Custom hand-cut joinery, traditional timber frames

Custom timber frames

Every frame starts with your vision and what you need the building to do. We work with you through layout and design, then pick species and joinery for the structure: Douglas Fir, Eastern Pine, Southern Pine, White Oak, Yellow Cedar, or Cypress. If you are interested in another species, just ask. When the frame needs engineering, we bring in an outside engineering firm that specializes in timber frames, so it fits your local requirements and how you'll use the building.

We cut traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery by hand, then peg and fit it, with no metal connectors in the primary connections, unless required by engineering. Cutting joinery by hand takes time, and the frame it produces can be admired for generations.

Our main focus is the central Virginia Piedmont, Coastal Virginia, and Northern Virginia, but we deliver nationwide.

Additions and timber accents

Some projects are smaller than a full frame: a timber entry, a great-room ceiling, a barn addition, or an outdoor structure with exposed timber. We work with architects, GCs, and homeowners on timber that has to fit a building that's already standing.

If you have an architect's drawings and need someone for the timber scope (shop drawings, fabrication, and help with installation), we can help. The client's builder handles the foundation, enclosure, and finish.

Raising

Raising day is where the magic happens. Bents go up, plates go on, rafters go in. When a client wants us on site, we can be there to assist: we help coordinate the sequence, the crane, and your crew, so the frame goes up safely.

A small pavilion can go up in a day. A larger frame takes more planning. We can help on site, or write out the raising sequence for a builder who has raised timber before.

Wood selection

We work with domestic hardwoods and softwoods and choose for the structure, the budget, and the client. Preference goes to local and regional species first. Building a frame from timber that grew in the same part of the country it will stand in usually makes sense. When length, grade, or budget calls for something else, we source what the job needs.

Next

• Drafting if you need drawings
• Contact with the site, the structure, and any drawings you have