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Continuing the story of the construction of the timber-framed cabin... On day two of the scheduled work, a crane arrived to help raise the largest and heaviest walls of the cabin.
Recall that at the end of the first day, after raising two walls, we had assembled the remaining two walls on the floor of the cabin. One lay atop the other with plans to lift each one into place as we progressed.
As with the first two walls, we raised the connecting girts into place first. This makes it possible, once a wall is raised, to connect it to the prior walls by joining it to these same girts.
Note the cutouts in the girt below. These will eventually hold joists for a loft.
With all three girts connecting walls C and B, wall B is now raised by the crane. The tallest and heaviest of the four walls, this one would eventually support rafters and the peak of the roof.
Finally upright, the three girt joints were pulled together, and then the crane straps could be removed.
Continuing on, girts between walls B and A were installed.
Many of the girts involved knee braces, which add both strength and interesting beauty, I think.
Finally, wall A is raised.
Oops! If you look closely, you may be able to see that the wall stands too tall! The girts do not line up with their corresponding mortises. Turns out that everyone had forgotten one final step in preparing he posts for wall A–cutting them to the correct length. The question was whether to put the entire wall back down or to cut them while the crane lifted the wall just off the floor.
The posts were all either 8x8 or 8x10.
Peter and Will decided that lifting the wall slightly and cutting each post in place was the answer. Here, Will is making one of four cuts around each of the sides of a post with a circular saw. After that, a small center portion still remained and was cut off with a hand saw.
Now wall A aligned properly with the girts, and the joinery could be completed.
Next, the crane lifted each of the main rafters into place. These are the ones over the main portion of the cabin. Others over the lower areas were lifted up and managed by hand.
What remained was to do a last check to insure that everything was still secure, tight, and square. Then, as is classically done with timber framing, wooden pegs were driven into holes through the mortise and tenon joints to hold everything.
And voila! A cabin frame has risen.
On a following day, the loft floor joists were put into place, and the remaining rafters on the lower walls were added.
I helped Will with one of the very last tasks. Above either side of the peak and over the loft there will be two dormers. We installed the valley and jack rafters which support the inner ends of these dormers.
Being someone who loves wood and working with wood, I find these structures just amazing, beautiful, and even heart-warming. I have been privileged to be a part of this whole process, from helping Will in learning about timber framing and the making of the individual timbers to the process of raising the structure. Most of all, the chances I have had to spend time with my son doing something together that we both enjoy has been very special indeed. Add to that the chance to work with a crew of Will's friends and relatives, all of whom gave willingly of their time, and one cannot help but harken back to past times when the raising of barns and other buildings and community gatherings made many of these kinds of events so important–socially, culturally, and in so many other ways. We have likely lost something as a people simply because we have moved on to other ways of getting things done.
Finally, you may wonder what comes next. The plan is to cover the timber frame with structural insulated panels, an example of which you can see in a different structure that I photographed later. This one in Grand Marais has panels already installed. Called SIPs for short, the panels are about 7" thick and are essentially sheeting (like plywood) with over 5" of foam between them. They are made to order for the structure in question and come with doors and windows precut out of them. Specially trained crews must install them. SIPs go on the roof as well, and then traditional roofing materials can be added. I believe Will wants to use a metal roof, which should help shed the heavy snows that are typical of the region. Seeing Will and Sandy's cabin when these steps are complete will be fun.
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