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Taking the Plunge
Timber Frame Homes, July 2000
Written by Alan and Emma Brown | Photography by Roger Wade
An Indiana couple fondly recalls building their timber frame home.
In 1999, Riverbend Timber Framing Inc. introduced computer-controlled equipment, capable of sizing and cutting timbers to length and fashioning basic mortise and tenon joints.
When we decided to move from Indianapolis to lakefront property in northern Indiana, we knew that our 60-year-old cottage would not work as a home. While it was a wonderful cottage, it did not have sufficient space. It did, however, provide us with the basis for the floor plan for our timber frame home, so that we could continue to watch the glorious sunsets over the lake.
In developing our plans, we incorporated some changes in the cottage's layout to accommodate our desire to live primarily on the first floor, with guest rooms upstairs.
The topography of our lot presented an interesting design challenge. The lot drops 28 feet from the road level at the back of the lot to the lake level on the front of the lot. Our solution was to redesign the hill with three retaining walls and build a bridge to the main entry way on the second floor of the house.
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We spent more than a year gathering ideas and drawing plans. We developed a large list of "comparable room sizes" to help visualize space and dimensions. We took ideas from the cottage's family room, a sister's kitchen and a friend's master bathroom. This list eventually grew to more than 20 rooms. For the exterior, we had a good idea how we wanted our home to look, but we didn't have a clue as to how to design roof lines. After much effort developing a plan we liked, we took our ideas to Riverbend Timber Framing Inc. in Blissfield, Michigan.
The reception and help we received from Jim Balmer and others at Riverbend were tremendous. We knew after our first visit that these were the people we wanted to build our timber frame home. Jim visited our site and started converting our ideas into a workable plan. One of Jim's first ideas was to stick-build the portion of the home that contains the bedrooms. Not only was this a good idea, it resulted in a cost savings for us.
While Riverbend worked on designing our floor plans, we began searching for kitchen cabinets, bath fixtures, flooring, carpeting, light fixtures and a thousand other details.
After Riverbend drew up a set of preliminary plans, we took them to several local builders for estimates. All but one of the builders had never built a timber frame. After much searching, we met Bill Scheumann of S&S Construction. Bill had completed three timber frame homes and lived right across the lake.
We agreed to build the home on a time and materials basis, and Bill asked if Alan would like to work for him on our project. Alan jumped at the offer. Not many contractors would be willing to have the owner on the site every day, but the arrangement worked out great for everyone. We signed our contract for the frame, shook hands with Bill and the project was underway two years after we had started sketching our plans.
During the second week of July in 1997, we started digging the stones out of the terrace walls on the hill and rolling them to the bottom. Our plan was to use these on the exterior of the house and to build the fireplace. Next we removed 13 trees from the hill. This was one of the hardest things to do during the whole project. We were fortunate to retain most of the trees, but it hurt to cut down several that were 100 years old.
In early August, an Amish family of 13 started the demolition of the old cottage. Not using a single power tool, they completed the tear-down in two weeks. They hauled about 90 percent of the materials to their farm to use in an addition to their home.
Once the lot was cleared of the cottage, in came the excavators, removing the tree stumps, reshaping the hill, adding a temporary driveway, removing the old foundation and digging the footers and foundation for our new home. Alan quickly gained experience in building forms and pouring concrete. A competition also developed among the dump truck drivers and concrete truck drivers to see who could get up the hill without the assistance of a bulldozer.
Once the foundation was set, the frame was delivered. Five workers, including a Riverbend advisor and the crane operator, completed the unloading, assembly and raising of the frame in three days. The precision of the frame fit was excellent. Emma and our 5-year-old granddaughter both drove the first peg in.
After all our hard work, it was an emotional experience to see the bents come together and raised and the frame standing against a clear blue autumn sky. To celebrate, Alan climbed a ladder and topped the frame off with a pine bough. We had spectators from around the county visit that day.
We completed the panel installation and decorative beam placement in the upstairs bedrooms during the next nine working days. The last two roof panels were installed using the light from headlights of vehicles parked at the top of the hill. We awoke the next morning to three inches of snow on the ground. This was the day we were to get the crane back up the hill. With the help of a bulldozer pulling and a backhoe pushing, the crane slowly made its way up the hill. What a relief.
The framing of the interior partition walls, window installation and roofing came next. The electrician, plumber, and HVAC crew started their work. Once the porch was completed, the stone masons were able to begin work on the exterior.
When the drywall was completed, we wrapped the entire timber frame in plastic to protect it from splattering paint as we began to texturize the ceilings. As weather permitted, we applied the exterior siding and built the new retaining wall in the hill behind the house. A new garage was built and the driveway completed. The kitchen cabinets and dining room wall units were installed. Then came flooring and carpet installation. On June 23, 1998, we moved in.
Would we do it again? Yes, if we could use the same people again. In August, after we moved in, we invited everyone who had worked on or home to a party to see the finished product. Not only do we have a beautiful home, we now have many new friends. |
