Timber Frame Hybrid Home - Owner Builder

[EddieWalker]

That makes sense. I've seen something similar done on log homes where the post sits on the slab, or footing. These look custom built, I'm guessing that the builder either does them himself, or has a welding shop make them for him to his specs. Do they get painted or is anything done to protect them long term? Does anything lock them together at the joint from moving, or is it all gravity and the house itself keeping them in place?

Eddie

 

[jk96]

That makes sense. I've seen something similar done on log homes where the post sits on the slab, or footing. These look custom built, I'm guessing that the builder either does them himself, or has a welding shop make them for him to his specs. Do they get painted or is anything done to protect them long term? Does anything lock them together at the joint from moving, or is it all gravity and the house itself keeping them in place?

Eddie

I had these built by our local fabricator however all of the specs came from the timberframe company. The timber company will make these however in our situation they didn't have time. As you may recall the original plan was to do concrete supports and my conctractor bailed on me last minute.

They only called for 2" structural supports. We made these out of 4". The are bolted to the footing with 4 bolts and pinned to the timber using a wood peg through the timber and metal blade. I painted the bottom plates that contacted the concrete only. The rest will be covered in block and stone so I didn't worry about it.

 

[dave1949]

Hi Dave.

The concrete is "stamped". The stamp is just a natural stone pattern but not sure what the name of it was. The powder is added for color. It has a little bit of a bluish color right now but should end up as a charcoal color when its washed off and the concrete has cured. It will be washed, brushed, and sealed.

Jeremy

Thanks. The stamped concrete I've seen was the type where they duplicate the look of pavers or flagstone. I didn't recognize that as stamped. I bet it will look pretty nice with the charcoal color and some aging. That's sounds bad, :laughing: I think it looks nice now and will only get better.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Bump.

Jeremy,

What's happening with the build lately?

I will now return to lurker mode...

David

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Bump.

Jeremy,

What's happening with the build lately?

I will now return to lurker mode...

David

 

[jk96]

Bump.

Jeremy,

What's happening with the build lately?

I will now return to lurker mode...

David

Hi David,

things are progressing and I've intended to get an update posted however the daily grind of the build, kids, sports, holidays, etc have taken its toll. Not enough hours in the day lately.

Here's where things stand.

HVAC - all duct work is finished. Our installer ended up bumping us to 8 tons total. He said he didn't need the extra ton for the BTU's but for the added air flow. He let us know that he would hold the bid the same. This give us an extra $750 rebate as well. We are waiting for the units to arrive and not sure when the ground loop will be dug. We have about 5" of snow on the ground from a few days ago. 8 degrees today and -10 degrees tonight. The frost line is setting in so it may be some time before we get the loop dug.

Plumbing - one day of rough in left. Was supposed to be wrapped up today however the crew took the day off due to the single digit temps today. I don't blame them. We also have all of our tile for the house picked out. We will tile the entry and bathroom floors. For the showers we are going to use onyx shower basins and tile the walls.

Electrical - I have all of my can lights and bathroom fans hung. Outlet boxes are also nailed and I started pulling wire on the upstairs. Should have some help from a cousin who is an electrician starting Thursday so we are hoping to get most of the electrical finished over the weekend, at least all outside walls so we can spray foam.

Fireplace - the offset elbows I've been waiting on for the ridge beam have finally shipped. I'm hoping to get it installed as soon as they come in so we can get some heat going.

Insulation - Spray foam will be started the week of Jan. 6th. I'm really looking forward to this so I can get some heat going. We will be using 5" of closed cell in the ceiling and 3" of closed cell in the walls. This should give us roughly R20 in the walls and R35 in the roof.

Siding - I'm really having a hard time with this one. I always intended to do concrete siding for the house however after some discussion with the installer we are actually considering going with certainteed insulated vinyl. I've never been a big fan of the look of vinyl however the ease of maintanance has its appeal. I'm not sure I want to have to paint this house now or again in 10-15 years and a few of the houses we've looked at that our installer has done look really nice.

Sheetrock - I've only got one bid so far and am meeting with another installer tomorrow for a second bid. Both installers come highly recommended. Our first estimate was for hanging, finishing, and all materials. He figured 12,300 total square feet and gave us an estimate of $1 sq/ft. So $12,300 total for everything.

If everything falls into place without delays we should have insulation, sheetrock, cabinets, and be started on floors and trim by the end of Jan. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Jeremy

 

[EddieWalker]

R35 in the roof? Are you going to add anything to that? I thought R60 was the minimum and I'm reading that there are some places requiring R80

Be sure that you require 5/8's sheetrock for the ceilings. I've seen too many homes with half inch on the ceiling and you can see every joist because half in sags so bad between the joists.

Eddie

 

[tkappeler]

R35 in the roof? Are you going to add anything to that? I thought R60 was the minimum and I'm reading that there are some places requiring R80

R38 for ceilings is the minimum in NJ. We did R45 on our home. Can never have too much.

 

[jk96]

R35 in the roof? Are you going to add anything to that? I thought R60 was the minimum and I'm reading that there are some places requiring R80

Be sure that you require 5/8's sheetrock for the ceilings. I've seen too many homes with half inch on the ceiling and you can see every joist because half in sags so bad between the joists.

Eddie

We are not adding anything to it. For the most part, the ceiling is also the roof line for the majority of the home. We actually have very little attic space and what we do have will be conditioned space since we are spraying the ceiling joists. Joists are 2x6 so we have 5.5" of possible foam. The plan is to fill the joists completely however I stated 5" because I'm sure there will be areas that are not completely filled when finished. We should end up between an R34-R38 roof.

One thing to keep in mind that this is closed cell foam and not batt insulation. From what I've researched you very quickly reach a point of diminishing returns with spray foam where the higher R-value is just not worth the cost. Most of the heat loss charts will show that at 1" you prevent around 70-80% of heat loss. At 3" you jump to about 95%. Anything past 3" of closed foam doesn't prevent a great deal more heat loss and the increase in cost is just not worth the extra money.

Jeremy

 

[MotorSeven]

Fireplace off set elbows? Metal flue double wall right? Is there any way to do that without offsets because a straight run all the way is always better. Is this going to be a regular fireplace or an insert(sorry, I looked but could not find a reference to it?

Merry Christmas!