Some of my faithful readers may recall that back in 2009, son Will asked me to join him as an assistant in learning how to make timber-framed structures. If you want, you can go back to this posting to learn more. In 2011, we raised that first structure (a sauna) at Will and Sandy's property in far northeast Minnesota. You can see those details here, if you wish.
In 2010, I took an additional class on timber framing with Will when he started a set of timbers for an eventual cabin on the property. Since that time, Will has continued to work on the remaining timbers and to arrange for the necessary preparatory work.
About two weeks ago, a crew came in to excavate, and another crew followed to pour a foundation, which includes a five foot deep crawl space. I went up to the property a week ago to assist Will in building the floor over this foundation. This coming weekend, a collection of friends and relatives of Will's, including Kathie and me, will be there for the next step, which is to raise the timber frame atop the floor and foundation. This will be the subject of Part II of this posting.
When I arrived at the property one week ago, this is what I saw. For me and for anyone else who has previously visited the property, this is quite a change to a space that once held a shabby shack and a poorly constructed deck. I know that the end product, once done, is going to be a beautiful addition and a terrific retreat for Will, Sandy and Anders.
The piles of lumber you see above had been delivered prior to my arrival, and the task for the two of us was to build the floor. Will had begun installing sills on the foundation. We proceeded to install headers and floor joists, starting with the area of the floor plan that will serve as one entrance and a kind of mud room.
On the second day I was there, the excavation crew returned to do the backfill around the foundation and to start some initial landscaping. Again, for those of you who have been there, seeing these big machines get back to the property on the fairly primitive road into the area was quite a sight in and of itself. The operators of the equipment did an impressive job, I thought, including dealing with the many enormous rocks which are common to this once glacial area.
One of the next big challenges was to make two beams from a set of 2x12 boards and to install those beams across the length of the main cabin footprint. Building the beams wasn't actually so hard, but maneuvering them into place once built was tricky. In fact, when moving the second one, we accidentally got it on its side, which allowed it to bow down into the crawl space. Fortunately, it didn't break before we succeeded in getting it to stand back on its edges and "walked" over to its proper place beside the two posts that help support it.
After the beam was in place, many floor joists were installed on either side, and two "bump outs" were constructed (imagine something like bay windows on each side of the rectangular floor plan).
More-or-less finally, there were lots of sheets of subfloor to attach. There are plenty more details involved and some other things to get done, but the essential floor atop which the timber frame is to be erected is done.
Off the west end of the eventual cabin is an existing small cabin that Will and Sandy have used for trips to their property. (I guess it will eventually have to be moved or raised.) In the meantime, here is the stalwart crew who built the floor for the new structure. Anders helped too, pounding lots of nails and serving as an outstanding gopher (go for). Will and I don't think he has yet caught on to the sometimes negative connotations associated with that term.
Stay tuned for further details in about ten days.
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