me last winter. One afternoon I could not lift my end of an eight hundred pound timber. My son could, but I could not. The clock ticks. Time to hasten on. Time to teach.
Conclusion
I end with a quote from Annie Dillard, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1977 for her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Annie wrote, “How you spend your days is, after all, how you spend your life.”
May each of you spend your days in joyous pursuit of your life’s work.
Photo Credits -
1-7. Courtesy of Bruce and Cyndy Gardener, Homstead Timber Frames.
8. By Hans Schauffelein, c. 1515.
9-15. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Diane Fedderson, 2005.
16-23. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Will Beemer, 2003.
24-26. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Will Beemer, 2004.
27. Courtesy of Emma Poole, Exeter, UK.
28-33. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Will Beemer, 2004.
34-36. Courtesy of Historic American Building’s Survey.
37. By Ken Rower.
38-39. Courtesy of Bruce and Cyndy Gardener, Homstead Timber Frames.
40-41. Courtesy of Homestead Timberframes, By Allen Stoker.
42-43. Benson, Ted. Timberframe Home: Design, Construction and Finishing. Taunton Press: 1997.
44. Courtesy of Homestead Timberframes, By Allen Stoker.
45-57. Courtesy of Bruce and Cyndy Gardener, Homstead Timber Frames.
58. Arthur, Eric and Dudley Witney. The Barn. New York Graphic Society, 1972. 217.
59. Courtesy of Jeff Johnson Timber Frames.
60. Courtesy of Southern Timberwrights.
61. Courtesy of Wild Rose Timberworks.
62. Courtesy of Vermont Timber Frames.
8. By Hans Schauffelein, c. 1515.
9-15. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Diane Fedderson, 2005.
16-23. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Will Beemer, 2003.
24-26. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Will Beemer, 2004.
27. Courtesy of Emma Poole, Exeter, UK.
28-33. Courtesy of Timber Framers Guild, www.tfguild.org; By Will Beemer, 2004.
34-36. Courtesy of Historic American Building’s Survey.
37. By Ken Rower.
38-39. Courtesy of Bruce and Cyndy Gardener, Homstead Timber Frames.
40-41. Courtesy of Homestead Timberframes, By Allen Stoker.
42-43. Benson, Ted. Timberframe Home: Design, Construction and Finishing. Taunton Press: 1997.
44. Courtesy of Homestead Timberframes, By Allen Stoker.
45-57. Courtesy of Bruce and Cyndy Gardener, Homstead Timber Frames.
58. Arthur, Eric and Dudley Witney. The Barn. New York Graphic Society, 1972. 217.
59. Courtesy of Jeff Johnson Timber Frames.
60. Courtesy of Southern Timberwrights.
61. Courtesy of Wild Rose Timberworks.
62. Courtesy of Vermont Timber Frames.
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