Milling timber for house build

[ucoulddoit]

1 hour ago, Exec Trustee said:

We felled our own trees and converted the main structural components (Larch & Douglas Fir) by hand hewing.

 

 

After raising the timber-frame we used a temporary tarpaulin roof applied over the timber frame to make a relatively dry working space where we installed a Woodland Mills band saw to make roof shingles (WRC & EL), sarking boards (DF), floor planks (DF & WH), cladding (EL & DF), doors & shutters (WH).

 

 

The building Inspector was not involved nor did we employ a timber grader. Each structural timber was assessed during conversion and where we weren't happy then a timber would be consigned to the bone yard or be subject to a localised repair.

That looks great. But is it a habitable house? I wouldn’t want to make the large investment of self building a whole house without some certification as it would probably be very difficult to sell later on, especially if a potential buyer needed a mortgage.

 

Andrew

[agg221]

Softwood and hardwood have different grading schemes, which are also different for green and seasoned timber.

 

 I haven’t checked for a few years but 8yrs or so ago it was the case that seasoned softwood as generally used in construction had to be mechanically tested and stamped afterwards (it’s a simple bend test with point loading so most mills have it). Seasoned hardwood has a visual grading system for defects including knots, cracks, grain run-out and insect or fungal damage. There is (was) no formal qualification needed so technically you could just get on and do it if you could find the classification table which used to be possible with a bit of careful Googling, or buy them from TRADA. Green hardwood as used in timber framing had no grading system so technically you could use what you like, which given the hedgerow poles still with the bark on that which narrow to 3” round holding my roof up is clearly traditional. But then they have been doing that for 500yrs so it works fine if you know what you are doing.

 

I’m not sure if there is a grading scheme for green softwood, and this only applies to structural timbers, not cladding or similar.

 

Alec

[trigger_andy]

2 hours ago, Exec Trustee said:

We felled our own trees and converted the main structural components (Larch & Douglas Fir) by hand hewing.

 

 

After raising the timber-frame we used a temporary tarpaulin roof applied over the timber frame to make a relatively dry working space where we installed a Woodland Mills band saw to make roof shingles (WRC & EL), sarking boards (DF), floor planks (DF & WH), cladding (EL & DF), doors & shutters (WH).

 

 

The building Inspector was not involved nor did we employ a timber grader. Each structural timber was assessed during conversion and where we weren't happy then a timber would be consigned to the bone yard or be subject to a localised repair.

Stunning and beautiful work.

[Dan Maynard]

On 13/06/2022 at 21:29, spuddog0507 said:

I am not looking for a way to do it, and the proof of things in the building of houses as long been proved, the house i live in is a old mill cottage circa 1730 and there is property that was built long after mine that have long been demolished and replaced with something that will last for a even shorter length of time, things are just not done like they used to be,,

The only snag with this line of thinking is that you are not counting the houses they built badly in 1730 which have fallen down in the meantime.

[spuddog0507]

2 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

The only snag with this line of thinking is that you are not counting the houses they built badly in 1730 which have fallen down in the meantime.

Did they fall down ? or where they knocked down ? to make way for more modern crap to be built on the same footprint ? I worked with a guy one winter stripping 12 old mill houses out up east lancs all these houses had a front and rear garden and then another chunk of land as a veg plot beyond a rear access rd, as these houses came up for sale he bought them one by one with the idea in mind that he could demolish them all and build more houses on the same site, today 28 3 bed semis now stand there, I think you will find money and greed plays a big part,