DIY Network

Timber Frame: Raising Day From "Assembly Required" episode DASR-105

In this segment of Assembly Required, experts from a Virginia prefab timber frame crew have a big day ahead of them. The pinnacle event of building a timber frame home has arrived...it’s raising day!

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	Figure A
	Figure B

Raising Day

Everything the team will need to assemble a timber frame home arrived on a flatbed truck the day before (figure A). Since it’s prefab, they know the quality of the delivered materials will be spot on.

Timber framing (figure B) is an efficient and striking form of construction that originated over two thousand years ago. In the middle ages, people of the Far East built their temples and homes using this method (figure C). Unlike traditional stick-built homes, timber framing follows the 'less is more' approach. The entire structure may have fewer than two hundred timbers. The wooden joints (figure D) are the core to what makes a timber frame unique. No nails in this frame...it’s all held together by wooden pegs (figure E).

Figure C

Figure D

Figure E

At this Virginia build site, the team from Riverbed Timber Framing gets into position for raising the first bent (figure F). Bents are a cross-section of the structure, including posts, beams and rafters. They support the home and give it its shape. A crane operator raises the bents into place with remote control and the crew lowers thousands of pounds of timber into post pockets (figure G). With old school tradition, they use no nails. Instead, the team uses only those wooden pegs to hold the posts and girts together (figure H). The wooden joints are the core to what makes a timber frame so unique and unlike the old days, all of the parts have been prefabricated at a factory and shipped on site. Pre-cutting the beams ensures everything will have an exact fit.

Figure F

Figure G

Figure H

Continuing On

The crew gets ready to lock in the structural insulated panels (SIPS), ensuring a draft-free house. Placing the panels is made easier by the prefab numbering system and only a few minor adjustments are needed because they’ve been precut at the factory.

Once the wall panels are placed (figure I), it’s time to close in the roof (figure J). Flying in these SIPS panels should be trouble-free, but Mother Nature doesn’t stay on the crew’s side. Rain causes slippery build conditions and the crew’s progress is slow going in poor weather.

Figure I

Figure J

RESOURCES :

Riverbend of Chesapeake
Telephone: 1-301-990-6044

FMS Construction
Website: www.fmsconstructiontc.com

Riverbend Timber Framing, Inc.
Website: www.riverbendtf.com

GUESTS :

Al Cobb
Panelwrights, LLC
Telephone: 1-304-876-0265
Website: www.panelwrights.com

Charlie Byrd
Intellistructures, Inc.
Telephone: 1-540-569-6617
Website: www.intellistructures.com

Maxwell Davies
Wellspring Construction